38o 



NA TURE 



[August i6, 1900 



PRIZE SUBJECTS OF THE PARIS SOCltTk 



D'ENCO URA CEMENT. 

 "T^HE June number of the Bulletin de la Socu'te d' Encourage- 

 -'■ tiient pour V Industrie Nationale contains the programme 

 of prizes and medals proposed by the Society for 1 901 and 

 following years. The questions proposed for solution cover a 

 large field ; omitting many which have only a local interest, the 

 chief problems suggested as prize subjects for 1901 are as 

 follows. In Mechanics, prizes of 2000 francs for a motor weigh- 

 ing less than 50 kilograms per horse-power developed ; for an 

 important advance in mechanical miethods of transmitting 

 energy ; and for automobiles suitable for use in towns and in 

 the country respectively, the conditions laid down for the 

 motor car suitable for towns requiring the absence of fumes or 

 smell, and in the case of the one for use in the country, only 

 such fuel to be used as can ordinarily be obtained in country 

 towns. In Chemistry, a prize of 1000 francs for the 

 utilisation of any waste product ; of 2000 francs for a 

 publication useful to chemical or metallurgical industry ; 

 two prizes of 500 francs each for scientific researches in 

 chemistry, of which the results can be utilised in industrial 

 work ; a prize of 2000 francs for an improvement in the manu- 

 facture of chlorine ; one of 1000 francs for the discovery of a 

 new alloy useful in the arts ; and of 2000 francs for a study of 

 the expansion, elasticity, and tenacity of pottery clays and 

 glazes, for a scientific study of the physical and mechanical 

 properties of glass, for a new method of manufacturing fuming 

 sulphuric acid and sulphur trioxide, and for the manufacture of 

 a steel by the introduction of a foreign element possessing 

 specially useful properties. In the Economical Arts, 2000 

 francs for an invention of new methods allowing of the utilisa- 

 tion for lighting and heating, 'either for domestic or industrial 

 purposes, of petroleum, density not less than O'Soo ; 2000 francs 

 tor a continuous extractor ; 3000 francs for a method of puri- 

 fying water for domestic use ; and 2000 francs for a 2-candle 

 power incandescent electric lamp fulfilling certain special 

 conditions. 



Other prizes offered include one of 2000 francs for the best 

 study of the diseases of cider and the means of preventing or 

 arresting their development ; of 3000 francs for the invention of 

 a method allowing of the production of an indefinite number 

 of positives in colours either by a direct method or with a 

 Lippmann negative ; of 2000 francs for a memoir on the silk 

 industry in the Lyons region ; of 1500 francs for a memoir on the 

 cycle industry ; and of 3000 francs for a study of commercial 

 sjndicates. 



According to the general conditions for these prizes, all 

 memoirs must be sent in before December 31, they must be 

 written in the French language, and are open to peisons of all 

 nationalities. 



ONI VERS/ 7 Y AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Teachers in Schools of Science and Technical Schools 

 will find a Diary and Calendar just issued by Messrs. 

 Philip Harris and Co. , scientific instrument makers, Birming- 

 ham, a convenient little pocket-book. The diary is for the year 

 commencing on September i, and ending August 31, 1901. The 

 dates are given of examinations in science and technology, and 

 memoranda referring to the days on which official papers must 

 be sent in are brought together in a calendar. The book is 

 thus a real vade inecuni for science teachers. 



The following Saturday morning courses for teachers have 

 been arranged by the London Technical Education Board. A 

 course of about ten lectures on the teaching of mathematics will 

 be given by Prof. Hudson at King's College The object of 

 these lectures is to help those who are practically engaged in 

 teaching, and wish to become acquainted with modern methods 

 and improvements in order to render their teaching more 

 effective. A course on physics will be given under the 

 direction of Prof. W. Grylls Adams and Mr. S. A. F. 

 White. The course will consist of practical work in the 

 Wheatstone Laboratory, the object of the instruction being to 

 enable students to obtain an intimate knowledge of the methods 

 employed in physical measurements and familiarity with the 

 use of apparatus. A course of twenty lectures on physiology 

 will be delivered by Prof. Halliburton. The object of the 



NO. 1607, VOL. 62] 



course is to acquaint teachers with the modern methods of 

 teaching physiology by objective methods. A course of ten 

 lectures on the teaching of physical geography, each lecture 

 followed by a class for practical work, will be given by Miss 

 Catherine A. Raisin, D.Sc, at Bedford College. 



The London Technical Education Board makes provision for 

 advanced students as well as for those of elementary grades. 

 During the coming session evening science courses will be held 

 in connection with the Board at University College, King's 

 College, and Bedford College. At University College, Ptof. 

 J. A. Fleming, F. R.S., will give a course of ten lectures, 

 followed by laboratory practice, in advanced, electrical 

 measurements. A course of lectures on the electric motor and 

 its application in electric traction will be given by Prof. C. A. 

 Carus-Wilson, each lecture to be followed by an experimental 

 demonstration or by a class for the practical working of numerical 

 examples in connection with the subject. A course will be given 

 by Prof. E. Wilson, at King's College, on direct and alternating 

 currents. In mechanical engineering, Prof. T. Hudson Beare 

 will give a course of ten lectures, at University College, on the 

 theory of steam engines and boilers, with laboratory work 

 on the testing of steam engines and boilers. Prof. Beare will 

 also give a course of five lectures on the theory of gas 

 and oil engines, combined with laboratory work. A course 

 of five lectures on water-tube boilers will be given by Mr. 

 Leslie Robertson. A course will be delivered by Prof. D, S. 

 Capper and Mr. H. M. Waynworth in the mechanical 

 engineering laboratories of King's College. The course will 

 consist of about twenty demonstrations upon steam and gas 

 engines and general laboratory work. The latter portion of 

 each evening will be devoted to experimental and practical work 

 in the engineering laboratory in illustration of the lectures. A 

 course on civil engineering will be delivered by Prof. Robinson. 

 The methods of producing artificial cold will be the subject of a 

 course of lectures to be delivered at University College by 

 Dr. W. Hampton, At the same college, Mr. E. C. C. Baly 

 will deliver eight lectures dealing with the methods of spectro- 

 scopy, especially in connection with the photography of the 

 spectrum. 



Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have 

 made the following appointments to Science Research Scholar- 

 ships for the year 1900, on the recommendation of the authorities 

 of the respective universities and colleges. The scholarships 

 are of the value of 150/. a year, and are ordinarily tenable for 

 two years (subject to a satisfactory report at the end of the first 

 year) in any university at home or abroad, or in some other 

 institution approved of by the Commissioners. The scholars are 

 to devote themselves exclusively to study and research in some 

 branch of science, the extension of which is important to the 

 industries of the country. A limited number of the scholarships 

 are renewed for a third year where it appears that the renewal 

 is likely to result in work of scientific importance. The new 

 scholars and their nominating institutions are as follows : — - 

 C. E Fawsitt, B.Sc. (University of Edinburgh), V. J. Blyth, 

 M.A. (University of Glasgow), J. Moir, M.A., B.Sc. (Univer- 

 sity of Aberdeen), W. M. Varley, B.Sc. (Yorkshire College, 

 Leeds), J. C. W. Humfrey, B.Sc. (University College, Liver- 

 pool), S. Smiles, B.Sc. (University College, London), N. Smith, 

 B.Sc. (Owens College, Manchester), L. L. Lloyd (University 

 College, Nottingham), Alice Laura Embleton, B.Sc. (University 

 College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff), J. A. 

 Cunningham, B.A. (Royal College of Science, Dublin), W. S. 

 Mills, B. A. (Queen'sCoUege, Galway), J. Patterson, B.A. (Univer- 

 sity of Toronto), W. C. Baker, M.A. (Queen's University, King- 

 ston, Ontario), J. Barnes, M.A. (Dalhousie University, Halifax, 

 Nova Scotia), J. J. E. Durack, B.A. (University of Sydney). 

 Seventeen scholarships granted in 1898 and 1899 have been 

 continued for a second year on receipt of a satisfactory report of 

 work done during the first year. The names of the scholars and 

 the places where they are studying are as follows : — J, C. Irvine, 

 B.Sc. (University of Leipzig), H. L. Heathcote, B.Sc. (Univer- 

 sity of Leipzig), Winifred Esther Walker, B.Sc. (University 

 College, London), F. W. Skirrow, B.Sc. (University of Leipzig), 

 C. G. Barkla, B.Sc. (Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge), 

 Harriette Chick, B.Sc. (Thompson-Yates Laboratories, Univer- 

 sity College, Liverpool), F. A. Lidbury, B.Sc. (University of 

 Leipzig), W. Campbell, B.Sc. (Royal College of Science, South 

 Kensington), L. Lownds, B.Sc. (University of Berlin), J. T. 

 Jenkins, B.Sc. (University of Kiel and Biological Institution, 



