282 



NATURE 



[May 5, 1910 



various universities. Formerly, if a college was once 

 affiliated, the university had practically no control of 

 any kind over it, and though it might be known that 

 a college was doing very inferior work, no effective 

 remedial action could be taken. Under the new Act 

 the connection between the college and university is 

 much closer and more effective than it has hitherto 

 been. The conditions which a college must fulfil 

 in order to receive and retain the privileges of 

 affiliation are prescribed in some detail in the Act, 

 and in order that the university may be satisfied as 

 to the fulfilment of these conditions, systematic and 

 periodic inspection of colleges by 'university inspectors 

 is established, and this is coupled with the power of 

 calling upon a college so visited to amend within a 

 specified period any points over the wide range of 

 requirements laid down by the Act. These inspections 

 took place almost immediately after the passing of 

 the University Act, and it is not too much to say that 

 the condition of affairs disclosed showed abundantly 

 the absolute necessity of the action taken to secure 

 the passing of the new Act. Some colleges, indeed, 

 have already had, or will have, to disappear if they 

 do not rise to the required standard within a reason- 

 able time. In other colleges where defects were 

 found, due mainly, perhaps, to want of funds, arrange- 

 ments are being made to remedy them, and these 

 efforts are being supplemented by annual grants of 

 money made by Government, which grants are 

 administered by the universities. 



Another direction in which radical changes are 

 taking place under the new Act and its consequent 

 regulations is in the matter of the residence of 

 students. Formerly, in many cases, these conditions 

 were deplorable, but gradually a much better state 

 of things is being evolved, and here again the change 

 is largely due to improvements made with money 

 given for building hostels, &c., by Government and 

 by other donors. 



That educational activity is increasing is also shown 

 by the fact that at Allahabad in January of this year, 

 the foundation stone of some important new university 

 buildings was laid by Sir John Hewett, the Lieut.- 

 Governor of the United Provinces, who is also Chan- 

 cellor of the Allahabad University, and by a deniand 

 which is now coming from Burma for a new univer- 

 sity to be established there, in addition to the existing 

 universities at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Allahabad, 

 and the Punjab. As time goes on, indeed, there will 

 probably be room, not only for the Burma University, 

 but for others at such places as Nagpore, in the 

 Central Provinces, and perhaps at Aligarh, which is 

 now the centre of a large and exceedingly well- 

 managed Mohammedan college. 



Such are the main lines on which the improvements 

 in university education in India are being conducted, 

 but the effect of the new University Act does not end 

 here, and it has also had an important bearing on the 

 schools for secondary education. In most Indian 

 universities, students 'usually can only go up_ for the 

 matriculation examination if they have studied at a 

 high school recognised by the university. The 

 standard set by the university matriculation, there- 

 fore, largely influences the secondary _ schools. 

 Formerly these standards were low, and in many 

 ways unsatisfactory, while the schools which had been 

 '• recognised" were many of them most Inferior in every 

 way, specially in teaching and discipline, and they 

 could not possibly impart sound education or develop 

 character. Now' the standards for the matriculation 

 examination have been revised and generally raised, 

 while also the conditions under which the secondary 

 schools receive recognition have been formulated 

 under the various university regulations, and unless 



NO. 21 14, VOL. 83] 



a school is shown by inspection to be satisfactory in 

 respect of constitution, management, and financial 

 stability, premises and equipment, staff, instruction, 

 and discipline, it cannot be recognised by the univer- 

 sity, and hence cannot send up its \ upils for examina- 

 tion. Inspection, therefore, has to Le made of schools 

 as well as of colleges, and this is rapidly raising the 

 tone of the education given. 



Hence the new University Act of 1904 Is having a 

 very marked and beneficial effect on all forms of 

 college and high-school education, and India appears 

 to be entering on a more prosperous era in the 

 matter of higher education In all Its branches than 

 has hitherto been possible. 



THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BLACK BREAD. 



DURING the last General Election much was 

 heard about the hard lot of the German 

 workmen and peasants who Sffe compelled to eat 

 black bread, and much political capital was made 

 of it. It may therefore be interesting to inquire 

 how much of a hardship this is from the point 

 of view of nutritiousness and also of tastiness. The 

 so-called black bread Is made of rye, and has the 

 property of keeping moist for a much longer time 

 than wheaten bread, although if kept too long it is 

 apt to turn sour. It Is quite a mistake to suppose 

 that It is nasty ; in New York, where wheaten bread 

 is the staple article of diet, the German bakeries 

 almost always also sell black bread, even in the best 

 quarters of the town, and it is said that black bread 

 is always to be found on the Emperor's table. So 

 those who habitually buy white bread by no means 

 entirely discard the use of black bread, though it 

 does not appear to have found very much favour 

 except with those of German extraction. 



From the various analyses which have been pub- 

 lished, the amount of nitrogenous material contained 

 in the different cereals does not differ greatly nor 

 constantly; but wheat has its nitrogenous matter 

 partly In the form of gluten, a sticky material almost 

 wanting in the other cereals. So far, then, as 

 nitrogenous constituents are concerned, everything 

 turns upon whether gluten is more nutritious than 

 the other nitrogenous bodies. There is no reason to 

 suppose that it is, but Its adhesive properties are 

 valuable in causing the dough, when permeated by 

 carbonic acid gas, as a result of fermentation, to 

 rise into a more porous, spongy mass. The nitro- 

 genous material contained in the flour of all cereals 

 when it is made into dough commences to decompose, 

 and in this state acts as a ferment, breaking up a 

 portion of the starch into dextrin and glucose, whilst 

 some part of the starch undergoes a further fermenta- 

 tion into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. In this state 

 the dough Is called "leaven," and small portions of 

 it are capable of setting up the same action in much 

 larger masses of dough. 



This is the old way of preparing bread, and is still 

 employed In the making of black bread; in the 

 making of finer breads It is not wholly discarded, 

 although yeast is used for the initiation of the pro- 

 cess. If this change goes far the bread loses in 

 whiteness, and the addition of alum as an adulterant 

 is made with the view of checking the fermentation. 

 It is not generally known that the comparatively dark 

 colour of whole-meal bread is not due to the particles 

 of bran which it contains, but to_ the fermentative 

 changes having gone further. This is due to the 

 husk containing another nitrogenous body, which also 

 acts as an active ferment. In fact, in white bread a 

 large proportion of the starch remains unchanged. 



But whole-meal bread is well known to have a 



