lOO 



NA TURE 



[December i, 1892 



for a purpose ; while for the benefit of those who desire 

 to know more of the inter-relationship of the fungi enu- 

 merated, a classified list is given of all the species, 

 arranged under their respective families, including the 

 distribution and name of the host. 



For the general reader, who is not specially interested 

 in either insects or fungi, there is a considerable amount 

 of interesting information bearing on such subjects as 

 vegetable caterpillars, vegetable wasps, foul-brood of 

 bees, &c., and the interest is not lessened by following 

 the transition from the romantic and highly imaginative 

 accounts given by early travellers of these productions, 

 to the statements in accordance with modern knowledge. 

 There is a slip on p. 35 ; Cordyceps S/teeringii should be 

 C. Sherringii. The indices are very complete and the 

 figures, excepting one on p. 10, good. 



Notes on Qualitative Chemical Analysis. By P. 



Lakshmi Narasu Nayudu, B.A. (Madras : K. 



Murugesa Chetty, 1892.) 

 It is interesting to meet with books such as this, which 

 serve to indicate how the study of chemistry is pro- 

 gressing in the colonies and dependencies of the empire. 



The author sets out with the endeavour to keep the 

 rationale of the various processes of qualitative analysis 

 well to the front, as in this way he considers the value of 

 the study as a means of scientific training can alone be 

 brought out. Group-reagents and the reasons for their 

 use are first discussed as a preliminary to a somewhat ex- 

 haustive study of the reactions of the different basic and 

 acid radicles. At the end of each group tables are given 

 showing at a glance the behaviour of the radicles towards 

 the various reagents. 



It is somewhat astonishing that after such a minute 

 study of the reactions of all the more common radicles, 

 the author should give no schemes for the separation of 

 the constituents of the different group-precipitates. In 

 spite of the fact that under each radicle he gives as many, 

 if not more, reactions than are given in the larger works 

 on qualitative analysis, he contents himself with merely 

 going through the examination of a simple salt. The 

 expenditure of but little space would remedy this omission, 

 which limits the sphere of usefulness of the book. It is 

 to be noted also that film-tests find no place in the system 

 adopted. 



It may be said that the author adheres well to his pur- 

 pose of showing why any particular operation is performed. 

 The book contains a large amount of useful information. 

 Occasionally, however, the mode in which it is stated is 

 peculiar. " In the cold" is an expression commonly 

 used in speaking of a reaction. The use of " in the heat," 

 a term often employed by the author, is, on the other 

 hand, uncommon. To speak, too, of " neutral solutions 

 of zinc salts containing strong acids" is confusing. In 

 some cases, as when using bodies like potassium metanti- 

 moniate or sodium hydrogen tartrate, it would be advis- 

 able to give the name as well as the formula : it isn't 

 every student who is acquainted with such substances. 

 It is erroneous to say that fluorine does not combine with 

 carbon even at a high temperature. According to 

 Moissan, all the allotropes of carbon, except the diamond, 

 unite with fluorine, indeed some of the forms are, in the 

 cold, spontaneously inflammable in the gas. 



The following typographical errors are omitted in the 

 list of errata. On p. 47 " meterially" should be " mate- 

 rially," " gS04," &c. should be " MgSo4," &c. on p. 58, and 

 " Ba2P20 " is given for " BajPgOy " on p. 69. 



Science Instruments. Catalogue of Scientific Appa- 

 ratus and Reagents manufactured and sold by Brady 

 and Martin. (Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1892.) 

 At the present time, when almost all branches of experi- 

 mental science are growing so rapidly, and new and 

 improved pieces of apparatus are continually coming 



NO. 1205, VOL. 47] 



into existence, it is satisfactory to find that instrument 

 makers are trying to keep pace with the times, and to afford 

 purchasers the means of ascertaining with the minimum 

 trouble what apparatus can be obtained to serve a par- 

 ticular end. This catalogue is an instance that such is 

 the case. It is a well-bound book, profusely and clearly 

 illustrated. The different kinds of apparatus, useful both 

 for teaching and for technical purposes, are well classified. 

 To prevent mistakes in ordering, each piece of apparatus 

 is separately numbered, and where a new form is figured, 

 a few lines are added explanatory of the principle 

 involved. 



The instruments quoted belong to various branches of 

 experimental science — chemistry, bacteriology, physics, 

 mechanics, and meteorology. A selection of instru- 

 ments made by the Cambride company, and miscel- 

 laneous apparatus, diagrams, chemical reagents, &c., are 

 also included. 



The sections on bacteriology and gas analysis are 

 especially full, and indicate the interest at present taken 

 in these departments. 



A table of contents and an index are supplied. On p. 

 145 " Irish " is misprinted for " Iris " ; and what is termed 

 an "optical bank," on p. 164, is usually called an 

 " optical bench." 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opitiions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended tor this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications. ] 



Universities and Research. 



At the discussion in Edinburgh on the proposed National 

 Laboratory, Lord Kelvin and Sir Geo. Stokes took marked 

 exception to my contention that the primary business of Uni- 

 versities was research, contending that it was teaching. In a 

 sense their contention is true, but not in contradistinction to my 

 contention. The distinction would hardly be worth fighting 

 over were it not that they took up the further ground that only 

 those researches should be engaged in in Universities which were 

 likely to interest the students. Of course the leaders of science 

 can if they choose sell the great birthright of Universities for a 

 mess of fees, but I hope they will not be permitted to do so 

 without protest. What view the democracy take of Universities 

 is of the very last importance with our democratic institutions, 

 and I trust all those who have the welfare of the nation at 

 heart will protest against the Universities being turned 

 into coach-houses. In this connection it is most important to bear 

 in mind the distinction between the functions of Universities 

 and those of schools and colleges. The function of these latter is 

 primarily to teach those who resort to them. The function of 

 the University is primarily to teach mankind. In former days, 

 when the means for distributing information were very imperfect, 

 students used to flock from all sides to learn directly from a great 

 mind. Nowadays the great mind distributes his teaching broad- 

 cast. In old days the only way to learn what was being done 

 to advance knowledge was to go to the place where knowledge 

 was being advanced. Nowadays we read the Transactions of our 

 learned societies at home. But at all times the greatest 

 men have always held that their primary duty was the 

 discovery of new knowledge, the creation of new ideas 

 for all mankind, and not the instruction of the few who 

 found it convenient to reside in their immediate neighbour- 

 hood. Not that I desire to minimize the immense importance 

 of personal influence, it is overwhelming ; but it is a question 

 quite beside the one at issue, which is whether the advance of 

 knowledge by research and the teaching of the whole nation by 

 the discoveries made is not rather the primary object of Univer- 

 sities than the instruction of the few students who gather in their 

 halls : that is the real question at issue between Lord Kelvin, 

 Sir Geo. Stokes, and myself. Are the Universities to devote the 

 energies of the most advanced intellects of the age to the 

 instruction of the whole nation, or to the instruction of the few 



