342 



NATURE 



\Aug. 17, 1876 



A MOVEMENT at last has been made by Lord Aberdare, late 

 Lord President of the Council, to obtain statistics relating to 

 Secondary Education. On the 4th he asked the Duke of Rich- 

 mond, the present Lord President, whether he had the means 

 of making a return of the number of schools in England and 

 Wales in which instruction was given to children above thirteen 

 years of age, and if he had not, whether he would take any 

 measure to supply such deficiency. There had been exhaustive 

 inquiry into the universities, public schools, and elementary 

 schools, followed by legislative action, but there had been no 

 inquiry into the state of the schools — such as the endowed 

 schools throughout the country — which occupied a position be- 

 tween the elementary and higher-class schools, and he believed 

 that on inquiry it would be found that large districts were insuf- 

 ficiently supplied with the means of obtaining such education. 

 He knew it would be impossible for the Lord President, how- 

 ever well disposed, to furnish the same amount of information 

 on this subject which would be supplied through the medium of 

 a Royal Commission. We certainly want not only these statis- 

 tics, but town and country organisations, which are impossible 

 without them. 



No occasion has before drawn together so many distinguished 

 men of science from abroad, in various departments, as the 

 Centennial Exhibitition at Philadelphia. Without attempting 

 to enumerate all who might be mentioned in this relation, Sillu 

 malt's Journal recalls, from Great Britain, Sir William Thom- 

 son, the well-known physicist, who is President of the Judges on 

 the XXVth Group — Instruments of Precision and Research ; 

 Sir John Hawkshaw, the eminent engineer who was last year 

 President of the British Association ; Sir Charles Reed, Presi- 

 dent of the XXVIIIth Group of Judges— for Education and 

 Science ; Capt. Douglas Galton, President of the Judges under 

 the XVII Ith Group — Railway Plan«, &c. ; Mr. Isaac Lowthian 

 Bell, the most eminent iron metallurgist in Great Britain, and 

 author of the well-known treatise on the " Chemistry of the 

 Blast Furnace," President of the Judges of Group I. — Minerals, 

 Mining, Metallurgy, &c. ; Dr. William Odling, Waynflete Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry in the University of Oxford, Secretary of the 

 Board of Judges on Group III — Chemistry and Pharmacy, &c. ; 

 from Sweden, Prof. Adolf E. Nordenskjold, Prof. C. A. Ang- 

 strbtn, Polytechnic Institute, Prof. O. M. Torrell, Chief of the 

 Geological Survey of Sweden, and Richard Akerman, of the 

 Royal Swedish School of Mines, all from Stockholm, under 

 whose immediate superintendence the excellent geological, 

 mineralogical, and metallurgical display of Sweden, at the 

 Exposition, has been made ; from Russia, Major- General 

 Axel Gadoline, an eminent Russian engineer, and Prof. L. 

 Nicholsky, Mining Engineer and adjunct Professor at the Mining 

 School of St. Petersburg, who is in charge of a systematic col- 

 lection of Russian minerals — the only systematic mineral collec- 

 tion in the Exposition ; from Germany, Dr. Wedding, Royal 

 Prussian Counsellor of Mines , Dr. Rudolph von Wagner, the 

 well-known editor of Wagner's Jahresbericht, and Dr. G. Seel- 

 horst, of Nuremberg ; from France, M. L. Simonin, J. F. 

 Kuhlman (fils), M. E. Levasseur, and M. Emile Guimet, of 

 Lyons ; from Italy, Prof. Emanuel Paterno, of Palermo ; from 

 Mexico, Mariano Barcena, the mineralogist. The Emperor of 

 Brazil, without claiming the position of a man of science, mani- 

 fests the most intelligent and cultivated understanding of all that 

 is most worthy of notice in scientific methods, his inquiries ex- 

 tending to everything which should interest the head of a great 

 Continental empire. Prof. Nordenskjold, on July i, left on his 

 return to join a new expedition of discovery to the seas of 

 Northern Siberia. 



The number of statues erected by the French to their 

 men of science is fast enlarging. Lately we had to mention the 

 inauguration of M. Elie de Beaumont's monument in Normandy. 



We learn from the papers of Dauphine (in the south-east 

 corner) that Grenoble has just rendered the same honour to 

 the celebrated Vaucanson, one of the greatest mechanicians of 

 the last century. It was he who invented the chain for com- 

 municating motion at a distance. He used it with an ad- 

 mirable sagacity for constructing the first spinning machine and 

 automata. Vaucanson's automata were deemed a century ago 

 a wonder of the age. He was a candidate for admission to the 

 Academy of Sciences, but was rejected by the influence of the 

 Court party, to whom he was obnoxious. Louis XV. was 

 highly pleased with the result of the election, and he was heard 

 saying, "We will ask him to construct for us an automaton 

 Academician." It was Vaucanson's own collection which formed 

 originally the primitive stock out of which the Conservatoire 

 des Arts et Metiers was grounded. 



The number of visitors to the Loan Collection of Scientific 

 Apparatus during the week ending August 1 2 was as follows : — 

 Monday, 8,991; Tuesday, 3,458; Wednesday, 424; Thursday, 

 388; Friday, 359; Saturday, 3,372; total, 16,992. 



A NEW geological map of Scotland by Prof. Geikie, Director 

 of the Geological Survey of Scotland, is about to be published 

 by Messrs. W. and A. K. Johnston. It is on the scale of ten 

 miles to one inch, like the tourist map which the same firm 

 published some years ago, and which has been found so useful 

 by all travellers in Scotland. The new map has been engraved 

 with special reference to the requirements of the geologist. It 

 is not too crowded with names, and instead of the old meaning- 

 less hill-shading, it has the heights marked by small triangles 

 and reference figures. The geological information includes the 

 most recent observations. The chief lines of dislocation are 

 marked in strong black lines ; the general dip of the formations 

 is,shown by arrows. In addition to the older recks, the map 

 shows the position of the more important raised beaches, river 

 alluvia, tracts of blown sand and glacier-moraines. Rour.d the 

 edge of the sheet a series of sections has been engraved to illus- 

 trate the geological structure of each great division of the 

 country. We understand that the map is to be ready for the 

 meeting of the British Association next month in Glasgow, 

 and therefore in time for the geological tourists, who will, no 

 doubt, spread themselves over Scotland at the close of the 

 meeting. 



We learn from the New York Tribune that Prof. Henry took 

 the opportunity at the last meeting of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, to say a few words about the Smithsonian Institution. 

 Its funds at present, having been increased by donations and 

 judicious management, amount to $717,000, although $600,000 

 has been expended on the building, and the original legacy pro- 

 duced only $541,000. Congress has enacted several liberal 

 measures which have been of great service to the Institution and 

 have relieved it of many expenses, such as the cost of caring for 

 the grounds and library ; and latterly an appropriation of $20,000 

 per year has cleared the expense of the National Museum. This 

 liberality has enabled the Smithsonian to devote a larger share 

 of its income towards publishing works of original research, and 

 to defray the expense of its system of scientific exchanges, which 

 has the whole world for its field. The publications already 

 issued and under way were enumerated. Prof. Henry said that 

 it was contemplated to authorise a series of experiments to deter- 

 mine accurately the rate of increase of the earth's temperature at 

 progressive depths. This was now rendered more practicable 

 than before by the number of artesian wells in the country. 

 Another project included new and careful experiments on the 

 velocity of light ; that furnishing one of the means for ascertain- 

 ing the distance of the sun. Some steps had been taken to carry 

 out this project, and a gentleman had promised to give a special 

 fund for the purpose. The work of obtaining accurately the 



