September 17, 1914] 



NATURE 



81 



I or of the University of Lille, free places in the faculty 

 ' of engineering of the University of Bristol, which is 

 provided and maintained in their college. Of course, 

 many of these students are at present serving with the 

 respective armies, but it is hoped that any students 

 who were unable to serve and who are, at present, in 

 England will avail themselves of this offer. 



The new session of the Sir John Cass Technical 

 Institute, Aldgate, E.C., which is especially devoted 

 to technical training in experimental science and in 

 the artistic crafts, will commence on Monday, 

 September 21. The instruction in experimental science 

 provides systematic courses in mathematics, physics, 

 and chemistry for London University examinations, 

 in addition to the courses on higher technological 

 instruction, which form a special feature of the work 

 of the Institute. In connection with the latter, several 

 new departures are being made for the coming 

 session. The curriculum in connection with the 

 fermentation industries has been much developed and 

 now includes courses of instruction on brewing and 

 malting, bottling and cellar management, brewer}' 

 plant, and on the micro-biology of the fermentation 

 industries. A connected series of lectures dealing 

 with the supply and control of power has also been 

 arranged to meet the requirements of those engaged 

 in works connected with chemical, electrical, and the 

 fermentation industries. In the department of 

 physics and mathematics a special course of lectures 

 and demonstrations will be given on colloids, which 

 will deal with the methods employed in their investiga- 

 tion and their relation to technical problems ; also 

 special courses of lectures on the influence of surface- 

 tension on chemical phenomena, and on the construc- 

 tion and uses of physical instruments in their applica- 

 tion to physical chemistry, on the methods of differ- 

 ential and integral calculus, and on the theory and 

 applications of mathematical statistics, the latter of 

 which will treat of the application and modern mathe- 

 matical methods of dealing with statistical data in 

 social, educational, economic, and physical problenis. 

 In the metallurgy department, in addition to the 

 ordinary courses of instruction in general metallurgy, 

 special courses of an advanced character are provided 

 on gold, silver, and allied metals, on iron and steel, 

 on metallography and pyrometrj', on heat treatment 

 of iron and steel, on mechanical testing of metals 

 and alloys, on mining, mine surveying, and on 

 mineralogy. 



The director of technical instruction in the Trans- 

 iraal, at a conference held in Pretoria in November, 

 19 13, on technical, industrial, and commercial educa- 

 tion, has made a thoughtful contribution on technical 

 iducation as it affects the training of the boy for 

 industry ("The Trades School in the Transvaal." 

 By W. J. Home. South African Journal of Science, 

 \ugust, 19 14). Naturally he deals with the peculiar 

 renditions of industry in South Africa, having regard 

 :o the large employment of native labour, the special 

 md sporadic character of the industries and the 

 arge use of automatic machinery. Whilst expressing 

 :he belief "that human nature can be ennobled by 

 :he organisation of industry in the service of educa- 

 :ion," the author deals rather with the training of 

 :he boy outside the industry, and attempts to show 

 he possibilities of preparing him from quite an early 

 ige for some specific craft chosen as his future occupa- 

 ion. The type of school advocated is an apprentice- 

 ship school in which the boy is kept at work, including 

 short breaks, for forty-seven hours a week, of which 

 ronsiderably more than half is workshop practice, 

 rhe course extends over forty-eight weeks of the year, 

 ind is continued for three and a half years, payment 



NO. 2342, VOL. 94] 



being made to the pupil ranging from Sd. to 15. gd. 

 per diem according as the pupil is graded. Little 

 is done to ensure the general cultivation of all the 

 child's faculties. He is regarded as the human factor 

 in the industrial machine ; only utilitarian ends are 

 sought ; not his own uses, but the uses of an indus- 

 trial society are the aim. The employer is not regarded 

 as having responsibility for the training of his em- 

 ployes. He must have them ready trained or simply 

 as labourers. The author reviews the position of the 

 trades school, in which theory and practice are 

 taught — the industrial school exclusively practical — 

 the manual training school which provides for the 

 due training of all the child's faculties irrespective of 

 future calling. The policy and methods of the trades 

 school as here advocated will scarcely commend them- 

 selves to thoughtful British educationists. 



The new session of the Battersea Polytechnic 

 opened on Tuesday, September 15, and particulars of 

 all the courses and classes are given in the calendar 

 of the Polytechnic. The following sections of the 

 work are deserving of special notice : Full-day and 

 evening courses in preparation for the intermediate 

 and final degree examinations in science, engineer- 

 ing, and music are offered. In the day technical 

 college full-time courses are arranged in mechanical, 

 civil, electrical and motor engineering, architecture 

 and building, chemical engineering and art, the 

 courses covering a' period of three or four jears, at 

 tha end of which time students passing the necessary 

 examinations are awarded the Polytechnic diploma. 

 There are also full university and diploma courses in 

 mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, etc. Con- 

 currently with the diploma courses, students can 

 prepare for and take the degree examinations in 

 science and engineering of the University of London. 

 The training department of domestic science offers 

 two-, three- or four-year courses in preparation for 

 the teachers' diploma in domestic subjects, and the 

 commerce department gives a course extending over 

 two or three years in preparation for civil service 

 and other examinations, and for secretarial and 

 general business appointments. The physical training 

 department for women offers a course extending 

 over three years, and prepares students for posts as 

 teachers of physical training, drill, gymnastics and 

 games. The department of hygiene and physiology, 

 which is housed in the fine block of buildings re- 

 cently presented by the Drapers' Company, provides 

 complete and comprehensive courses in the following 

 sections : combined course of training for women 

 sanitary inspectors and health visitors, courses for the 

 higher and lower certificates in hygiene, and the 

 course for the lower certificate in physiology. In 

 view of the increasing attention which is being paid 

 to the health and welfare of the community, this 

 department has a wide and ever-growing sphere of 

 usefulness before it. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 31. — M. P. Appell in the 

 chair.^G. Bigourdan : Observation of the eclipse of 

 the sun of August 21, 1914. The times of the com- 

 mencement and end of the eclipse were observed under 

 unfavourable conditions. — E. Vallier : Internal ballis- 

 tics. Various formulae from the recent work of N. 

 Zaboudski. Experiments on the gas pressures and 

 projectile velocities in 3-in. (76-2 mm.) cannon. Ap- 

 proximate formulae are deduced for the velocities and 

 pressures as functions of the weight of the explosive, 

 weight of the projectile, length of the powder cham- 



