314 



NATURE 



[January 24, 1901 



physical measurements for small boys, following Board School 

 methods ; but that in the latter institutions mathematical and 

 science teaching were continuous, the same master teaching both 

 to the same boys. In public schools the two subjects are kept 

 separate. Much of what is now taught in the laboratory could 

 more usefully be acquired in mathematical class-rooms with all 

 the necessary apparatus. Mathematics would gain enormously, 

 and much valuable science time be saved. Here Mr. Eggar 

 submitted that he was only urging the adoption of practical 

 mathematics which Prof. Perry had long advocated, and without 

 opposition, but also without any visible effect upon the univer- 

 sities, which still, among other things, demanded a modicum of 

 unapplied and undigested algebra. Sir Henry Roscoe bore out 

 what Mr. Eggar had said, and proposed that a meeting of 

 mathematical masters should be held, at which Prof. Perry 

 might possibly convince them. Speaking as a mathematical 

 master, Mr. Hurst, of Eton, cordially agreed with the views of 

 Prof. Perry and Mr. Eggar; he stated, however, that limited 

 time and the requirements of the universities utterly forbade 

 their adoption in his own case. Another point emphasised by 

 Mr. Eggar was that trigonometry mechanics should be introduced 

 at an earlier stage into the teaching of mathematics, and his 

 resolution that " some knowledge of physics should be required 

 of all candidates for a university degree," was carried 

 unanimously. 



The universities came in also for a good deal of criticism, 

 among other examining bodies, from Mr. C. Falkner, of Wey- 

 mouth. Their entrance science scholarships cause boys to spe- 

 cialise while too young, and before they have got a sound founda- 

 tion upon which to base their education. No college seems to 

 require the same scope of science, and this necessitates what 

 amounts to the private coaching of every boy in the scholarship 

 class of a public school. Mr. Falkner had some very good 

 suggestions to make for the improvement of these and army 

 examinations, and repeated the plea that is now finding much 

 favour, that teachers and examiners should meet and work 

 together. 



The paper by Mr. W. H. Lewis, of Exeter, was not dis- 

 cussed, owing to the author's absence. It dealt with the desir- 

 ability of linger hours and smaller classes, and larger staffs. 

 The difficulty which a " literary" head-master has of realising 

 the peculiarly laborious nature of science teaching where com- 

 plicated apparatus has to be fitted up was also alluded to. 



An interesting survey of the work of school natural history 

 societies was to be found in the address by Mr. A. Vassall, of 

 Harrow, and the discussion upon it. Many advantages were 

 claimed for the subjects involved, from the education of future 

 landowners and travellers as well as for the boys at school. 

 The sectional system, which divides workers up into groups 

 according to their study, was advocated. Compulsory games 

 very often spoiled matters, and individualism, Mr. Vassall very 

 rightly pronounced, was thereby extinguished. Public opinion 

 among the boys and the standing aloof of those with influence, 

 as well as the apathy of many masters, were also cited as ob- 

 stacles in the way of field work- at schools. Nevertheless, 

 quite a number of successful societies at present exist. 



Many suggestive methods of actually dividing up the time for 

 teaching were given by various members of the conference ; 

 but, one takes it, the most useful purpose it will serve is to 

 bring before head-masters, governors of schools, and examining 

 bodies the results of the experience and the serious recommend- 

 ations of a body of picked scientific men whose hearts are in their 

 work. Wilfred Mark Webb. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The annual meeting of the Association of Technical Institu- 

 tions will be held on Tuesday, January 29, in the Fishmongers' 

 Hall, London. An address will be given by Sir W. Hart Dyke, 

 Bart.; M.P. 



We learn from Science that Dr. D. K. Pearsons has given 

 Colorado College 50,000 dollars, promised some time since, and 

 it is reported that he has given Northwestern University 30,000 

 dollars for the erection of a woman's dormitory, and 200,000 

 dollars to an educational institution, the name of which is not to 

 be made public during his life time. It is believed that Dr. 

 Pearsons' gifts to educational institutions amount to three million 

 dollars. 



NO. 1630. VOL. 63] 



SCIENTIFIC SERIAL. 



The Journal of Botany for January contains a useful paper 

 by Mr. Arthur Lister on the cultivation of the Mycetozoa from 

 spores. Mr. George Murray and Mr. C. Bucknall contribute a 

 discussion on the question whether the box, Btixus se?npeiviretis, 

 is a native of Britain. They conclude that this is unquestionably 

 the case with the locality near Wootton-under- Edge, an adjacent 

 farm having been known as '"Boxwell"' for at least seven 

 centuries. This increases the probability of the shrub being 

 indigenous also in other localities, including Boxhill, near 

 Dorking. Mr. W. Carruthers and Miss A. Lorrain Smith have 

 a paper on a disease in turnips caused by bacteria. Prof. Potter 

 has named the bacterium Pseudomonas destructans. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Geological Society, January 9.— J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., 

 President, in the chair. — The geology of South-Central Ceylon, 

 by John Parkinson. In this communication the author endea- 

 vours to give some account of the relations between the 

 various granulitic rocks of Ceylon. A series of more or less 

 isolated sections were studied, the rocks in each considered 

 under separate heads, and conclusions put forward relative to 

 the whole. — Note on the occurrence of corundum as a contact- 

 mineral at Pont-Paul, near Morlaix (Finistere), by A. K. 

 Coomara-Swamy. The intrusive granite of Pont-Paul, near 

 Morlaix, contains highly altered fragments of sedimentary 

 rock. The minerals found in them are biotite, muscovite, 

 corundum (first recorded by Prof. Barrois in 1887), plagioclase, 

 andalusite, pyrite, magnetite, sillimanite, green spinel, and 

 zircon. 



Mathematical Society, January 10. — Dr. Hobson, 

 F. R.S., President, in the chair. — Prof. Love, F.R.S., made 

 a communication on streaming motions past cylindrical boun- 

 daries. Mr. Basset, F.R.S., also spoke on the subject. — ■ 

 Mr. Campbell read a paper entitled " A Proof of the Third, 

 Fundamental Theorem in Lie's Theory of Continuous Groups." 

 — The President communicated a paper by Mr. E. W. Barnes 

 on the zeroes of Bessel's functions, and a paper on some cases 



of the solution of 2^ ~^=i, mod. /, by Prof. F. S. Carey. ; 



Zoological Society, January 15. — Prof. G. B. Howes, 

 F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair.— Mr. W. E. de Winton 

 exhibited and made remarks on a skin of the large grey Cynictis 

 {Cynictis selotcsi), obtained by Mr. P. C. Reid on the west 

 bank of the Linyanti River, South Africa. The species had 

 been described from a skull only, from Bulawayo, and the skin 

 of the animal had previously been unknown to naturalists. — 

 Mr. O. Thomas exhibited, on behalf of Mr. R. Lydekker, a 

 specimen of the skull of a common fox (Cants vulpes) with "two 

 upper canines on each side of the jaw. — In describing the collec- 

 tion of fishes brought home from Lakes Tanganyika and Kivu 

 by the Tanganyika Exploring Expedition, under the leadership 

 of Mr. J. E. S. Moore, Mr. G. A. Boulenger pointed out that 

 the study of this important collection did not modify the conclu- 

 sions embodied in his first report published in 1898. The 

 exploration of Lake Kivu had thrown no light on the origin of 

 the Tanganyikan fauna ; the smaller lake proved to be very 

 thinly populated with fishes, which all belonged to widely dis- 

 tributed genera, the species showing a mixture of Nile and 

 Tanganyika elements, with two that might prove to be endemic. 

 The list of the fishes from the two lakes comprised 91 species, 

 74 of which had been named by the author. The collection 

 now described consisted of examples of 50 species, 26 of which 

 were new tb science, 2 being made the types of additional 

 genera of the family Cichlidae. — Mr. G. A. Boulenger read a 

 paper on a collection of freshwater fishes made by Dr. W. J. 

 Ansorge in the Niger Delta. ,The collection was described as 

 one of exceptional interest. One of the two new genera, for 

 which the name Phractolaemus ansorgii was proposed, consti- 

 tuted the type of a new family (Phractolsemidse), intermediate 

 between the Osteoglossidas and the Clupeidoe. The second new 

 genus, Polycentropsis, belonged to the Nandidte, a family new 

 to Africa ; its position was regarded as near the South American 

 Polycentrus. A new Gnathonetnus and three new Pelmato- 

 chromis were also described. — A communication was read from 



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