Student. A salt-box may be where there is no salt, but salt is absolutely necessary to the existence of a box of salt. Professor.-Are not salt-boxes otherwise divided? Professor.-What is the use of this division? Student. To separate the fine from the coarse. Student.-Because it hath not yet become a salt-box, having never had any salt in it, and it may probably be applied to some other use. Professor.-Very true; fora salt-box which never had, hath not now, and perhaps may never have, any salt in it, can only be termed a possible salt-box. What is a probable salt-box? Student. It is a salt-box in the hands of one going to buy salt, and who has sixpence in his pocket to pay the shopkeeper; and a positive salt-box is one which hath actually and bona fide got salt in it. Professor.-Very good; and what other divisions of the salt-box do you recollect? Student-They are divided into substantive and pendent. A substantive salt-box is that which stands by itself on a table or dresser; and the pendent is that which hangs against the wall. C Professor.-What is the idea of a salt-box? Student. It is that image which the mind conceives of a salt-box, when no salt-box is present. Professor.-What is the abstract idea of a salt-box? Student.-It is the idea of a salt-box abstracted from the 'idea of a box, or of salt, or of a salt-box, or of a box of salt. Professor. Very right: by this you may acquire a proper knowledge of a salt-box: but tell me, is the idea of a salt-box a salt idea? Student.-Not unless the idea hath the idea of salt contained in it. Professor.-True: and therefore an abstract idea cannot be either salt or fresh, round or square, long or short: and this shows the difference of a salt idea, and an idea of salt. Is an aptitude to hold salt an essential or an accidental property of a salt-box? Student. It is essential: but if there should be a crack in the bottom of the box, the aptitude to spill salt would be termed an accidental property of that box. Professor.-Very well, very well indeed. What is the salt called with respect to the box? Student.-It is called its contents. Student. Because the cook is content, quod hoc, to find plenty of salt in the box. Professor.-You are very right. Now let us proceed to LOGIC. Professor.-How many modes are there in a salt-box? Student.-Three: bottom, top, and sides. Professor.-How many modes are there in salt-boxes? Student.-Four: the formal, the substantive, the accidental, and the topsyturvy. Professor.-Define these several modes. Student.-The formal respects the figure or shape of the box, such as a circle, a square, an oblong, &c.; the substantive respects the work of the joiner; and the accidental respects the string by which the box is hung against the wall. Professor. Very well: what are the consequences of the accidental mode? Student.-If the string should break, the box would fall, and the salt be spilt, the salt-box broken, and the cook in a passion; and this is the accidental mode and its consequences. Professor.-How do you distinguish between the bottom and top of a salt-box? Student. The top of a salt-box is that part which is uppermost, and the bottom is that which is lowest in all positions. Professor.-You should rather say, the uppermost part is the top, and the lowest part the bottom. How is it, then, if the bottom should be uppermost? Student.-The top would then be lowermost, so that the bottom would become the top, and the top the bottom; and this is called the topsyturvy mode, and is nearly allied to the accidental, and frequently arises from it. Professor.-Very good: but are not salt-boxes sometimes single, and sometimes double? Student.-Yes. Professor.-Well, then, mention the several combinations of salt-boxes, with respect to the having salt or not. Professor.-Hold! Hold! You are going too far. Governors of the Institution.-We can't allow further time for logic; proceed, if you please, to NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. Professor.-What is a salt-box? Student. It is a combination of matter, fitted, framed, and joined, by the hands of a workman, in the form of a box, and adapted for the purpose of receiving and containing salt. Professor.-Very good. What are the mechanical powers engaged in the construction of a salt-box? axe, Student.-The the saw, the plane, and the hammer. Professor.-How are these powers applied to the purpose intended? Student. The are to fell the trees, the saw to split the timber, the Professor.-Consider! It is the property of the mallet and wedge to split. Student.-The saw to slit the timber, and the plane to smooth and thin the boards. Professor.-How! Take time, take time. Student.-To thin and smooth the boards. Professor.-To be sure the boards are first thinned and then smoothed. Go on. Student. The plane to thin and smooth, and the hammer to drive the nails. Professor.-Or rather tacks. Have not some philosophers considered glue as one of the mechanical powers? Student.-Yes; and it is still so considered: but it is called an inverse mechanical power; because, whereas it is the property of direct mechanical powers to generate motion. Glue, on the contrary, prevents motion, by keeping the parts to which it is applied fixed to each other. Professor.-Very true. What is the mechanical law of the saw? Student.-The power is to resist as the number of teeth and force impressed, multiplied by the number of strokes in a given time. Professor.-Is the saw only used in slitting timber into boards? Student.-Yes; it is also used in cutting boards into lengths. Professor.-Not lengths. A thing cannot be said to be cut into lengths. Student.-Shortnesses. Professor.-Very right. What are the mechanical laws of the hammer? Governor.-We have just received intelligence that dinner is nearly ready; and as the medical class is yet to be examined, let the medical gentlemen come forward. THE COLLEGIAN AND THE PORTER. At Trin. Coll. Cam.-which means, in proper spelling, That is-he understood computing Was a dead hand at pigeon-shooting; Could kick up rows, knock down the watch, |