252 



NATURE 



[May 24, 191 7 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN. 



Two Eclipsing Variable Stars. — The eclipsing vari- 

 ables RV Ophiuchi and RZ Cassiopeiae have recently 

 been investigated in great detail by R. S. Dugan 

 (Contrib. Prinjceton Observatory, No. 4). In RV 

 Ophiuchi, which is of spectral type A, the brighter 

 star is found to emit five times as much light as the 

 other, though having only two-thirds the diameter of the 

 fainter component. During the total eclipse at primarj' 

 minimum the star is 2-03 mag. fainter than at maxi- 

 mum, while the loss during the annular secondary 

 minimum amounts to on mag. On the supposition 

 of equal masses, the densities of the brighter and 

 fainter components are respectively 024 and o-o6. In 

 RZ Cassiopeiae, which is also of spectral type A. the 

 eclipse at primary minimum is not total, only eight- 

 tenths of the smaller brighter component being 

 covered by the larger fainter component, the star then 

 being 1-59 mag. fainter than at maximum. At 

 secondary minimum the loss of light is 006 mag. 

 The smaller star emits seven times as much light as 

 the larger, and its surface brightness is twelve times 

 as great. The distance between the centres is three 

 and a half times the radius of the fainter star, and 

 probably between five and six times the radius of the 

 sun. The brighter component is from two and a half 

 to six times as dense as the fainter. 



The new elements for the occurrence of eclipses In 

 the two stars are : — RV Ophiuchi, 19 13, Feb. 9d. 

 i9h. 33-401. +3d. i6h. 29m.- 27-75S. E — 2m. sin 022° E; 

 RZ Cassiopeiae, 1906, May 24d. loh. 60m. + id. 4h. 

 41m. 9-6s. E + lom. sin (i2'^ + oo68° E). 



Mr. Dugan points put that every eclipsing variable 

 which has been observed with sufficient care and per- 

 sistence shows a measurable secondary minimum, indi- 

 cating that the companion is always a luminous body. 



New Zealand Time Service. — Mr. C. E. Adams, 

 the Government Astronomer for New Zealand, has 

 recently issued particulars of the new arrangements 

 which have been made for time-signals at the Hector 

 Observatory. Accurate time-signals are given by 

 three electric lights mounted vertically on the obsei'va- 

 tory flagstaff; the lowest light is green, and is 30 ft. 

 above the ground ; the middle light is red, and is 

 36 ft. above. the ground; the highest is white, and is 

 42 ft. above the ground. The green, red, and white 

 lights are switched on at fifty minutes, ten minutes, 

 and five minutes to the hour respectively, and the 

 signal is given by extinguishing all three at the exact 

 hour. The signal is given in this way at G.M.T. 

 2oh., 2ih., and 22h., corresponding to New Zealand 

 civil mean time igh. 30m., 2oh. 30m., and 2ih. 30m. 

 Arrangements have also been made for ^providing time- 

 signals by telephone, telegraph, or wireless telegraph. 



Stonyhurst College Observatory Report. — The 

 results of the astronomical, meteorological, and mag- 

 netical observations made at Stonyhurst College Ob- 

 servatory during 1916 have been issued in the usual 

 form by the Rev. Father Sidgreaves. The various 

 observations are conveniently tabulated, and interest- 

 ing comparisons with previous records are given. The 

 solar surface was observed on 215 days, and the 

 mean disc area of the spots, in units of i /5000th of 

 the visible surface, was found to be 4-52, as compared 

 with 4-51 for 1915, 0-82 for 1914, and 004 for 1913. 

 Detailed drawings of faculae were made on twenty- 

 nine days during the summer, and it is hoped that- 

 these may be of value for comparison with spectro- 

 heliographic records in hydrogen and calcium light. 

 The spectrum of o Ceti was photographed at the two 

 maxima which occurred during the year. The dura- 

 tion of bright sunshine was 205 hours short of the 

 yearly average. 



NO. 2482, VOL. 99] 



CONTINUED AND SPECIALISED EDUCA- 

 TION IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 

 'T^HE Board of Education has taken advantage ol 



■*• the widespread interest in education awakened 

 by the events of the war to consider in what measure 

 by a reconsideration and a revision of its regulations, 

 it can encourage a oiuch fuller development oi 

 further education in its various forms, especially ir 

 those which fall outside the sphere of the secon'darj 

 school and of the university. 



The Board has accordingly had under review tht 

 facilities for further education which, since and prioi 

 to the Education Act of 1902, including the results ol 

 the Technical Instruction Act of 1889, which was 

 almost entirely responsible for the establishment oi 

 technical schools in the kingdom, have been provided 

 by the local authorities, and it has accordingly issued a 

 " Draft of Proposed Revised Regulations " upon which 

 suggestions and criticism are invited. The draft em- 

 bodies the experience and results of what in large 

 measure is already to be found in successful operation, 

 especially in the vigorous industrial centres of the 

 North, where already in several of the large county 

 boroughs there exists in full and successful activity 

 the chief feature of the scheme set forth in appendix i. 

 of the draft, entitled "A Suggested Plan for Further 

 Education in a County Borough." 



The draft gives an admirable risumi, especially in 

 its four appendices, of the measures it is desirable to 

 adopt to meet the educational necessities of not onlv 

 the county boroughs, but also of other areas, such as 

 the smaller towns and the urban and rural areas, and 

 having regard to the different conditions, agricultural, 

 industrial, and commercial, which prevail, including 

 the provision of facilities " for disinterested studies 

 making for wise living and good citizenship." 



The draft foreshadows a more liberal policv on the 

 part of the Board in respect of the administrative 

 working of the measures for further education and of 

 larger subsidies from the taxes. It is high time that 

 the Board left a larger freedom in the hands of the 

 local authorities by the removal, as it would appear Is 

 the intention of the Board, of many vexatious restric- 

 tions in their regulations, which entail a vast expendi- 

 ture of time, both locally and centrally, upon the 

 authorities out of all proportion to any advantage to 

 be gained. 



The proposed grant per teacher-hoxir instead of per 

 student-hour^ is a most desirable reform, as is the sub- 

 stitution of inclusive and block grants in lieu of grant 

 per student or per subject, and of much simpler 

 methods of registration. 



It is, moreover, a wise proposal that in the future 

 the local education authority Is to have full responsi- 

 bility, as indeed the terms of the Act of 1902 require, 

 for the educational efficiency and the proper and effec- 

 tive administration of all the facilities for further edu- 

 cation within Its area, whether rate-aided or not, and 

 upon It is to devolve many matters of detail hitherto 

 undertafken _ by the Board. Provisions are made 

 whereb^^eighbouring local education authorities are 

 encoura^W to co-operate in certain educational 

 measures A) as to avoid waste of money and effort. 

 The status and position of the larger and more ad- 

 vanced schools, as is now the case with a few, are to be 

 more fully fecognised by the Board under the new title 

 of local colleges, and instead of being aided piecemeal 

 In respect of the diflferent courses of work undertaken 

 by them, the colleges will be paid in regard of all 

 their work h\ a block grant, and be recognised as 

 " the centre and crowning limit of the local system of 

 further education." The Board, it is of importance to 

 note, " is fully satisfied that if any material advance 

 is to be made it is only equitable that an increased 



