March 2, 1876] 



NATURE 



353 



short at the northern limits of New South Wales, and 

 makes the coal-field of that colony Mesozoic, against the 

 earnest protest of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, whose judg- 

 ment on all matters concerning the geology of New South 

 Wales is not to be lightly opposed. Cretaceous strata, 

 first recognised from fossil evidence by Prof. M'Coy, 

 are represented as covering a wide belt of country from 

 the plains south of the Darling northwards to the Gulf of 

 Carpentaria. The tertiary deposits are massed under 

 one tint, which spreads over most of the interior, sweeping 

 up to the base of the inland slopes of the Eastern Alps, 

 and down to the coast-hne for many leagues on the 

 northern, western, and southern margins of the country. 



No arrows to show prevalent inclinations of strata have 

 been inserted on the map, and as no illustrative sections 

 are given, the reader is left to infer the relations of the 

 formations whose general area and boundaries are so 

 clearly defined. The required information may be ex- 

 pected in the promised text to accompany the map. 

 Another omission is the want of any sign for the gold 

 and coal-fields. This might have been easily inserted 

 without any diminution of the clearness and beauty of 

 the map, and would have been of value to those who take 

 interest in the mineral resources of the country. It is to 

 be hoped that a new edition will soon be demanded, and 

 that these small defects in a most useful and meritorious 

 work will be supplied. 



PHYSICAL SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS 



WE have received the following additional letters on 

 this subject : — 



Your Rugby correspondents apf>ear to me somewhat 

 to misapprehend Dr. N. M. Watts's arguments on 

 this important question. No satisfactory results, he 

 maintains, can accrue from science teaching in schools 

 until the subject is placed upon its true position of educa- 

 tional equality, both as regards range and time, with 

 classics and mathematics, and no system of regulations 

 or of examinations can be said to fulfil its object in which 

 this position is ignored. I for my own part most cordially 

 support Dr. Watts's views. The position at present ac- 

 corded to science in English schools is, as Sir John 

 Lubbock has clearly shown, anything but satisfactory, 

 and this state of things seems likely to continue so long 

 as the examinations for which the boys prepare persist in 

 placing the science subjects in a distinctly inferior posi- 

 tion to the older studies. Surely it is the part of examin- 

 ing bodies to lead and raise the education of the country. 

 I think, however, that it has been fully proved that the 

 " Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board " 

 has not done this, at any rate so far as science is con- 

 cerned. The facts adduced by Mr. Cumming as to the 

 small number of candidates presenting themselves for 

 examination in science proves to my mind that the teach- 

 ing of science is usually discouraged because it is usually 

 not understood, and no efficient means of teaching science 

 being as a rule provided, these subjects are not only 

 neglected but their study becomes even despised by the 

 boys. The truth is that it is the difficulty of obtaining 

 such men as Mr. Wilson and Dr. Watts which renders 

 the progress of science teaching in schools less rapid than 

 some of us could wish. As soon as the supply of really 

 competent and high class natural science masters becomes 

 as large as that of equally distinguished teachers of classics 

 or mathematics we may be sure that science will occupy 

 no inferior position. Until that time arrives it behoves 

 all those interested in the educational applications of 

 science to take care that the teaching is really exact, 

 methodical, and disciplinary', in short, scientific, so that if 

 we do not progress rapidly we advance all the more , 

 surely, and we look with interest to the results of the j 

 education in those few schools such as Giggleswick and j 



Newcastle-under-Lyne, in which science has already been 

 placed on a footing of equality with the older studies. 

 Manchester, Feb. 26 Hexrv E. Roscoe 



The remarks of Dr. Marshall Watts on physical science 

 in schools in Nature (vol. xiii., p. 311), seem to me to 

 call for one or two observations in addition to those 

 made by Mr. Wilson and Mr. Cumming in your columns 

 last week (p. 329). 



Dr. Watts selects a few questions from the examination 

 papers that were set in heat, chemistry, and geology, by 

 the O.xford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board 

 in 1854, the first year of its existence, in order to show 

 what he considers the very elementary nature of the 

 knowledge required, and he adds that " with the exception 

 of the last question [naming certain rocks and fossils] 

 there is no test of a practical land at all." 



Now it is only fair to state that although it is quite true 

 that there was no examination in practical chemistry in 

 1854, yet in the regulations for the next year " the elements 

 of practical qualitative analysis " were added to " the 

 elementary' parts of inorganic chemistry," and last July 

 those candidates who took in chemistry' were examined 

 for three hours in practical laboratory work, six sub- 

 stances being given to each boy for analysis. 



Moreover, with regard to theoretical chemistry, the 

 paper that was set last year was decidedly harder than 

 that of the year before. I inclose a copy, and should be 

 glad if you could find space to print it. As a matter of 

 fact it is harder than the average chemistry papers of the 

 London University Matriculation Examination, and quite 

 as hard as an ordinary Oxford Pass Paper. 



" Natural Philosophy {Chemical Division.) {Time 

 li hours.) 

 ' A. 



" I. What happens when pure iron is dissolved in excess 

 of dilute sulphuric acid ? Give an account of the proper- 

 ties of the solution which is obtained, and the tests by 

 which you would show what salt of iron is present Sup- 

 pose some of the solution were boiled with potassium 

 nitrate, what changes would you expect to take place ? 



" 2. Explain atom, molecule, acid, base. How can you 

 show the composition by weight and volume of hydrogen 

 with chlorine, bromine, and iodine? mention the best 

 methods of obtaining these compounds in the state both 

 of gas and in solution. 



" 3. How is analysis of air made with the eudiometer ? 

 Describe how to correct the observations for pressure, 

 temperature, and aqueous vapour. Suppose 100 c.c. of 

 oxygen to be mixed with 10 c.c. of marsh gas and 

 exploded, find the amount of the residual gases. 



" 4. What is the percentage composition of nitrous and 

 nitric oxides? How are these bodies prepared? Dis- 

 tinguish between the properties of nitrates and nitrites. 



" 5. Describe briefly the manufactiue either of sulphuric 

 acid or of bleaching powder. 



" 6. Account for the production of carbon mon-oxide in 

 the blast furnace, and show what action it has in reducing 

 the roasted iron-stone. What is the best method of 

 preparing carbon mon-oxide : in what respects does it 

 differ from the di-oxide ? 



" 7. How is the metal aluminium prepared ? Describe 

 the manufacture of alum, and give a brief account of the 

 properties of alumina. 



"8. Describe the preparation and properties of the 

 bodies SnCl,, HgC.>N,,, PbO., KoCroO;, HCN. 



^^ Practical Chemistry. {Time 3 hours.) 



" 1. The substances marked i, 2, 3, 4 are simple salts. 



"2. The substances marked 5, 6 are elements. 



*•' You are requested to find out what they are, and to 

 write a full account of the methods you use."' 



Now at the risk of being accused of taking a low stand- 

 ard, I cannot help thinking that although some of these 



