32 



NATURE 



\_Nov. lo, 1887 



impact. The ball is flattened against the club-face, and is for 

 the time prevented from revolving. To assist the grip of the 

 club on the ball, lines are scored over the surface of the ball. 

 Now consider the effect of the rotation of the club-head round 

 the centre of percussion when the ball goes off the heel or the 

 toe. 



The following diagrams of a "toed " ball will best explain my 

 meaning — 



Fig. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 



Flc T shows the club-head and ball on first jneeting'. 



Fig. 2 shows the backward revolution of the club-head due to the impact of 



the ball on the " toe " of the club. 

 Fig. 3 shows the club-head on the recovery before the ball leaves the club- 



face. 



It is quite evident that during the movement from the position 

 shown in Fig. 2 to that in Fig. 3 the ball, though adherent to 

 the club-face, is revolving to the left on its own axis at the same 

 rate as the club-head on its axis. This is the direction of spin 

 that curves the ball to the left, or " toes " it. The opposite 

 happens in a " heeled " ball. This rotary movement is neces- 

 sarily intensified by the involuntary reaction of the wrists, which 

 brings the club-head further round than the elastic recovery of 

 the shaft alone would do. 



I venture to think that this is the true explanation of " heel- 

 ing " and " toeing." The same effects can be produced in other 

 ways ; "heeling " may be imitated by "slicing," but that does 

 none the more make it "heeling," nor must we generalize from 

 what happens in bad play, for then — as I know to my cost — all 

 things are possible. T. Mellard Reade. 



Park Corner, Blundellsands, October 22. 



The Ffynnon Beuno and Cae Gwyn Caves. 



The letter from Mr. Worthington G. Smith in the last 

 number of Nature (p. 7) affords a remarkable instance of rushing 

 into print and giving an opinion on a subject with which the 

 writer is unacquainted. Speaking of the deposits in the caves, 

 he states that all he knows about the matter has been 

 derived from reading a very short abstra,ct of a paper 

 read by Dr. Hicks at the recent meeting of the British 

 Association, in which the caves are referred to. Now, so much 

 has been written and published on the Ffynnon Beuno and 

 Cae Gwyn Caves in Nature and other scientific publications, 

 that it is extraordinary that anyone should venture to offer an 

 opinion without previously reading up the literature of the sub- 

 ject. Mr. Worthington G. Smith states that he has visited 

 the caves, and is fairly well acquainted with the Glacial 

 deposits of North Wales and with Palaeolithic implements 

 in general, and that his "unbiased opinion is, and will 

 so remain — unless" he gets "very convincing proof to the 

 contrary — that the drift at the caves has been without 

 doubt relaid." We may be thankful for Mr. Smith's opinion, 

 but unfortunately it is not woith anything, as his letter conclu- 

 sively proves. Although his opinion is of no consequence, I 

 think it should not pass unnoticed, and it affords me an oppor- 

 tunity of stating that during the last month the drift about the 

 entrance of the Cae Gwyn Cave has been again carefully examiiied, 

 and that the Reports of the British Association Committee have 

 been fully confirmed. G. H. Morton, 



Liverpool. 



THE VICTORIA UNIVERSITY. 



"VITE are glad to observe that the application of the 

 » * Yorkshire College for admission to the Victoria 

 University has been successful. Doubt was expressed by 

 some members of the Court as to whether the Faculty of 

 Arts in the Leeds institution was strong enough to justify 

 its claim to share in the privileges enjoyed by Manches- 

 ter and Liverpool. This doubt was overruled. The 

 Charter requires that the provision for teaching both arts 

 and sciences in a College must be " reasonably sufficient " 

 before it can be admitted to the University. It is not, 

 however, intended that it must be equally developed 

 in both directions. The Yorkshire College is no doubt 

 stronger on the scientific side, and w^as indeed originally 

 called the " Yorkshii-e College of Science." The name 

 was changed, and the limitation it imphed removed, two 

 years after its foundation, when the Council formally took 

 over the classes in literature and history previously 

 carried on by the Cambridge University Extension. 



The subjects of a curriculum in Arts are now taught, 

 though the number of Professors engaged in the task is 

 less than could be wished. The Professor of Classics is 

 Principal, and representative of his scientific as of his 

 Arts colleagues on the Council. There is a Professor 

 of English Literature and History, and there are Lec- 

 turers in French, German, Italian, and some Oriental 

 languages. An institution which provides a staff com- 

 petent to teach these subjects, and places its Professor 

 of Classics at its head, cannot be accused of an undue 

 preference for science, and is, we think, fully qualified 

 under the terms of the Charter. 



One of the advantages of the federation of local 

 Colleges in a University is that members of their governing 

 bodies will be brought together in its management, and 

 will thus learn practically what is being done in other 

 institutions. Leeds will no doubt be stimulated to 

 attempt to bring its Arts Faculty to the level attained 

 by Manchester. Manchester may learn that combined 

 classes for both sexes are practicable, and that the 

 addition of a Faculty of Technology to those of Arts 

 and Science may be of advantage to all concerned. 



The Victoria University is now fairly started on its 

 career, and its constituent Colleges have their future in 

 their own hands. Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds can 

 confer degrees on students in their principal educational 

 institutions untrammelled by the requirements of any 

 external authority. We believe that this experiment is 

 more promising than an attempt to subordinate local 

 Colleges to our older Universities. Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge have traditions and peculiarities which those who 

 know them best would wish to survive amid the changes 

 which are from time to time necessary to bring them into 

 harmony with the spirit of the age. Had a close union 

 been formed between these Universities and the local 

 Colleges, it is probable that the Colleges would gradually 

 have destroyed much that in its place in the Universities 

 is useful, or that the Universities would have checked the 

 growth of the Colleges by insisting on the attempt to 

 fulfil conditions which in a manufacturing town are 

 unattainable. 



However this may be, it is certain that the most success- 

 ful provincial Colleges have achieved success without 

 direct connection with Oxford or Cambridge, though from 

 the fact that graduates of these Universities are always to 

 j be found on the Professorial Staff they have exercised an 

 I indirect and no doubt useful influence. 



If the Victoria University succeeds in combining the 



love of knowledge for its own sake with a readiness to 



meet the practical requirements of an age in which 



success in commerce and in learning are closely re- 



I lated, it may acquire a prestige tand an authority 



i second to that of no other educational institution in the 



I country. 



