June 7, 1917] 



NATURE 



287 



word is due to the fact that the record is of a i and the sciences which are prescribed in the 



. . . ^^-.-.^fo. r^( ot-it^T- ot-o +<-v Kf> toiirrhl- with H*»finitP 



lady's voice 



The above short account of the phonetic kymo- 

 graph will g-ive some idea of the scope of the 

 apparatus. It will be seen that the instrument is 



Fic. 8.— A, mouth-tracing of English buckle (male voice) ; B, mouth-tracing ot French boucU 



(female voice). 



course of study are to be taught with definite 



reference to horticulture. 



If, therefore, a student follows this course at 



a horticultural college, there is but little danger 

 that general science, botany 

 and chemistry and entomology, 

 will divert unduly the student's 

 interest from horticulture. 

 The Bachelor of Science in 

 Horticulture w^ould thus be 

 possessed of a fair knowledge 

 of science, and would also 

 be a proficient practical horti- 

 culturist, able to dig and 

 trench, plant and prune, bud 

 and graft at best as well as 

 the average gardener. If this 

 prove, in fact, to be the case, 

 bbth science and horticulture 



chiefly useful (i) for detecting the presence or 

 absence of voice, (2) for detecting the presence or 

 absence of nasality, (3) for measuring the lengths 

 of sounds, and (4) for calculating the pitch of the 

 voice. Daniel Jones. 



A UNIVERSITY DEGREE IN 

 HORTICULTURE. 



THE University of London has, at the sug- 

 gestion of the council of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society, established a B.Sc. degree in 

 Horticulture. Syllabuses for internal and 

 external students have been drafted, and the 

 University has under consideration the recogni- 

 tion of the Royal Horticultural Society's school 

 and research station at Wisley as a school of the 

 University. 



There can be no question that, if university 

 degrees are to be given in technical subjects, 

 the case for a degree in horticulture is a good 

 one ; for horticulture connotes not only an 

 industry and an art, but also an applied science. 



First of all, however, it is a craft, and, like all 

 crafts, it depends for its successful pursuit on 

 the exercise of practical skill. Therefore, an 

 academic recognition of proficiency which does 

 not carry with it a sure indication of craftsman- 

 ship is not only useless, but also pernicioui. 



The proposed degree in horticulture, if the 

 spirit of the regulations which govern it is 

 observed, makes adequate provision for the re- 

 quirement of technical expertness. A candidate 

 for the internal degree, besides matriculating and 

 passing the Intermediate Science Examination, 

 must pass the Preliminary Examination for the 

 National Diploma in Horticulture before he pro- 

 ceeds to the Final Examination. This examina- 

 tion, established by the Royal Horticultural 

 Society with the approval of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, is an adequate elementary test of prac- 

 tical knowledge and ability. Furthermore, 

 during the final course candidates are required to 

 perfect their knowledge of practical horticulture, 

 NO. 2484, VOL. 99] 



will gain. For at present 

 there is a deep gulf fixed between the science 

 and practice of horticulture. The well-trained 

 man of science, say the Part II. Tripos man, 

 has become too specialised in habits of work, 

 too much a victim of the laboratory habit, to be 

 willing to spend a year or so working with his 

 hands on the land. 



For these reasons it may be hoped that the 

 establishment of a degree in horticulture will be 

 of no less benefit to potential botanists and agri- 

 cultural chemists than to professional horticul- 

 turists. In the case of botany, at all events, it 

 may reasonably be asserted that much of the 

 botanical ritual observed in our university 

 laboratories is outw-orn ; and although we are not 

 confusing botanists with g-ardeners, we are con- 

 fident that, if botanical students were to spend 

 half as many hours working in the garden as 

 thev now spend with microscopes and micro- 

 tomes, they would become better botanists. 



From yet another point of view the degree in 

 horticulture is to be welcomed. Tropical horti- 

 culture is in many cases more akin to horticulture 

 than to the agriculture practised in this country. 

 The Empire has great need of men to aid in 

 developing its resources. The old class of 

 administrator — the man who could administer 

 anything about which he knew nothing — has been 

 found out. The war has weig-hed him in the 

 balances and proved him wanting. The new 

 class of administrator must be a new kind of 

 practical man — "a hewer, not a heaver, of 

 things." By providing a course of training in 

 the practice and science of horticulture, the 

 University of London has made a contribution 

 towards meeting the need for this new class of 

 practical men. 



This will only be the case, however, if the 

 University insists upon satisfactory practical 

 training for all candidates for degrees in horti- 

 culture, and not from internal students only. 

 Unfortunately, the regulations for the external 

 degree in horticulture provide for no training in 

 practical horticulture, nor, to be fair, does it 



