August 2, 19 17] 



NATURE 



455 



deliberations was the elaboration of a system of which 

 the underlying principle can be explained in a very 

 few words. It is based on the phonetic value of the 

 Bohemian alphabet. Bohemian being a Slav language 

 which employs Roman script, the materials for a con- 

 sistent and intelligible scheme of transliteration lie 

 ready to hand. This alphabet with its diacritic signs 

 enables us in most cases to represent one Russian 

 letter by one Roman letter, and this in itself con- 

 stitutes an improvement on the systems previously in 

 vogue, notably on the Continent of Europe, most of 

 which are vitiated by imperfect phonetic apprehension. 

 The following is a summary of the report of the 

 committee : — 



" The basis of the transcription is the phonetic value 

 of Roman letters in the Bohemian alphabet : — 



a6Br3;H;.3i, iifiKJMHonpcTT<J) 

 a b V !^ d z z i, j klvinoprstuf 



X u 4 III m H "i; 9 e ^• 



ch ccsscyeefi 



a, K), at the beginning of a syllable, and consequently 

 also after i,, i,, which are omitted, are written ja, ju, but, 

 after consonants with which they form one syllable, ia, lu. 

 In like manner e and t> after s, "h are written je, je, but 

 after consonants simply e, e. At the beginning of proper 

 names the simple e should be used, e.g. Egorov, not 

 Jegorov. After l, i should be replaced by ji. 



" The letter i. is not transcribed, but l at the end of a 

 word and before consonants is written i, e.g. jaTL = dati, 

 KOHb = koni, 6o.ibniori = boli'soj. The accented e pro- 

 nounced jo is represented, as in Russian, by e, but in the 

 case of proper names the diaeresis should not be used 

 unless the author himself uses it, e.g. 4epHUUieBT> = 

 Cernj'sev, EBluiiHT> = Evsin, Bepe3llH'b= Berezin." 



To attempt by any system of spelling to reproduce 

 the well-nigh infinite inflexions of the human voice 

 is to attempt the impossible, but there is one im- 

 portant point in the above scheme which, whether by 

 inadvertence or design, seems to have been passed 

 over. No mention is made of the genitive termina- 

 tion ro, where r invariably has the sound of v. 

 JI,o6paro were better transcribed Dobravo than Dobrago. 



It may be objected that such a system is not suited 

 to English-speaking countries, that the introduction 

 of the Bohemian alphabet further complicates matters. 

 The reply is that it was devised, not with special refer- 

 ence to English or for the purposes of teaching, but 

 primarily to meet the needs of international biblio- 

 graphy. It should be mentioned that it has been 

 adopted by the Royal Society in its " Catalogue of 

 Scientific Papers " and by " Minerva : Jahrbuch der 

 gelehrten Welt," published at Strassburg, and that it is 

 obligator}.- for all work in connection with the Inter- 

 national Catalogue of Scientific Literature. It seems 

 opportune at the present moment to direct attention 

 to the existence of a system of transliteration which 

 it is hoped will in time supersede all others for biblio- 

 graphical purposes, and which bears the imprimatur 

 of the Russian authorities, who earnestly desire its 

 extended adoption. Edward Foord. 



SCIENCE IN EDUCATION AND 

 A DMINISTRA TION. 

 'T*HE subjoined Memorandum has been approved bv 

 -^ the Senate of the University of London and trans- 

 mitted to the Treasury, the Board of Education, the 

 Civil Ser\'ice Commission, the Committee on Science 

 in the Educational System of Great Britain appointed 

 by the Government, and the Royal Society : — 

 NO. 2492, VOL. 99] 



1. Primary and secondary education should be 

 directed towards making active and useful citizens, 

 and should include the development of mind and 

 character and instruction in the fundamental 

 branches of knowledge. 



Literary, linguistic, mathematical, and scientific 

 studies should be regarded as fundamental branches 

 of knowledge, and each pupil should receive some 

 instruction in all these branches. In the case of 

 pupils who pursue their education beyond the age of 

 sixteen, these subjects should as a rule be continued, 

 and public and secondan,- schools should not under- 

 take specialised training in professional subjects. 



Opportunities for learning Latin and Greek should 

 be given in one or more schools in every educational 

 area. 



While it is not desirable that it should be com- 

 pulsory on all pupils, some form of artistic and 

 manual training is to be regarded as of Very high 

 importance. 



2. The teaching of natural science (including 

 physics and chemistry) should be compulsorv in all 

 secondary- schools, both boys' and girls' schools. 



3. All secondary schools retaining pupils beyond 

 the age of sixteen should be capable of providing in- 

 struction in the science subjects of the entrance ex- 

 aminations of the universities up to the standard 

 required for these examinations. 



4. Special technical day schools, in accordance with 

 local needs, should be established in all industrial 

 centres for boys and girls between thirteen and sixteen 

 years of age who wish to enter the technical (including 

 engineering, chemical, and artistic) industries at the 

 age of sixteen. 



5. In order to secure for science leaching the posi- 

 tion to which it is entitled, and which for the benefit 

 of the nation it ought to occupy, the schemes under 

 which the great public schools are administered 

 should in each case contain provisions to the effect : — 



(a) That the governing body shall include a sub- 

 stantial number of representatives of the learned and 

 scientific societies, and 



(b) That members of the governing bodv shall not 

 hold office for life. 



Without such provisions, it is probable that men 

 distinguished by mathematical or scientific attain- 

 ments will continue to be at a disadvantage in applv- 

 ing for appointment to headmasterships of public 

 schools. 



Greek should not be a compulsory- subject for erf- 

 trance scholarships to these schools; and adequate 

 facilities (including equipment) for learning science 

 should be available for, and accessible to, all their 

 pupils. 



6. The number of branches in which a first univer- 

 sity degree can be taken should not be unduly multi- 

 plied, but students who have taken a firsi: degree in 

 science should be encouraged by the institution of 

 higher [M.Sc] degrees, especially in technical 

 branches, to specialise in particular branches of 

 science, or in their applications to industry. The 

 preparation for such degrees should include some train- 

 ing in the methods of research. 



7. The present arrangement for the selection of 

 first division clerks in the Civil Service should be 

 modified so that on every occasion an adequate pro- 

 portion of those appointed must have had mathe- 

 matical or scientific training. 



8. In all selections for the higher administrative 

 posts for the Government Departments the work of 

 which is of a scientific or technical character the 

 official selected ought to have received such a scienti- 

 fic training as will fit him to understand the charac- 

 ter of the work for the organisation of which he will 

 be responsible. 



