April 27, 191 1] 



NATURE 



299 



To the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia for October, 1910, Dr. H. W. Fowler contributes 

 notes on little-known New Jersey fishes, and likewise notes 

 on various chimaeroids and ganoids. In the latter a new 

 chimaera is described from New Zealand, and two new 

 species of Cylindrosteus are likewise named. 



In the same serial for December, 1910, Mr. Burnett 

 Smith describes certain fish-remains from the Devonian of 

 New York. Most of these are species pertaining to the 

 European genus, Machaeracanthus ; but the author was 

 fortunate enough to obtain part of the armour of a small 

 arthrodire, which is provisionally regarded as referable to 

 the plastron of a species of Dinichthys. Assuming this to 

 be the case, he points out that the generally received deter- 

 mination of the bony elements of this part of the exo- 

 skeleton is incorrect. 



In Science Progress for January, Dr. H. H. Swinnerton 

 gives reasons to show that the ordinary view as to the 

 respective functions of the median and paired fins of fishes 

 require revision. These views are based, at any rate to a 

 considerable extent, on the movements of fishes which have 

 been deprived of one or more of their fins ; but the author 

 points out that operations of such severity must have caused 

 very serious shock to the patients, and thus induced 

 " wobbling " and other eccentric movements. As regards 

 the hind dorsal and the ventral fin, the author is of opinion 

 that their function is connected with the tail-fin, which is 

 the sole propelling organ of the fish. The anterior dorsal 

 fin, on the other hand, appears to serve as the chief agent 

 in the rapid turning movements which are essential to the 

 safety of a fish living in swiftly flowing waters. As regards 

 the functions of the paired fins, these appear to have 

 changed pari passu with the modification in the structure 

 and orientation of these appendages which has taken place 

 as we pass from ancient generalised to modern specialised 

 types. To follow the author in tracing these out would, 

 however, occupy too much space on the present occasion, 

 and it must suffice to state that whereas in the primitive 

 fossil shark Cladoselache the paired fins were little more 

 than broad-based lobes on the sides of the body, with their 

 expanded surfaces in the plane of the latter, in modern 

 teleost fishes they are narrow-based fan-like structures, with 

 their broad surfaces capable of being extended at right 

 angles to the axis of the body. And the author has found 

 that " it is possible to recognise a complete sequence from 

 the broad-based fin acting as a keel, through the narrow- 

 based fin with limited freedom acting as a lateral rudder, 

 to the narrpw-based fin with great freedom of movement 

 which enables it to be used either as a keel, a lateral 

 rudder, or a break." 



In the April number of The Zoologist Colonel C. E. 

 Shepherd continues his account of the pharyngeal teeth of 

 fishes, dealing in this instance with the members of the 

 cod family (Gadidae) and the Carangidae. R, L. 



TECHNICAL TRAINING AND THE OPTICAL 

 INDUSTRY. 



'T'HE scheme for the establishment of an Institute of 

 Technical Optics in London was described in a short 

 article in the issue of Nature for March 16. In that 

 article reference was made to two elaborate reports, cover- 

 ing nearly forty pages of foolscap print, and signed, 

 respectively, by the education officer of the London Countv 

 Council, Mr. R. Blair, and the Council's educational 

 adviser. Dr. Garnett. The contents of Mr. Blair's report 

 provide much information as to the provision made in this 

 and other countries for higher work in technical optics, and 

 we here reprint extracts from this report as showing the 

 need for the action of the London County Council. 



Introduction. — ^Although the United Kingdom is no longer 

 in the forefront of the optical industry, the science of 

 optics si find oil a high level in this country for about 

 140 yf.us .ift< 1 the publication of Newton's " Treatise on 

 Optics " in 1704. Since 1850, however, the study of 



Seometrical optics has progressed rapidly in Germany, but 

 as been practically at a standstill in England. The trade 

 conditions in both countries have kept pace with the state 

 of optical knowledge. At one time the United Kingdom 



NO. 2165, VOL. 86] 



made most of the best optical instruments in the world and 

 produced a large proportion of optical inventions. But 

 latterly, inventions, presumably owing to more improved 

 facilities for study and practical training, have been more 

 numerous in Germany than in the United Kingdom. The 

 great increase in the German production and export has 

 also been assisted by many other factors, amongst which 

 may be mentioned the help afforded by the Imperial 

 Physical-Technical Institute at Charlottenburg (which 

 should not be confused with the Technical University at 

 the same town), the efforts of the Association of Instrument 

 Makers, and the perfection to which the production of the 

 special glass required has been brought at Jena. During 

 the last fifteen years it has been gradually recognised in 

 England that if the lost ground is to be regained, either 

 wholly or partially, adequate provision must be made for 

 optical instruction in all its branches. 



A large amount of valuable information had been gradu- 

 ally gathered together, but, in view of the considerable 

 expenditure suggested in aid of technical training for the 

 optical industry, the presentation of this report was post- 

 poned until all available sources of information could be 

 consulted. The inquiries include information regarding the 

 extent of the trade in London and the provinces ; the 

 amount of capital invested and the number of workmen 

 employed ; the amount of imports and exports ; any 

 pecuniary support likely to be forthcoming from the trade 

 or other sources, and the extent to which the trade would 

 cooperate both in giving facilities to employees to attend 

 the proposed institute, and in other ways ; the question as 

 to what branches of the optical industry should be included 

 in the scheme, and the nature and extent of the institute 

 as regards accommodation, equipment, and staff. It has 

 also been necessary to study carefully the conditions of 

 optical instruction and trade in Germany, and to investigate 

 the statements and representations on behalf of their in- 

 terests made by persons and bodies interested in the science 

 of optics and the manufacture of optical instruments in 

 Klngland. 



The final results of the investigations made and the 

 conclusions which may reasonably be drawn from them, 

 taken as a whole, point to the necessity for the establish- 

 ment of the proposed institute for industrial, scientific, and 

 national reasons — industrial because of the lack of progress 

 in the British optical industry compared with the rapid 

 progress made in Germany, and the fact that the value of 

 an optical instrument lies almost wholly in the scientific 

 knowledge and skilled labour applied to its making : 

 scientific because of the necessity to the scientific worker 

 of the production on the spot of the best and most suitable 

 instruments for the purposes of pure and applied science ; 

 national because of the necessity of the home production of 

 instruments for various branches of the public service. 



Comparison between the Provision of Optical 

 Instruction in England and Germany. 



It appears beyond doubt that instruction in pure and 

 applied optics and in fine instrument making is much 

 more developed in Germany than in England. At most 

 German universities, especially the technical universities, 

 the importance of optics and its practical applications are 

 recognised to a greater extent than in England ; in some 

 cases attention is even devoted to the practice of instru- 

 ment making. At English universities optics are either 

 practically neglected or are taught as a branch of physics 

 together with sound, heat, and electricity. When atten- 

 tion is devoted to optics, the practical application of 

 optical principles to the designing of instruments is almos^ 

 entirely disregarded. 



With regard to special technical schools for instrument 

 making, Germany possesses four, England only a depart- 

 ment of an institute. Moreover, the German schools art 

 generally housed in proper buildings and well equipped for 

 theoretical and practical work, whilst the building and 

 equipment of the Northampton Department of Optics are 

 quite inadequate. 



The attention devoted to the German schools is reflected 

 in the attendance of full-time day pupils : — Schwenningen, 

 for example, has seventy-two, Gottingen eighty-eight, of 

 whom a large number are engaged in technical optics. 

 The flepnrtnient ,nt the North.nmptnn Institute hns tW'»t\fv 



