March 2, 191 1] 



NATURE 



31 



litiated by Mr. Collings, for promoting agricultural 

 iucation and nature-study in public elementary schools, 

 coal edvcation authorities may provide and maintain 

 leans and facilities for the purpose of giving instruction 

 1 any of the following subjects : — nature-study ; fruit, 

 Dwer, and vegetable growing ; poultry- and bee-keeping ; 

 jdding, pruning, and grafting ; cow- and pig-keeping ; 

 ilking ; rotation of garden crops ; nature and properties 

 ■ soils ; use of manures ; knowledge and choice of seeds ; 

 ructure, life, and food of plants ; action of birds and 

 sects on crops ; choice and use of simple tools ; packing 

 uit, vegetables, and other produce for market. The 

 'iportance of these legislative proposals, from a small- 

 |>lder's point of view, lies in the fact that they are 

 ,;signed to interest the children in rural districts in the 

 ;cupations which ought, naturally, to constitute their 

 |ter-life. The Festival of Empire is devoting ten acres 

 ad some thousands of pounds to demonstrating along 

 'actical lines how the successful cultivation of small 

 >ldings may reclaim agricultural and rural districts. The 

 jms and objects of the Small Holdings and Country Life 

 iction of the Festival have the approval of the Board 

 \ Agriculture and Fisheries, and experts are assisting in 

 ■ji conduct and management under the auspices of various 

 Ijjricultural and cooperative organisations. 



[The very representative Conference on Industrial Train- 

 ig, held at the Guildhall on Tuesday, February 28, was 

 dened by a sympathetic message from his Majesty the 

 ing. The following resolution was passed by an over- 

 ptielming majority : — " That the national system of indus- 

 lial, professional, and commercial training should be 

 ftablished, to which the children shall pass as a matter 

 i course (unless the parents are prepared to undertake 

 \&ir future training), and without interval for a definite 



Iriod, to be thoroughly trained for entry into the par- 

 rular calling for which they are best fitted, such training 

 be under fully qualified instructors." The passing of 

 is resolution marks an important change in public 

 ^dnion, and indicates a strong feeling that the school age 

 ould be extended to about sixteen years of age, and that 

 e education given during, say, the last three years of 

 hool life should, whilst not neglecting the general educa- 

 ,)n, be a preparation for the particular occupation the 

 ild intends to follow. In the past it has been the prac- 

 ;';e to regard education as suitable only for those who 

 ■tend to follow clerical occupations. The work of trade 

 hools and of technical institutes has, however, shown 

 at much may be done in schools and institutes under 

 lilled instructors to prepare for, and supplement, the 

 'ficient training of the workshop ; but hitherto this has 

 en done mainly in the evenings. It is now recognised 

 at much better lesults would be obtained if the pupils 

 Keived some sound practical training in the daytime at 

 ■e end of their ordinary elementary-school career, 

 deed, the changed methods of production due to the 

 troduction of machinery, and to the consequent sub- 

 »«sion of labour and decay of apprenticeship, has made 

 :me change in our system of training a necessity. 



The second volume of " Statistics of Public Education 

 England and Wales " has now been published (Cd. 

 ,06). It deals with the financial statistics of the years 

 ^08, 1909, and 1910. The net total expenditure of the 

 sard out of the Parliamentary Vote, after deducting 

 ipropriations in aid, was, for 1909-10, 13,638,424/., as 

 ■mpared with 13,485,233/. in 1908-9 and 13,272,624/. in 

 07~^- The grants to meet expenditure in respect of 

 <;mentary education amounted to 11,095,420/., as against 

 ',039,281/. in 1908-9 and 11,023,121/. in 1907-8. Grants 

 V secondary schools amounted to 610,435/., as against 

 16,107/. in 1908-9 and 342,393/. in 1907-8; for pupils in 

 |3partory classes, pupil teachers, and bursars, 143,413/. in 

 J09-10. Technical institutions, day technical classes, 

 jiools of art, art classes, and evening and similar schools 

 jd classes absorbed 512,475/., as against 493,927/. in the 

 jpvious year ; maintenance grants for training colleges, 

 1^,985/. ; and building grants for training colleges and 

 [stels, 60,102/. The Imperial College of Science and 

 jchnology in 1909-10 received 20,000/., the "Jeological 

 Iiseum and Geological Survey 20,893/., ^nd the Com- 

 "^'■'■' on Solar Physics 2 119/. The only change of any 



\0. 2157, VOL. 86] 



importance in the present volume consists in the inclusion 

 of tables giving particulars as to the salaries of supple- 

 mentary, student, and pupil teachers on the staff of 

 ordinary elementary schools. In previous years the 

 salaries of certificated and " uncertificated " teachers alone 

 were dealt with. It appears that in 1908-9 the average 

 salaries of certificated teachers in Wales were : men 

 head teachers, 146/. 9s., men assistant teachers, 

 113/. 195. I id., the corresponding amounts in the case of 

 women being 109/. 165. 9^. and 82/. 2>s. ^d. In England 

 the average salaries were higher for certificated teachers. 

 Men head teachers earned, on the average, 173/. iis. 2d., 

 and men assistants 124/. 75. 3d. The amounts for women 

 certificated teachers were 120/. 175. 7d. and 90/. 35. 8d. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 

 Royal Society, February 23. — Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., 

 president, in the chair. — Miss M. Robertson : Trans- 

 mission of flagellates living in the blood of certain fresh- 

 water fishes, rhe goldfish in a pond at Elstree have for 

 some years shown an infection of trypanosomes in their 

 blood. Quite recently, trypanoplasma has also appeared. 

 Upon investigation is was found that the leech Hemiclepsis 

 marginata occurred in the pond, and effected the trans- 

 mission of the parasites. A large number of these leeches 

 were obtained from the Grand Junction Canal reservoir, 

 which is only a short distance from the pond. The young 

 of these were hatched out in captivity, and it was ascer- 

 tained that the flagellates are not passed from parent to 

 offspring. The parent leeches were invariably infected 

 with trypanosomes derived from the fish in the reservoir, 

 which frequently showed these parasites in their blood. 

 The trypanosomes of perch, bream, and goldfish were 

 found to complete their cycles in Hemiclepsis, and could 

 be transmitted to clean goldfish by means of leeches. The 

 specimens used in these experiments were always young 

 laboratory-hatched Hemiclepsis. The trypanosomes of 

 pike and rudd also complete their cycle in this leech, but 

 the opportunity of passing these two forms into goldfish 

 did not present itself. Ihe cycles of the trypanosomes 

 derived from these different sources are apparently 

 identical. The main features are as follows : — The 

 trypanosomes taken into the crop of the leech along with 

 the blood multiply very rapidly, undergoing a marked 

 change of form. After some days, slender forms begin to 

 arise. These increase in number, and at the end of 

 digestion, some time after the blood has quite disappeared, 

 they come forward and lie in the proboscis-sheath in very 

 large numbers. The form found in the sheath is a very 

 slender, long creature of quite definite type ; division has 

 never been observed in this phase. When the leech feeds 

 once more, these individuals are inoculated into the fish. 

 The proboscis-sheath is always cleared of trypanosomes by 

 one feed. After a clean feed the slender, inoculative type 

 of trypanosome disappears from the crop of an infected 

 leech, and the infection is carried on by short, broad forms. 

 Conjugation has never been observed. If water is added 

 to the blood of fish containing trypanosomes, the flagellates 

 divide after a number of hours, probably in response to 

 lowering of osmotic pressure in the fluid in which they 

 find themselves.— Dr. B. B. Boltwood : Report on the 

 separation of ionium and actinium from certain residues, 

 and the production of helium by ionium. At the end of 

 1907 the Royal Society lent to Prof. Rutherford certain 

 actinium residues, which were part of the material remain- 

 ing after the separation of the radium by Messrs. Armet 

 de Lisle, of Paris, from uranium residues acquired by the 

 Royal Society. These residues, in weight 20 kilograms, 

 contained a large quantity of lead, and were a very hetero- 

 geneous mixture of elements. A preliminary examination 

 made by Prof. Rutherford showed that actinium was 

 present, and also a small quantity of radium. The amount 

 of ionium, however, was much less than the theoretical 

 amount to be expected if all of it had been removed with 

 the actinium. The preliminary work of concentration was 

 done by Messrs. Tyrer and Co., under the direction of 

 Prof. Rutherford and Mr. Greenwood. This material was 

 given to the writer for further concentration, and the paper 



