426 



NATURE 



[January 25, 1912 



Ing the instrumenlal aspect. Thf Italians did not •cem 

 to be satisfied with their own results. The discussion on 

 the calculus showed methods which had been successful 

 in introducing this subject into schools (cf. Sir Joseph 

 Thomson's laudatory remarks). The requirements of the 

 physicist and ••nf'ineer had been in view from beginninf* 

 to end. but attention had been paid to the concepts of 

 limits, differential coefTiclent, differential equation. In 

 fact, mathematical masters in the larger schools were pre- 

 pared to follow Prof. Perry in many of his reforms and 

 extensions of their curricula, but part company with him 

 when he asks them to eliminate philosophical considera- 

 tions, as unsuited to boys. .Mr. Carson went a stage 

 further. Me advocated a more philosophical treatment 

 from the beginning of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra, 

 in the order named, and would introduce pure mathe- 

 matics — in the sense in which Bcrtrand Russell uses the 

 term — to the older pupils. This he did because he believed 

 that the modern theories of pure mathematics were destined 

 to illumine our understanding of psychology, history, 

 sociology, and economics, just as the older mathematics 

 had thrown light on electricity, heat, light, and other 

 physical sciences. He would teach mathematical philo- 

 sophy as instrumental to human thought and social 

 development, in that it shows the true relation between 

 thought and experience. 



Progress of the Societies. 



.At the business meeting it was reported that nearly all 

 public schools are represented in the Science Masters' 

 Association. The committee had been invited to assist the 

 Army Council in connection with science examinations, and 

 their advice had been utilised. The Oxford and Cambridge 

 Joint Board had agreed to the request of the committee 

 for extended time for practical chemistry. The General 

 Medical Council had altered their regulations so as to 

 admit a public school, under certain conditions, to 

 '* recognition as an institution where medical study may 

 be begun." 



The Mathematical Association has grown during the 

 year, and now has 675 members and 200 associates, the 

 increase of branch activity being worthy of remark. The 

 Mathematical Gazette has been enlarged and made more 

 useful to teachers, and the library is being made more 

 accessible to members. 



Exhibition of Apparatus. 



There was a large and instructive display of apparatus 

 in the common rooms of the London Day Training College, 

 of which we are only able to give a few instances. Mr. 

 D. Bcrridge provided a cheap, serviceable optical bench 

 with vertical adjustments to the stands, while another felt 

 want is supplied by the very handy electrolytic cell of the 

 Rev. W. Burton. Mr. G. H. Martin's model volcanoes 

 will be widely copied, and his dissociation model would 

 be a useful adjunct to the college lecture-room. A carbon 

 rheostat made by the Loretto boys appeared to be a service- 

 able instrument. We should like to see more evidence of 

 boys' ingenuity and handicraft ; its rarity suggests a weak 

 point in the teaching, which it is quite possible is more 

 apparent than real. A simple method of finding the 

 surface-tension of a soap-film, shown by the Rev. S. A. 

 McDowall, gave promise of considerable accuracy. Among 

 the exhibits of business firms we noted more improvements 

 and additions to apparatus of established repute than 

 absolute novelties. Useful instruments for electrical and 

 magnetic instruments, strong but cheap, were shown by 

 Griffin and Sons, Philip Harris and Co., Becker and Co., 

 Gambrell Bros., and others. We noticed a very good 

 " wireless " set by Becker at ten guineas. Nalder Bros, 

 have improved that originally excellent instrument the 

 Ayrton-Mather universal shunt. Watson and Sons had a 

 good display of microscopes, and their " H " stand offers 

 more conveniences, combined with precision, than we have 

 found in an extensive experience of Continental instru- 

 ments. The laboratory fittings by Baird and Tatlock, the 

 stills and ovens by Brown and Son, the lanterns by 

 Reynolds and Branson, are well known, and are being 

 constantly improved. Some gas-generators shown by 

 Townson and Mercer are well suited to school use, and the 



NO. 2204, VOL. 88] 



foot-bellows, without rubber, supplied by Gallcnkamp and 

 Co. will appeal to many. The requirements for labora- 

 tory mathematics are admirably met by G. Cussons, Ltd., 

 and we believe that the school apparatus of the future will 

 follow the lead given by this firm in making use of sets 

 of apparatus with interchangeable parts attached to truly- 

 made substantial standards. They show a hand-microtome 

 which is really efficient and easy to use. As many science 

 masters work in remote districts, they took the opportunity 

 to inspect the well-chosen books exhibited by Messrs. 

 Arnold, B<;ll, Cambridge University Press, Macmillan, 

 Methuen, Oxford Iniv^-^-iiv iv-.^w ->n,i tiniversity Tutorial 

 Press. <'. F. Daniell. 



BIRD-NOTES. 



T N the second part of vol. ix. of the Transactions of the 

 Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney records what is known with regard to the history 

 of the stuffed specimen and egg of the great auk in the 

 Norwich Museum. The egg, which is noteworthy on 

 account of the well-preserved colouring of the markings, 

 was presented to the museum in 19 10 by Mr. James Reeve 

 on his retirement from the curatorship. It was bought by 

 .Mr. Reeve from Mr. J. H. Walter, by whose father it was 

 purchased about 1850 from Dr. Pitman. Beyond this its 

 history cannot be definitely traced, although the suggestion 

 has been made that it originally came from the Hamburg 

 dealer J. G. Brandt. The stuffed bird was presented to the 

 museum in 1873 by Mrs. E. P. Clarke, daughter of Mr. 

 Edward Lombe, of Melton, near Norwich, to whom it 

 previously belonged. Mr. Lombe bought it from Benjamin 

 Leadbeater, the taxidermist, of Brewer Street, Golden 

 Square, W.C., some time previous to 1822 ; but here its 

 history ends. In spite of having probably been stuffed 

 about seventy years ago, the plumage is still in fine 

 condition. 



In The Emu for October, 191 1, the well-known ornith- 

 ologist Mr. Sergius A. Buturlin gives a list of species of 

 Australian birds which visit Siberia. The list includes no 

 fewer than forty-eight species, of which, however, three 

 are only occasional stragglers to the Far North. Of these 

 some ten or eleven breed not only in Siberia, but likewise, 

 although perhaps in slightly different forms, in Australia. 



The Transactions of the Edinburgh Field Naturalists' 

 and Microscopical Society for 1910-11 (vol. vi., part iv.i 

 contains a paper on bird-migration in the Solway district, 

 communicated by the late Mr. Robert Service six months 

 before his death. In one passage the author emphasised 

 the fact that every British bird, except the grouse and 

 perhaps one other species, is, to some extent at any rate, 

 migratory. " All the individuals of such a species as, for 

 example, the robin, shift their quarters a few degrees north 

 or south at the migration seasons. It will thus happen 

 that at the northernmost limit of the distribution of such .1 

 species no birds of that species will be found in winter, 

 while similarly, at the southern limits of its range, no 

 birds of the species will be found in winter." 



Later, the opinion is expressed, on several grounds, 

 that the returns from lighthouses relating to bird-migra- 

 tions are based on misleading data, as birds are never low 

 enough to strike the stations except when the weather is 

 very dark or thick, or when they are driven down by 

 strong gales. 



The feature of the December (191 1) number of Witherby's 

 British Birds is formed by three superb photographs of the 

 black-throated diver, taken by Mr. O. G. Pike in the Outer 

 Hebrides. The photographs were taken from a stone hut, 

 built, with special precautions, near the nest. " The bird 

 before me," writes the artist, " was absolutely unconscious 

 of any danger, and it was really beautiful to watch her 

 as she settled down upon her two eggs. At first she could 

 not get comfortable, and I exposed a good many plates, 

 but when she eventually settled it seemed impossible to 

 move her." 



The damage inflicted on trees and timber by woodpeckers 

 forms the subject of Bulletin No. 39 of the Biological 

 Division of the U.S. Department of .Agriculture. From an 

 economic point of view the author, Mr. W. L. McAtee, 

 divides the group into true woodpeckers, which are mainly 

 beneficial, and sap-suckers, which are very injurious. 



