June i6, 1898] 



NATURE 



165 



at the Society of Arts. Yet we would point out that, in the 

 first place, he divided the stages he had under consideration 

 into (i) wood stages, (2) wood-and-iron stages, and (3) iron 

 stages ; and that he then again subdivided them according to 

 the power used for moving the scenery, or obtaining certain 

 effects, be it manual labour, hydraulics, or electricity. 



In speaking of the wood stage of the metropolis, Mr. Sachs 

 naturally does not omit to refer also to the wood stage of the 

 Continent, which is but little better than our own ; nor when he 

 spoke of the wood and iron stage of Paris did he omit to speak 

 of our "Palace" Theatre of Varieties, which is the solitary 

 example of a theatre in this country in which a combination of 

 wood and iron is to be found. When Mr. Sachs, however, 

 came to speak of the iron stage, and more especially the iron 

 stage worked by hydraulics or electricity, he had to confess that 

 there was not a single iron stage to be found throughout the 

 United Kingdom, that there was no stage worked by electric 

 machinery, and that the only appliances in which hydraulics are 

 being employed in this country were some so-called " bridges" 

 at Drury Lane. But on the continent, the iron stage, with all 

 its improvements for lighting, for showing a curved horizon, and 

 — to summarise — for giving some semblance of nature, is already 

 to be found in considerable numbers and of considerable variety. 



By Mr. Sachs's courtesy we are able to show two illustrations — 

 one of the great electrical turntable stage for Munich, so useful 

 for Shakespearean drama, where a quick change of scene is 

 desirable, and the other of a hydraulic stage at Vienna worked 

 on the suspended system. In the first case a general view is 

 shown which well describes itself. In the latter case a view of 

 the "gridiron" is shown, which plainly indicates the modern 

 forms of wiring adopted. 



But we cannot go further into the technical detail of the 

 question, and we only trust that Mr. Sachs's words will have 

 had some effect on the many managers and stage engineers who 

 had come to hear him, not forgetting Herr Kranich, from 

 Bayreuth, one of the leading exponents of scenic mountmg on 

 true art lines. 



But whatever may have been the influence of Mr. Sachs's 

 advocacy, we would end by quoting him where he said " that 

 the real secret of perfect scenic art lies in illusion, i.e. in visual 

 deception, or in not allowing the eye of the spectator to discern 

 the means whereby the semblance of reality is obtained ; mere 

 actuality will not accomplish this — crude realism alone would 

 then result." 



What the scenic artist and the stage-manager must attempt, 

 according to Mr. Sachs, is to obtain a successful illusion ; and 

 this, he argues, is obtainable, not by any great radical reform, as 

 desired by irresponsible faddists, but a practical reform of the 

 methods and appliances which are to-day used on the stage of 

 the metropolis, and which are, unfortunately, quite a hundred 

 years too old. 



Why should not our stage have the full benefits of science 

 and art as practised now on the approach of 1900 A.D. , instead 

 of the makeshifts with which the world was satisfied at the 

 beginning of the last century ? 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — Want of accommodation in more than one depart- 

 ment of the University museum renders it impossible to carry 

 on satisfactory work. The extracts printed below, from the 

 report of the delegates of the museum, tell of a condition 

 of "hope deferred, which maketh the heart sick." Prof. 

 J. Burdon- Sanderson reports: — "The Regius Professor of 

 Medicine takes this opportunity of expressing his bitter dis- 

 appointment that another year has been allowed to pa;s without 

 any step having been taken towards providing adequate 

 accommodation for the teaching of medical science in the 

 University. It is in his judgment to be feared that if the 

 reasonable requirements of the medical school continue to be 

 disregarded, its further development will be checked, and that 

 the progress of those departments of teaching which have 

 common interests with it will be seriously interfered with." 

 Prof. R. B. Clifton, Professor of Experimental Philosophy, says : 

 " Some electrical apparatus has been placed in the room 

 formerly allotted to the professor as a private laboratory, and 

 with that in the room devoted to the electrical work of the 

 preliminary classes, it is now possible to oflTer some, though very 



NO. 1494, VOL. 58] 



restricted, facilities to Honour students who wish to gain ex- 

 perience in the methods of measuring electrical quantities. The 

 professor and demonstrators have now, however, no place in 

 which they can carry on research ; and all attempts to under- 

 take work of this character must in future be abandoned. After 

 twelve years of fruitless effort to obtain extended accommodation 

 for Honour students, and the means of providing for the in- 

 creasing number of those working for the preliminary examin- 

 ation — a class of students not contemplated when the laboratory 

 was designed— it is probably quite useless to trouble the dele- 

 gates with any further application for assistance in this direction." 

 It will be difficult for men of science on the Continent and in the 

 United States to believe that so little encouragement is given to 

 scientific work in the University of Oxford. 



The 191st meeting of the Junior Scientific Club was held 

 in the physiological lecture-room of the museum on P'riday, 

 June 10. After private business, Mr. V. H. Veley, F.R.S., 

 read a paper on Coleothrix tnethystes, the active micro- 

 organism which Mrs. Veley and himself recently discovered in 

 " faulty " rum, and, it is hoped, will shortly form the subject of 

 a monograph. After the paper a discussion took place, in which 

 Dr. Ritchie and others joined. 



Cambridge —Mr. A. E. H. Love, F.R.S., of St. John's 

 College, has been appointed University Lecturer in Mathematics 

 in the room of Mr. Glazebrook, resigned. 



The Senior Wrangler this year is Mr. R. W. H. T. Hudson, 

 of St. John's College, son of Prof. W. H. H. Hudson, of 

 King's College, London. Miss Cave- Browne- Cave, of Girton, 

 is bracketed fifth wrangler. 



The Vice-Chancellor announces that donations amounting to 

 over 6000/. have been received for the University Benefaction 

 Fund, started last year. A large number of the donations are 

 ear-marked for the Medical School. A bequest of io.ocxjZ. has 

 also fallen to the University, but it is assigned to the foundation 

 of a prize or scholarship in memory of the late Dr. Allen, 

 Bishop of Ely. 



Mr. C. F. Hadfield, of Trinity, and Mr. R. C. Punnett, of 

 Caius, have been nominated to the University tables at the 

 Naples Zoological Station ; and Prof. E. W. MacBride, of St. 

 John's, to the table at Plymouth. 



The General Board propose that Mr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., 

 should be appointed assistant-director of the Cavendish 

 Laboratory for the ensuing year, in the place of Mr. 

 Glazebrook. 



Dr. R. a. Harper has been appointed professor of botany 

 at the University of Wisconsin. 



At a meeting of the Court of Edinburgh University on 

 Monday a letter was read from a benefactor of the University, 

 intimating that he is prepared to give to the University such a 

 sum as may be necessary, but not exceeding io,coo/. , to build 

 and equip a laboratory and class-room to be used exclusively for 

 the teaching of public health, the site of the proposed building 

 to be provided by the University. 



The foundation-stone of a separate department for instruc- 

 tion in the technology of the leather industries, was laid at the 

 Yorshire College, Leeds, on Monday. The ceremony was 

 performed by Mr. A. B. Kent, Warden of the Skinners' Com- 

 pany of London, who have provided 5000/. in order to establish 

 this department, and will contribute towards the working 

 expenses. 



The new laboratories of physiology and pathology at the 

 University College, Liverpool, will be formally opened on 

 October 8. The laboratories have been erected and equipped 

 in the most adequate way for study and research by the Rev. 

 Thompson Yates, at a cost of 25,000/. Lord Lister, President 

 of the Royal Society, has consented to perform the opening cere- 

 mony ; and the Victoria University will take advantage of his 

 visit to Liverpool to confer upon him the honorary degree of 

 doctor of science. 



At the Science and Art Department on Friday last a con- 

 ference was held of organising secretaries and other representa- 

 tives of local organisations which have been recognised by the 

 Department as responsible for science and art instruction within 

 their several districts. The Vice-President of the Committee of 

 Council on Education (Sir John Gorst) presided, and the con- 

 ference was attended by representatives from a number of 



