164 



NA TURE 



[December 19. 1895 



showed that it approximated very closely to a cliromospheric 

 line, the frequency of which is stated as lOO by Young. 



This line was also seen very brilliantly in the tube supplied 

 to me by Prof. Ramsay on May i, and on May 6 it was com- 

 pared directly with the chromosphere line by Mr. Fowler. The 

 second order grating spectrum was employed. The observations 

 in this region were not so easy as in the case of D3, but with the 

 dispersion employed, the gas line was found to be coincident with 

 the chromospheric one. In this case also, the chromosphere was 

 observed at the sun's poles, in order to eliminate the effects due 

 to the sun's r6tation. 



In a former note {Roy. Soc. Proc. , vol. Iviii. p. 1 14), I have 

 pointed out that this line does not appear in the spectra of the 

 gases obtained from all minerals which give the yellow line. 



Besides appearing in the spectrum of the chromosphere, the 

 line in question is one of the first importance in the spectra of 

 nebuhie, bright line stars, and of the white stars such as Bellatrix 

 and Rigel. 



T/ie Infra-red Line, \ 7065 "5. — In addition to Dg and the 

 line at 4471 "8, there is a chromospheric line in the infra-red 

 which also has a frequency of 100, according to Young, On 

 May 28, I communicated a note to the Royal Society statmg 

 that this line had been observed in the spectrum of the gases 

 obtained from broggerite and euxenite (A'oj'. Soc. Proc, vol. 

 Iviii. p. 192), solar comparisons having convinced me that the 

 wave-length of the gas line corresponded with that given by 

 Young ; and I added, "<it follows, therefore, that besides the 

 hydrogen lines, all three chromospheric lines in Young's list 

 which have a frequency of 100 have now been recorded in the 

 spectra of the new gas or gases obtained from minerals by the 

 distillation method." 



M. Deslandres, of the Paris Observatory, has also observed 

 the line at 7065 in the gas obtained from cleveite {Comptes 

 rendus, June 17, 1895, P- I33i)- 



Other Lines. — Determinations of the wave-lengths of many 

 other lines in the spectra of the new gases have been made, 

 chiefly with the aid of a Steinheil spectroscope having four 

 prisms, and the results leave little doubt as to the coincidence of 

 several lines with those appearing in the chromosphere, nebulae, 

 and white stars. 



It seems very probable, also, that many lines which have been 

 noted, and for which no origins have yet been traced, belong to 

 gases which have not hitherto been recorded in the chromosphere. 

 The following table summarises the chief lines iwhich have so 

 far been recorded in the new gases from various minerals, some 

 of which show D3 while others do not. Only those lines which 

 also appear in the spectrum of the chromosphere, nebulae, or 

 Orion stars, are given in the first instance. There are other 

 lines which are probably also associated with chromospheric 

 ones, but further investigation of them is considered desirable 

 before they are included in the list. 



The first column of the table gives the wave-lengths of the 

 lines on Rowland's scale, while the second gives the wave-lengths 

 on Angstrom's scale ; the third gives the frequency of the lines 

 in the chromosphere according to Young. In the fourth column 

 lines photographed with the prismatic camera during the total 

 eclipse of April 16, 1893, "^"^^ shown ; these have been included 

 because in some cases lines which appear to ^e comparatively 

 unimportant in Young's list were photographed as important 

 lines. The fifth column indicates probable coincidences with 

 lines in the spectrum of the Orion nebula ; the accuracy of these 

 wave-lengths is of necessity less than in the case of the chromo- 

 sphere ; with the exception of Dg they are taken from my paper 

 on the photographic spectrum of the Orion nebula {Phil. Trans., 

 1895, vol. I 86a, p. 76). The sixth column shows probable 

 coincidences with dark lines in the spectrum of Bellatrix, this 

 being taken as an example of the Orion stars {Phil. Trans., 

 1893, vol. 184A, p. 695), the lines 4922*3 and 5015*8 have been 

 photographed since the date of the paper to which reference is 

 made. 



The last column gives the wave-lengths, from Mr. Crookes' 

 table, of the lines observed by both of us. 



* Prof. Young has recently called attention to the fact that although this 

 line was not included in his chromospheric list, he observed and ptiblished it 

 in 1883 ; its frequencj- is about 15. (Nature, vol. Hi. p. 458.) 

 ' t This line is too close to a hydrogen line to enable a definite statement to 

 be made. 



THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE ON 

 EDUCATION. 



■\^ITHIN the past few days, the Duke of Devonshire has 

 delivered several orations on educational topics. Two 

 of these addresses appeal especially to those who are interested 

 in technical and scientific education : one was delivered at the 

 annual meeting of the National Association for the Promotion 

 of Technical and Secondary Education, to representatives of 

 technical educational committees of county and borough 

 Councils ; and the other was a speech to students at the 

 Birmingham Municipal Technical School. We print extracts 

 from the Times reports of both addresses, taking them in the 

 order in which they were delivered. To the conference 

 arranged by the National Association, the Duke of Devonshire 

 said :— 



It was originally proposed to hold the conference in July, but 

 that was prevented by the occurrence of the general election. 

 While the general election was responsible for the postpone- 

 ment of the conference, it has also had the effect of converting 

 your president from a private individual, entirely irresponsible, 

 whose saying and doings were entirely his own and committed 

 no one, into a member of the Government, who is responsible 

 both to his colleagues and to Parliament. He happens to be not 

 only a member of the Government, but the person who, with 

 my friend Sir John Gorst, is chiefly charged with the direction 

 of educational questions, and also with the administration of 

 large funds, which are administered by the Science and Art 

 Department as well as the Education Department, and he who, 

 therefore, is concerned with technical and secondary as well as 

 elementary education. This change' in the position of your 

 president has occurred at a moment when public attention has 

 been very urgently and earnestly directed both to the question 

 of elementary education, which, in the opinion of some persons, 

 has begun to some extent to trespass upon ground that 

 properly belongs to secondary education, and also by the publi- 

 cation of the report of the Royal Commission on Secondary 

 Education. 



We have in the report of the Commission a general review of 

 the history of secondary education in this country, of its present 

 position, and suggestions for its future guidance. Great pains 

 have been taken by the Executive Committee of this Association 

 to give in their journal a trustworthy summary of the work which 

 has thus been undertaken by the (I^ounty Councils. It will be 

 seen that the plans which have been adopted vary greatly in dif- 

 ferent counties, and while it is most desirable that the special 

 character of each locality should be considered and a wide scope 

 should be given to experiments, and while not even mistakes 

 and some waste of money inseparable from experimental 

 procedure need be wholly regretted, it has been thought 

 that the time has now come when a more uniform system 

 may be encouraged and adopted. In conclusion, I think I may 

 say that, without attempting to anticipate how soon or how com- 

 pletely it may be in the power of any Government to ask Parlia- 

 ment to consider in a more full and comprehensive manner the 

 organisation of secondary education, including technical instruc- 



NO. 1364, VOL 53] 



