October 13, 1898] 



NATURE 



587 



Thus the relief model of the site of Edinburgh brings indis- 

 pensable light on the interpretation of the antique and the 

 modern city, its military history or its industrial present, its 

 medical eminence or its picturesque interest. Similar regional 

 towers should be erected in all large towns. A tower as a 

 memorial to Cabot was recently opened in Bristol, presenting 

 some features which might be developed on the lines of Prof. 

 Geddes' conceptions, but no reference was made to it at the 

 meeting of Section E, nor was the Section invited to visit the 

 tower. 



Ballooning as an aid to geographical exploration was discussed 

 by Captain B Baden-Powell, of the Scots Guards, who outlined 

 a well-considered scheme for an experimental balloon voyage 

 up the Nile valley, where the meteorological conditions are more 

 favourable than those of the Arctic regions, and the chances of 

 disaster more remote. Mr. Eric Stuart Bruce exhibited a 

 method of flash signalling by means of an electric lamp enclosed 

 in a transparent balloon, which he believes to be of special value 

 in polar exploration. 



Dr. H. R. Mill discussed the prospects of Antarctic research, 

 tracing the historical changes of the Antarctic problem, and 

 pointing out that the purely scientific importance of south polar 

 exploration demands co-operation amongst simultaneous ex- 

 peditions rather than consecutive work. He hoped that the 

 definite refusal of Government to take up the work would now 

 leave the way clear for the immediate organisation of a great 

 expedition by the British nation to co-operate with the German 

 expedition which has been planned for 1900. 



While the characteristic of this meeting was undoubtedly the 

 solid value and good discussion of the general papers, it in no 

 way fell short of the meetings of preceding years in the interest 

 and value of the records of personal exploration. Mrs. Bishop 

 gave a remarkable paper describing her recent journey in the 

 Yangtze valley, and summarising the geography of that important 

 region. It was illustrated by a series of unique photographs 

 taken by Mrs. Bishop herself. Mrs. Theodore Bent also con- 

 tributed a paper describing her visit to Sokotra, in the course of 

 which she made valuable observations. A Committee, with a 

 small grant in aid of the further exploration of Sokotra by Dr. 

 H. O. Forbes, was appointed by the Association. 



Sir Charles Wilson gave an address on the Upper Nile region 

 with reference to the re-conquest of the Sudan ; and, in the 

 absence through illness of the author, he also read a paper, by 

 Sir T. H, Holdich, on Tirah, which was splendidly illustrated 

 by slides. Mr. C. W. Andrews, of the Natural History Museum, 

 gave a preliminary account of Christmas Island in the Indian 

 Ocean, where he has recently spent the greater part of a year. 

 He found it to be an upraised coral island, the coral limestone 

 resting on a hard foraminiferal limestone, which in turn is based 

 on basalt. The whole island is so densely jungle-clad that it 

 could only be traversed at the rate of one mile per day, every 

 yard having to be cut through the dense undergrowth. Captain 

 G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton described a recent visit he had made 

 to Karaginski Island and the mainland of northern Kamchatka, 

 and Mr. O. H. Howarth added another to his important series 

 of papers on the exploration of Mexico, dealing on this occasion 

 with a journey from Mazatlan to Durango across the Sierra 

 Mad re. 



It may be pointed out as a disappointing feature at the meet- 

 ing, that no effort appears to have been made to place before the 

 Section any account of the remarkable geographical position of 

 Bristol with respect to site, immediate surroundings, or com- 

 mercial position in the world. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Mr. W. Beckit Burnie has been appointed to the vacant 

 Senior Demonstratorship in Electrical Engineering at the South- 

 western Polytechnic, Chelsea. Mr. Burnie has studied at 

 the Nottingham University College; under Prof. Ayrton,.at 

 the Central Technical College; and under Prof. Weber, of 

 Ziirich. 



Dr. M. C. Schuyten, rue van Luppen 31, Anvers, invites 

 teachers who are daily engaged in instructing children to make 

 notes upon the characteristics of the minds of their pupils, and 

 send them to him for incorporation in a work to be published 



NO. I 5 IT, VOL. 58] 



by a special commission upoii the psychology of the child from 

 a pedagogic point of view. 



The foundation-stone of a new Science and Art School for 

 Deptford was laid in New Cross Road on Saturday. The new 

 school is the result of an amalgamation by the Charity Com- 

 missioners of two ancient charities — the Addey and the Stanhope 

 — and the joint school is to be known as the Addey and Stanhope 

 Foundation. The new building will cost for erection 10,000/., 

 and for furniture and fittings about 4000/. 



A COURSE of twenty-four lectures and practical demonstra- 

 tions on the theory and practice of photography, by Mr. W. J. 

 Pope and Mr. A. A. Donald, commenced on Friday last at the 

 Goldsmiths' Institute, New Cross. Mr. Pope is giving a course 

 of twenty-eight lectures on metallurgy, and a course of laboratory 

 instruction on methods of water analysis commenced on 

 Wednesday, October 5. The course will extend over twelve 

 evenings, and the students will obtain practice in the chemical 

 methods ordinarily used to ascertain the degree of purity of 

 water and its suitability for various manufacturing and domestic 

 purposes. 



In an address delivered to the members of the London School 

 Board on Thursday last. Lord Reay, the Chairman of the Board, 

 remarked : Training in physics is found to be preferable to 

 chemistry, and the laboratories now in construction are, as a 

 rule, so fitted as to be adapted to the teaching of phy.sics rather 

 than for specialised instruction of chemistry. Geography in the 

 past has been taught too mechanically. Map-drawing has been 

 revived and greatly improved, but more attention should be 

 given to physical geography, to the great phenomena of nature, 

 to the laws influencing climate, productiveness of soil, &c. 

 History should be connected with geography, and the lessons 

 should be given in such a manner as to make history and 

 geography illustrate each other. 



The Directors of Nobel's Explosives Company, Limited, 

 after consultation with Dr. G. G. Henderson, Freeland Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry in the Glasgow and West of Scotland 

 Technical College, have decided to give a prize tenable under 

 the following conditions: (l) The prize to be 30/. and to be 

 known as the " Nobel Company Prize." (2) The prize to be 

 awarded annually, until further notice, to a student in the 

 chemical laboratory of the Technical College, who has passed 

 through the usual course of training in that laboratory, and who, 

 in the opinion of the Professor of Chemistry for the time being, 

 is qualified to prosecute research. (3) The holder of the prize 

 to engage in research work in the chemical laboratory of the 

 Technical College, under the direction of the Professor of 

 ChemistryJor the time being, for the period of one academical 

 year. (4) The prize to be awarded by the Professor of Chemistry 

 for the time being. In accepting the gift, the Governors of the 

 College further resolved to grant a free studentship for one year 

 in the laboratory to the Nobel Company's prizeman, thus raising 

 the money value of the prize to about 50/. The example of 

 Nobel's Company might profitably be followed by other chemical 

 manufacturers. 



The Scotch Education Department has issued a circular in 

 further explanation of the scheme of organised science in- 

 struction in various classes of schools recently proposed (see p. 

 408). The schemes proposed in aid of systematic mslruc- 

 tion based upon the teaching of science, or in which science 

 is a predominant element, are two— viz. (l) the scheme for 

 higher grade (science) schools, and (2) the scheme for schools of 

 science defined in the Science and Art Directory. The former 

 is especially designed to apply to secondary departments, which, 

 while possessing a distinct organisation, are connected with 

 schools aided under the Education Code, which possesses the 

 necessary equipment for giving practical instruction in science, 

 and in which the predominaht aim is intended to be scientific. 

 It is thought that the scheme provides a course of in- 

 struction specially suitable for pupils leaving school at 

 the age of fifteen or sixteen, who will in after life for 

 the most part follow industrial or commercial pursuits. 

 Having regard to the increasing importance of a thorough 

 training in science, especially in large industrial centres, the 

 circular points out that schools of science should by preference 



