Cambridge Pieces

1.  Derive the word “blacking.”  What does Paley say on this subject?  Do you, or do you not, approve of Paley’s arguments, and why?  Do you think that Paley knew anything at all about it?

2.  Who were Day and Martin?  Give a short sketch of their lives, and state their reasons for advertising their blacking on the Pyramids.  Do you approve of the advertising system in general?

3.  Do you consider the Japanese the original inventors of blacking?  State the principal ingredients of blacking, and give a chemical analysis of the following substances:  Sulphate of zinc, nitrate of silver, potassium, copperas and corrosive sublimate.

4.  Is blacking an effective remedy against hydrophobia?  Against cholera?  Against lock-jaw?  And do you consider it as valuable an instrument as burnt corks in playing tricks upon a drunken man?

This was the Master’s paper.  The Mathematical Lecturer next gave him a few questions, of which the most important were:-