544 



NATURE 



[September 27, 1900 



Agricultural Experiment Stations in the United States and 

 elsewhere. 



This is the time of year when prospectuses and calendars of 

 Technical Colleges, Schools, and Institutes are received from 

 various parts of the country in such numbers that it is impossible 

 to do justice to them in a short note. Several publications of 

 this character recently received must, however, be mentioned. 

 The Northampton Institute, Clerkenwell, the principal of which 

 is Dr. R. M. Walmsley, has greatly developed, and has com- 

 menced a set of day courses in mechanical engineering, electrical 

 engineering and horological engineering. These courses have 

 already been announced in Nature, and their scope described. 

 Other changes tending to the greater efficiency of the Institute 

 have been introduced. A noteworthy point is that in many 

 parts of the prospectus notes are given which should be of real 

 value in making students understand what true education means, 

 and in directing their energies in proper channels. The notes 

 are in complete accord with rational methods of instruction. 



The Merchant Venturers' Technical College at Bristol has for 

 many years been prominent among the the technical schools of 

 the country. It aims at providing a sound, continuous, and 

 complete preparation for an industrial career, and has developed 

 •with the times. Among recent improvements mentioned in the 

 -calendar we notice that a much larger physical laboratory has 

 feeen equipped and will be opened this session, and also an 

 additional special laboratory for heat and mechanical physics. 



The prospectus of the Municipal Science, Art and Technical 

 Schools of Devonport has been received. Remembering the 

 tendency of students to skim over many subjects, instead of 

 concentrating their attention on a few, we are glad to see among 

 the regulations of the school the following note : — " Students 

 are strongly advised not to attempt more than three subjects, 

 one of which should be practical geometry or mathematics, and 

 they should consult the teacher as to the course of study most 

 suitable to their profession." 



The Municipal Technical School of Manchester is one of the 

 finest in the country, and its syllabus for the session 1900-1901 

 is proportionally attractive. The following extract from the 

 syllabus shows the relation of the work of the school to 

 that of a University College. "The chief object of the 

 school is to provide instruction in the principles of those 

 sciences which bear directly or indirectly upon our trades 

 aiid industries, and to show by experiment how these 

 (principles may be applied to their advancement. The aim 

 K)/ the school is distinct from that of the University Colleges, in- 

 asmuch as it is designed to teach science solely with a view to its 

 industrial and commercial applications, and not for the purpose 

 of educating professional scientific men. It, however, offers to 

 students of the University Colleges the opportunity of technical 

 instruction in the industrial applications of certain branches of 

 science." 



The Calendar of the Royal Technical Institute, Salford, con- 

 tains much good advice to students, and many sound remarks 

 upon objects and methods of study. In the day classes of 

 (the Institute, the number of hours per week allotted to each 

 ■subject in the first year is as follows :— mathematics 6 ; general 

 Kphysics (including mechanics) 4 ; practical physics 3 ; electricity 

 .(theoretical) 2 ; electricity (practical) 2 ; theoretical chemistry 

 2 ; practical chemistry 3 ; practical, plane and solid geometry 2\ ; 

 •drawing (freehand, model, &c.) 3 ; workshop practice 2 ; English 

 and French 4 ; total 334. The second and third years' courses 

 become more specialised according to the department which the 

 student proposes to enter. There is no compulsory course of 

 instruction for evening students. Students are free to select 

 . those classes which will help them to make progress in their 

 particular trade or business. They are warned, however, against 

 strictly confining themselves to such classes; it is pointed out 

 tfhat if they desire to gain a thoroughly sound knowledge in 

 ^;echnical subjects, the study of them should be preceded by 

 -several of the pure and applied sciences. Thus, for example, 

 little real progress can be made in applied mechanics without a 

 knowledge of theoretical mechanics : or in machine or building 

 construction without geometry ; and unless the student undergoes 

 systematic instruction in mensuration, arithmetic and mathe- 

 matics, he will derive very little benefit from such subjects as 

 steam, machine design, physics, &c. Mathematics has been aptly 

 termed the alphabet of science, and students should not fail to 

 acquire mathematical knowledge if they wish to make satisfactory 

 progress in science and technology. The work of an Institute 

 inspired with this spirit cannot fail to be of value. 



NO. 16 1 3, VOL. 62] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 17. — M. Maurice Levy in 

 the chair. — ^Remarks relating to the decomposition of nitric esters 

 and of nitroglycerine by alkalis, and on the relative stability of ex- 

 plosive materials, by M. Berthelot. In certain cases, instead of the 

 production of the alcohol and nitrate as in the normal reaction, 

 an aldehyde is formed, together with some nitrite. The results 

 of M. Leo Vignon upon the nitrocelluloses confirm these views. 

 — On the nomographic resolution of the equation of the seventh 

 degree, by M. Maurice d'Ocagne. — On the deformations of 

 contact of elastic bodies, by M. A. Lafay. Spheres of bronze 

 and steel were studied and the amount of compression under 

 varying loads measured by optical arrangements analogous to 

 the Fizeau apparatus for the measurement of the expansion 

 of crystals. The application of the theory developed by 

 Hertz showed differences between the calculated and observed 

 values which increased with the radius of the sphere. 

 Since this divergence might possibly be due to the mutual 

 friction of the surfaces in contact, experiments were made with 

 oiled spheres, but the results were not affected by the lubrica- 

 tion. — Action of iodine and yellow oxide of mercury upon 

 styrolene and safrol, by M. J. Bougault. Styrolene with iodine 

 and mercuric oxide yielded an addition product, not obtain- 

 able pure, but apparently CgHg-CHLCH^'OH, from which 

 phenylacetic aldehyde was obtained by the action of silver 

 nitrate. Safrol gives a similar addition product, but no alde- 

 hyde could be obtained from this by the action of silver nitrate. 

 — On the reduction of the nitrocelluloses, by M. Leo Vignon. 

 It has been shown in a previous paper that the nitration of cellu- 

 lose yields, not nitrocelluloses, but nitro-oxycellulose containing 

 an aldehyde group. With ferrous chloride, these bodies are 

 reduced, the nitro-group being eliminated but the aldehyde 

 group left intact. With ammonium sulphide, the reduction 

 takes place in a different manner, cellulose or hydrocellulose 

 being produced, substances without reducing action. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Mammals of South Africa. By R. L 521 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Lewes : "Acetylene, a Handbook for the Student and 



Manufacturer" . . . 522 



Bottone : "Wireless Telegraphy and Hertzian Waves." 



— D. K. M 522 



Letters to the Editor:— 



Vibrissse on the Forepaws of Mammals. — Frank E. 



Beddard, F.R.S .-523 



The Distance to which the Firing of Heavy Guns is 



Heard.— J. W. Mallet 523 



The Solidification of Alloys.— Fred. T. Trouton, 



F.R.S 523 



The Reform of Mathematical Teaching. — C. E. 



Stromeyer 523 



Leaf Decay and Autumn Tints. — P. Q. Keegan . . 523 

 Homochronous Heredity and Changes of Pronuncia- 

 tion.— Charles G. Stuart-Menteath 524 



The Daylight Meteor of Sunday, September 2. — T. 



Rcoke ; B. St. G. Lefroy 524 



The Theory of Ions. By G. F. F. G 524 



The Recent Cretan Discoveries and their Bearing 

 on the Early Culture and Ethnography of the 

 East Mediterranean Basin. By Arthur J. Evans 526 

 The Ascent of Mount St. Elias (Alaska). {Illus- 

 trated.) By G. W. L 529 



John Anderson, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. By 



W. T. B. 529 



Notes 531 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Astronomical Occurrences in October 535 



The Fireball of Sunday, September 2, 6h. 54m. ... 535 



Ephemeris for Observations of Eros 535 



Ephemeris of Comet Borrelly-Brooks (i9003) .... 535 



Automatic Photography of the Corona 535 



The Iron and Steel Institute 535 



The Bradford Meeting of the British Association :— 

 Section K.— Botany.— Opening ; Address by Prof. 

 S. H. Vines, F.R.S., President of the Section . 536 



University and Educational Intelligence 543 



Societies and Academies 544 



