528 



NATURE 



[January 6, 191 6 



19 17, what he said applied generally to the ages fifteen 

 to seventeen. He pressed for the teaching at school of 

 the combined course in chemistry, physics, iand biology, 

 generally known as the preliminary scientific for medi- 

 cal students. Discussion showed that this was already 

 done in many of the schools represented, and that such 

 work was recognised by almost every university except 

 Oxford. In the afternoon Mr. Christopher Tumor 

 was equally convincing in showing the school science 

 course should afford a sound foundation for the duties 

 of a rural landlord. Later Mr. M. D. Hill, of Eton, 

 invited discussion on the management of school 

 museums. A very useful adjunct to this conference 

 is the exhibition of standard scientific text-books by 

 publishing firms, and of scientific apparatus by several 

 of the best-known dealers. Conspicuous among- these 

 were glassware and laboratory balances of British 

 make. 



The fourth annual conference of educational asso- 

 ciations is being held this week at the University of 

 London. The arrangements have been made by a 

 committee, on which nearly thirty associations are 

 represented, and more than twenty of these hold their 

 meetings under the same roof. Some meetings are 

 sitting simultaneously, others follow in quick succes- 

 sion. The Educational Exhibition, representing six- 

 teen different publishing firms, stands conveniently 

 open for those who wish to see the newest school 

 books. The inaugural meeting was held on Monday 

 afternoon, January 3, when the Vice-Chancellor of 

 London University, Sir Alfred Pearce Gould, took the 

 chair, and Sir Oliver Lodge gave his address on 

 " Education after the War." This proved to be a 

 strong plea for science and natural history in the educa- 

 tion of ordinary boys of thirteen and fourteen years 

 of age. It is proposed to publish this and other papers 

 in one volume after the conference. The conference 

 is being extremely well attended; the audience at Sir 

 Oliver Lodge's address filled the Great Hall of the 

 University. After the address the Society of Educa- 

 tion held an open meeting to hear Dr. A. R. Abelson 

 on "The Comparative Study of Normal and Sub- 

 normal Children," and Mr. C. Burt on "Some Results 

 of Mental and Scholastic Tests." 



The issue for December last of the Bulletin of the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology is devoted to a 

 catalogue of the officers and students of the institute, 

 together with a statement of the requirements for 

 admission and a description of the courses of instruc- 

 tion. So extensive are the activities described that the 

 volume runs to nearly six hundred pages. Special 

 interest "attaches to the opportunities for research 

 offered by the institute. Facilities for original inves- 

 tigation are afforded in all the departmental labora- 

 tories devoted to advanced work, as well as in separ- 

 ately organised research laboratories. Such labora- 

 • tories have been provided for physical chemistry, 

 applied chemistry, electrical engineering, and sanitary 

 science, among other subjects. In addition, the insti- 

 tute maintains the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, on 

 the edge of the cliff that bounds the greater crater of 

 Kilauea in Hawaii, where continuous registration and 

 record of' lava movements and effects peculiar to the 

 district are carried out, and experiments on the 

 kindred physical and. chemical phenomena are under- 

 taken. In accordance with an agreement between 

 Harvard University and the institute, male 

 students may receive certain benefits from the 

 University. These benefits are confined to students 

 registering in civil, mechanical, mining, electrical, or 

 sanitary engineering. Such students will be entitled to 

 the same rights and privileges as students in the 

 professional schools of the University, and will be 



NO. 2410, VOL. 96] 



eligible for degrees from the University, in addition 

 to those that they may receive from the institute. 



The report of the work of the Department of Tech- 

 nology of the City and Guilds of London Institute for 

 the session 1914-15 has now been published by Mr. 

 John Murray. The effect of the war on the country 

 in general is reflected in the reduced numbers of 

 students attending classes for technical training and 

 presenting themselves for examination at the end of 

 their courses of instruction. Apart from the large 

 numbers who have enlisted in the Navy or Army, and 

 whose technical training has been thereby suspended, 

 both the extreme activity in certain industries and 

 districts and the slackness and dislocation of business 

 in other trades have been conditions unfavourable to 

 the steadv attendance and training of young men in 

 technical classes. Although the total number of classes 

 registered in technological subjects remained practic- 

 ally the same, the number of students in attendance 

 fell from 55,996 to 47,050 this year— a reduction of 

 nearly 16 per cent, on the previous year's figures. 

 Correspondingly the number of candidates who pre- 

 sented themselves for examination in technology from 

 centres in the United Kingdom fell from 23,119 to 

 15,623, a decrease of nearly 32^ per cent. Towards 

 the close of the session several technical schools ren- 

 dered valuable help to the Ministry of Munitions by 

 using their workshops for making those articles con- 

 nected with munitions of war for which their machinery 

 was best adapted, and by training men to take their 

 place in engineering firms executing Government con- 

 tracts. Notwithstanding the war, the institute again 

 held Its examinations in India and the Overseas 

 Dominions. New Zealand and South Africa each con- 

 tributed contingents of candidates, and others were 

 examined in Melbourne, Jamaica, Malta, and Singa- 

 pore. 



SOCfETlES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Dublin. 

 Royal Dublin Society, December 21. — Dr. J. M. 



Purser in the chair.— Prof. W. Brown : The change of 

 length in nickel wires of different rigidities, due to 

 alternating magnetic fields of frequencies up to 150 per 

 second. The change in the length of nickel wire, due 

 to the application of magnetic fields, depends on the 

 rigidity of the wire, and on the frequency of the 

 applied alternating magnetic field. For a magnetic 

 field of 200 c.g.s. units with a decrease in the rigidity 

 of about i2| per cent., the contraction of the wire is 

 Increased about 60 per cent, for a direct magnetic field, 

 and about 80 per cent, for an alternating magnetic 

 field of frequency 150 per second; and when the fre- 

 quency of the alternating magnetic field is increased 

 six times the contraction is increased 24 per cent, for 

 a light longitudinal load on the wire, and 9 per cent, 

 for a load sixteen times greater, that is, when the 

 wire has a rigidity of 810 x lo*^ grams per sq. cm. — 

 G. H. Pethybridge : The vertlcillium disease of the 

 potato. The disease is a specific type of hadromycosis 

 caused by the fungus V. albo-atru'm, R. et B., which 

 Invades the wood vessels of all the organs of the 

 plant and causes its premature death by desiccation. 

 The fungus enters the wood system of the new tubers, 

 hibernates there, and causes the infection of the plants 

 produced, when such tubers are used as "seed." The 

 fungus has been obtained and studied in pure culture, 

 and infection experiments have proved Its parasitic 

 nature.— Prof. H. H. Dixon and W. R. G. Atkins : 

 Osmotic pressures in plants. VI. — On the composi- 

 tion of the sap in the conducting tracts of trees at 

 different levels and at different seasons of the year. 

 Sap centrlfuged from the wood at the top of the stem 



