536 



NA rURE 



[September 30, 1897 



The revised regulations relating to the subjects of examination 

 for degrees in science at the University of London were published 

 a few days ago. The regulations come into force at the begin- 

 ning of 1899. The subjects for matriculation are Latin, 

 English, mathematics, general elementary science (a new sub- 

 ject), and any one of the following languages or sciences : — 

 Greek ; French ; -German ; Sanskrit ; Arabic ; Elementary 

 Mechanics ; Elementary Chemistry ; Elementary Sound, Heat, 

 and Light ; Elementary Magnetism and Electricity ; Elementary 

 Botany. The general elementary science refers to the physical 

 and chemical properties of matter, and the subject will be 

 treated, wherever possible, from an experimental point of view, 

 numerical examples or problems being restripted to very simple 

 calculations. In the intermediate examination in science, 

 candidates will only be required to take up three of the following 

 subjects, viz. : (i) Pure and mixed mathematics ; (2) experimental 

 physics ; (3) inorganic chemistry ; and(4) botany and zoology. It 

 will thus be ]5ossible for students of physical science to obtain a j 

 pass or take honours without studying the biological subjects ; | 

 and, on the other hand, biological students will not need to take j 

 up mathematics. For the final B.Sc examination, eight subjects 

 are given, and candidates will be examined in any three of ! 

 them. The subjects are : — Pure mathematics, mixed mathe- ! 

 matics, experimental physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, j 

 -animal physiology, geology, and physical geography. All the j 

 ■syllabuses have been revised, and their general tendency is 

 ■towards a fuller practical knowledge of the subjects than has 

 hitherto been expected from candidates. 



Perhaps the most critical period in the career of a man of \ 

 science is when he has completed his college course but has not | 

 established himself sufficiently to obtain a post of any value. ! 

 For the benefit of promising students thus situated, the munici- j 

 pality of Lyons has, it is stated, decided to make some provision. 

 According to the announcement, the municipality proposes to 

 lend to young men on leaving the University the funds necessary 

 " for their first needs," on their simple word of honour to repay 

 the sum advanced as soon as their pecuniary position allows 

 them to do so. The British Medical Journal, in referring to 

 this action, says : — A similar humane principle has^ indeed long 

 been acted upon by the Union des Anciens Etudiants de 

 rUniversite Libre of Brussels, which not only provides bursaries 

 for deserving poor students, but in case of need procures employ- 

 ment for them after graduation, and in some cases a loan to 

 start them in a profession. But this is the work of a private 

 body, and the help that can be given is on a much smaller scale 

 than the Lyons municipality proposes to give. The German 

 Government, in certain cases, allows students to go through the 

 University curriculum without payment of fees on their under- 

 -taking to discharge the liability when they are able to do so, 

 and the old University of Paris was sometimes equally accom- 

 jnodating. It is often, however, even more difficult to find a 

 imarket for academic and professional knowledge than to acquire 

 that knowledge, and it is to such cases that the Lyons munici- 

 pality proposes to lend the needed helping hand. The Fellow- 

 ships of the older universities of this country have a distinct use 

 for the same purpose, but they are for the few, and not always 

 for those who most need them, nor perhaps for those who would 

 make the best use of them. The Companies of the City of 

 London seem not infrequently to find it difficult to dispose of 

 their unearned increment in a really useful way. We venture to 

 commend to them the example of the City of Lyons. We also 

 congratulate the University of Lyons on its connection with 

 a Corporation so enlightened and so anxious to further its 

 interests. 



The incomplete transformation of sugar into alcohol in highly 

 coloured wines is not due to the acidity, but to the antiseptic 

 action of the colouring matter itself. — On the function of Pseudo- 

 commis vitis (Debray) in two diseases of the vine, by M. E. 

 Roze. 



BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, and SERIALS RECEIVED. 



Books.— Qu.intitative Chemical Analysis : Profs. Clowes and Coleman, 

 4th edition (Churchill).— City and Guilds of London Institute, Programme 

 of Technological Examinations, Session 1897-98 (Whittaker). — Traits Eli- 

 mentaire de M^canique Chimique fondle sur la Thermodynamique : Prof. 

 P. Duhem, Tome 2 (Paris, Hermann). — Glimpses into Plant Life: Mrs. 

 Brightwen (Unwin) — Organic Chemistry for the Laboratory : Prof. W. A. 

 Noyes (Easton, Pa., Chemical Publishing Company). — University Collej?e, 

 Bristol, Calendar (or the Session 1897-98 (Bristol, Arrowsmith). — Thermo- 

 Geographical Studies : C. L. Madsen (Williams and Norgate). — Interna- 

 tional Congress on Technical Education. Report of the Proceedings of the 

 Fourteenth Meeting, held in London June 1897 (Trounce).— An Introduc- 

 tion to Geology: Prof. W. B. Scott (Macmillan). — In Norlhern Spain : Dr. 

 H. Gadow (Black). — Epping Forest : E. N. Buxton, 4th edition (Stanford). 

 — Vorlesungen iiber Bakterien : Dr. A. Fischer (Jena, Fi-cher). — Among 

 British Birds: O. A J. Lee, Part 6 (Edinburgh, Douglas) — Diagrams 

 illustrating Principles of Mining : F. T. Howard and F. W. Small (Chap- 

 man).— Elementary Practical Physiography (Section i) : J. Thornton 

 (Longmans). — First Principles of Electricity and Magnetism : C. H. W. 

 Biggs (Biggs). — University Geological Survey of Kansas, Vol. 2 (Topeka). 

 — British Cpntral Africa : Sir H. H. Johnston (Methuen). — Elementary 

 Geometrical Statics : W. J. Dobbs (Macmillan). — The Stoty of Germ Life : 

 H. VV. Conn (Newnes). — The Mathematical Psychology of Gratry and 

 Boole : M. E. Boole (Sonnenschein).— Deductive Physics : F. J. Rogers 

 (Ithaca, N.Y., Andrus).— Wild Neighbours : Outdoor Studies in the United 

 States: E. Ingersoll (Macmillan). — Lectures on Physiology, ist Series. On 

 Animal Electricity : Dr. D. J. Waller (Longman-.)- — Les Choses Natur- 

 elles dans Homere : Dr. A. Kums (Anvers, Bus~hmann). — University Col- 

 lege of Norih Wales, Calendar, 1S97-98 (Manchester. J. E. Cornish). 



Pamphlets. — Glacial Observations in the Umanak District, Greenland : 

 Prof. G. H. Barton (Boston).— Theory of the Motion of the Moon : Dr. E. 

 W. Brown (Royal Astronomical Society). — A Descriptive Catalogue of 

 Useful Fibre Plants of the World: C. R. Dodge (Washington).— South 

 American Trade of Baltimore : Dr. F. R. Rutter (Baltimore). — Some New 

 Orchids from Sikkim : G. King and R. Pantling, Pp. i and 2 (Calcutta).— 

 Materials for a Flora of the Malayan Peninsula : Dr. G. King, Nos. Sand 9 

 (Calcutta). — Flax-growing : Major Eraser (Cable Company). — Les Forces de 

 la Nature, &c. : T. L. Bienkowski (Leopol).— Kritik der Exakten For- 

 schung, F. Ego (Leiden, Brill). — Reisen in den MoUukken, &c. : Prof. R. 

 Martin, i^'*^ Liefg. (Leiden, Brill). — Mineral Statistics of the United 

 Kingdom for the Year 1896 (Eyre and Spottiswoode). 



Serials — Psychological Review, September (Macmillan). — Journal of 

 the Franklin Institute, September (Philadelphia).— Archives of the Roent- 

 gen Ray, July (Rebman). — American Journal of Science, September (New 

 Haven). — Botanische Jahrbucher, Vierundzwanzigster Band, 2 Heft (Leip- 

 zig). — Physical Review, M.iy-July (Macmillan). — Himmel und Erde, Sept- 

 ember (Berlin). — An Account of the Crustacea of Norway : G. O. Sars, 

 Vol. 2, Parts 7 and 8 (Bergen).-— L'Anthropologie, July and August (Paris). 

 — Botanische Jahrbucher, Dreiundzwanzigster Band, v. Heft (Leipzig). — 

 Proceedings of the Physical Society of London, September (Taylor). — 

 Economic Journal, September (MacmilLin). — Timehri, June (Stanford). — 

 Zoologist, September (West). — Beitrage zur P.sychologie und Philosophie, 

 i. Band, 2 Heft (Leipzig). — Annalen der K.K. Universitats-Sternwarte in 

 Wien, X., xi. and xii. Band (Wien). — American Naturalist, September 

 (Philadelphia). — Longman's Magazine, October (Longmans). — Sunday 

 Magazine, October (Isbister). — Good Words, October (Isbister). — An- 

 nales de I'Observatoire Magn6tique et M6t6orologique de I'Universite Im- 

 p6riale a Odessa, 1896 (Odessa). — Memoirs and Proceedings of the 

 Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Vol. 41, Part 4 (Man- 

 chester). — East Asia, No. 2 (Longton, Hughes). 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 20.— M. A. Chatin in the 



chair. On the hypocycloid with three inflections, by M. Paul 



Serret.— On oxycellulose, by M. Leo Vignon. This substance 

 is prepared from cellulose by the action of hydrochloric acid and 

 potassium chlorate, and its composition is expressed by the 

 formula C.,4H38.0o,. Its ab.sorptive power for dyes is greater 

 than that of cellulose. Oxycellulose behaves as an aldehyde 

 towards Schiffs reagent.— On retamine, by MM. J. Battandier 

 and Th. Malosse. The combination of this base with hydro- 

 bromic, sulphuric, and hydriodic acids have been prepared, 

 the last-named being obtained in fine crystals, C15H2fiN.2O.2HI. 

 — The influence of colouring matters upon the fermentation of 

 highly coloured red wines, by MM. P. Carles and G. Niviere. 



NO. 1457. VOL. 56] 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



History of Atomic Philosophy. By P. J. Hartog . . 513 

 Maxwell's Equations of the Electromagnetic Field. 



ByJ. G. L 514 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Hanssen : " Reform of Chemical and Physical Calcula- 

 tions" 515 



Wright and Coues : "Citizen Bird."— -W. Warde 



Fowler 516 



Letter to the Editor:— 



TheWorstedTestforColourVision.— Jessie A. Sime 516 

 The Social System of Termites. By W. F. H. 



Blandford 517 



Periodical Comets. By W. F. Denning . . . . . . 51S 



The Progress of the Steam Turbine. {Illtistrated.) . 520 



Notes {With Diagram.) 521 



Our Astronomical Column ; — 



Bond's Collected Works 525 



Eclipse Expedition of the Lick Observatory .... 525 



A Remarkable Binary Star • . . 525 



Forthcoming Books of Science 525 



Long Range Temperature and Pressure Variables 



in Physics. By Prof. Carl Barus 52S 



University and Educational Intelligence 535 



Societies and Academies 536 



Books, Pamphlets, and Serials Received 536 



