June io, 1897] 



NATURE 



29 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON 

 TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

 'X'HE fourth meeting of the Congr^s Internationale 

 ■•■ de I'Enseignement Technique, to be held this year 

 in London, on the invitation of the Society of Arts and 

 the Worshipful Companies of Mercers, Fishmongers, 

 Drapers, Goldsmiths, Merchant Taylors, Vintners, Cloth- 

 workers, Leathersellers and Carpenters, will be opened 

 on June 15 by an address from the President, the Duke 

 of Devonshire, and from the President of the last Congress, 

 Mr. L(5o Saignat. 



This meeting of Congress, the previous meetings of 

 which were— in 1886 (at Bordeaux), in 1889 (at Paris), 

 and in 1895 (at Bordeaux), appears likely, if one may 

 judge of the interest it is exciting, to be a success. 



Invitations were sent through our Foreign Office to 

 Foreign Governments to appoint delegates, and up to 

 the present notice has been received of the appoint- 

 ment, by Belgium, of M. Eugene Rombaut, Inspector- 

 General of Industries and Professional Education, M. 

 Wanters, Assistant Inspector, and Dr. Pyffersen, of the 

 University of Gand, and, by France, of M. Felix Martel, 

 Inspector-General of Public Instruction. Invitations 

 have also been sent to the Technical Instruction Com- 

 mittees of County Councils, and other bodies and institu- 

 tions interested in the subject, to appoint representatives, 

 and have met with a hearty response ; also to bodies 

 and institutions abroad of a like character, in which case 

 an equally satisfactory result is expected. 



There are also a large number of persons who, by 

 the payment of the modest subscription of 5^., have 

 become members of the Congress, and as such are 

 entitled to all the privileges of the Congress, 



After the opening addresses, the Congress will break 

 up into two Sections— the subjects to be discussed, which 

 have reference only to advanced and secondary instruc- 

 tion, falling under the heads of Industrial and Commer- 

 cial Education— to meet simultaneously from 1 1 to i and 

 2.30 to 5 each day ; one at the Society of Arts, the other 

 at the London School of Economics, until Friday, at 

 2.30, when there will be the concluding meeting of the 

 combmed Sections. The list of those who have up to 

 the present promised papers, so far as this country is 

 concerned, is decidedly a strong one, containing, as it 

 does, the names of Sir J. Donnelly and Sir H. T. Wood, 

 who will deal with the part taken by the Society of Arts 

 in the matter of technical education ; Dr. Wertheimer | 

 and Mr. Dixon, on subject of examinations ; and Prof. 

 Ayrton, Mr. Redgrave and Mr. Macan, on State and 

 legislative interference ; Sir J. Fitch, Prof. Thompson, 

 Mr. Slingo and Mr. Turner, on reforms and limitations ; 

 Mr. Wells, on the training of teachers ; Prof. Garnett, 

 Mr. Hogg and Mr. Sachs, on training bodies ; Dr. 

 Armstrong and Dr. Gladstone, on chemical education ; 

 Mr. Ablett, on drawing ; Mr. King and Mr. Swire Smith, 

 on evening schools ; and, on the commercial side, Dr. 

 Wormell, Mr. Webb, Mr. Eve, Mr. Hewins, and Mr. 

 Organ. Sir P. Magnus will speak on theory and 

 practice in trade education, and there will be a 

 series of papers from practical men on the subject 

 of technical education as it affects particular industries 

 and agriculture. There will be a joint Indian paper 

 from Mr. Baines and Mr. Bhownaggree, and one 

 each from seven of our colonies by a man of official 

 position and educational experience in the colony to 

 which the paper relates. The ladies will be represented 

 by the Countess of Warwick, on rural districts ; Miss 

 Hughes, on technical education of girls and women ; 

 Miss Pycroft and Miss Mitchell, on domestic economy ; 

 and Miss Calder and Miss Walter, on domestic science. 



The list of foreign papers is, as yet, far from complete; 

 but amongst the contributors from abroad may be men- 

 tioned, in addition to those already referred to, Dr. 

 Witt (of Berlin), Prof. Lunge (of Zurich), M. Siegfried 

 NO. I44T. VOL. 56] 



and M. Mesureur (of Paris), M. Ed. Seve (of 

 Belgium), Arrangements are being made to enable our 

 foreign visitors and others to become acquainted with 

 the work being done in the matter of technical education, 

 and also for their entertainment. Under the last head 

 may be mentioned the evening reception at the Mansion 

 House, on June 17 (to which the Lord Mayor has kindly 

 invited the members of the Congress), the Society of Arts 

 conversazione on June 16, and an excursion for foreign 

 delegates to be arranged on June 19, 



JAMES WYLLIE RODGER, A.R.C.S. 

 "D Y the death of J. W. Rodger a young life of great 

 -*^ scientific promise has been cut short. He was born 

 at Stewarton, N.B., on December 11, 1867, and was 

 educated at Kilmarnock Academy, under Dr. Dickie, and 

 at the Royal College of Science, London. His college 

 career was interrupted by illness, but he won all the chief 

 prizes, and took a very active part in the management of 

 the college societies. In 1889 he was appointed assistant 

 in the research laboratory, with the result that in the 

 course of the next five or six years a number of papers 

 were published, of which he was joint author with Dr. 

 Thorpe, One of the most important of these, " On the 

 relations between the viscosity of liquids and their 

 chemical nature," was printed in the Philosophical 

 Transactions, and was the subject of the Bakerian 

 Lecture in 1894. By a kindly arrangement the lecture 

 was delivered by the younger of the two authors, and no 

 one who was present is likely to have forgotten how well 

 Rodger acquitted himself of his task. It was an admirable 

 piece of exposition. He spoke quickly, but with perfect 

 distinctness ; with modesty, but without apparent nervous- 

 ness or hesitation. Every point was made clear, and at 

 the end it was the general opinion that the Bakerian 

 Lecture had rarely, if ever, been better given than by the 

 youngest Bakerian Lecturer, 



A continuation of the work on viscosity, by the same 

 authors, appeared in the Transactions in March of the 

 present year. 



At the end of 1895 another important paper by Rodger 

 and his friend, Mr. W. Watson, was also published in the 

 Transactions. The subject was " The magnetic rotation 

 of the plane of polarisation of light in carbon bisulphide 

 and water." 



In addition to these labours Rodger wrote often and 

 well in Nature and in Science Progress, chiefly choosing 

 subjects connected with chemical physics. 



Of singularly attractive appearance and manners, 

 popular with his fellows, a good teacher, and a first-rate 

 lecturer, he had done enough solid work to prove that, if 

 life and health were spared, he would win an honourable 

 place in the ranks of English science. But it was not to 

 be. Some time ago serious delicacy of the chest 

 developed, and ten days ago he died before completing 

 his thirtieth year. A. W. R. 



NOTES. 



At the annual meeting for the election of Fellows of the 

 Royal Society, held on Thursday last, the candidates whose 

 names and qualifications we have already published (p, 54) were 

 elected into the Society. 



The Vienna Academy of Sciences have elected as foreign 

 members : Profs. Vogel and Bezold of Berlin, Prof, Gegenbaur 

 of Heidelberg, Prof, Max Miiller, and Lord Lister. 



The President and Council of the Royal Geographical 

 Society will hold a reception at the Natural History Museum 

 this evening. 



