i66 



NA TURE 



[December 19, 1895 



umber of courses organised by Local Committees showed an 

 increase over those of previous years, but the courses given in 

 connection with County Councils showed a decline. This is 

 because the County Councils have appointed lecturers of their 

 own to carry on the work of the Extension lectures ; and 

 because fixed colleges or institutes are taking the place of 

 peripatetic teaching. Oxford centres have never shown a pre- 

 ference for courses of lectures on science subjects : in 1894-95, 

 142 courses were delivered on history, literature, economics, 

 and art, and fifty-seven courses on various branches of science. 

 That the lectures delivered uhder the auspices of the Delegacy 

 appeal to a large class is shown by the fact that the aggregate 

 of average attendances during the year covered by the report 

 was 20,809. 



Mr. Henry A. Miers, of the Department of Minerals in 

 the British Museum, has been elected Waynflete Professor of 

 Mineralogy, in place of Prof. Story Maskelyne, resigned. 



The following are among recent appointments abroad : 

 Dr. P. Ehrlich to be Professor of Special Pathology and 

 Therapeutics in the Berlin University. Dr. Janny, privat- 

 docent in Surgery, at Budapest, to be Professor ; Dr. J. Nevinny 

 to be Ordinary Professor of Pharmacology at Innsbruck ; 

 Dr. K. A. Bier to be Extraordinary Professor of Surgery at 

 Kiel ; Dr. A. Monti to be Professor of General Pathology at 

 Palermo ; Dr. Augustin to be Extraordinary Professor of Meteor- 

 ology in the Bohemian University at Prague. 



The Times, in some noteworthy remarks upon the Duke of 

 Devonshire's Birmingham speech, pointed out the importance of 

 technical education, and the necessity for instruction in 

 fundamental principles. ' ' The people perish for lack of know- 

 ledge," remarked our contemporary, "but it is primarily 

 general knowledge that they require. Only upon that founda- 

 tion can technical knowledge be built up with any chance of 

 obtaining its full advantages. . . . Too much stress cannot 

 be laid upon the cardinal importance of equipping our industrial 

 population with the knowledge which at present is far more 

 copiously and systematically provided by other nations than by 

 ourselves. Indeed, we may question whether even among 

 educational reformers full recognition has yet been given to the 

 fact that time and energy are limited quantities. Is it enough to 

 superadd technical education to a stereotyped course of verbal 

 study? Do we not, in that way, not only waste time which 

 might be much better employed, but postpone the acquirement 

 of manual dexterities to too late a period ? It is worth serious 

 consideration whether what is wanted for an industrial popula- 

 tion at the present day is not an education essentially technical 

 and practical from a very early age, with the verbal training 

 that now passes for education relegated to a secondary place." 



Though in recent years there has been a development of 

 facilities for science instruction for boys, and methods of instruc- 

 tion are slowly being improved, the same kind of advances have 

 not been made in girls' schools. This deficiency was discussed 

 at a meeting held at the Hugh Myddellon School last week, 

 when a paper on "Science Teaching for Girls," was read by 

 Mr. Heller, and the essential points of sound teaching of science 

 were dwelt upon. It wis pointed out that the teaching of 

 scientific method rather than the teaching of science subjects 

 should be made a valuable educating factor in all schools ; that 

 all such teaching must follow the lines of an investigation, must 

 be accurate and quantitative, and must have a logical sequence ; 

 that the scholars must be taught to help and think for themselves, 

 and that the teacher should act rather as an exhaust pump than as 

 a force pump, in extracting facts from the child's brain rather 

 than supplying them. Mr. Heller then sketched a syllabus and 

 scheme of work he is carrying out both with classes of teachers 

 and children in East London, where all facts are discovered by 

 experiment, and nothing is given on the ipse dixit of the teacher. 

 Referring to the pioneer work the London School Board is carry- 

 ing out in the training of teachers, the lecturer proposed the follow- 

 ing resolution : " That in the o|niiion of this meeting the time has 

 arrived when the teaching of scientific method should be made an 

 educating influence in girls' schools, and that such leaching must 

 be of an experimental and investigating nature.'' In the dis 

 cussion that lollowed. Dr. Gladstone urged that all knowledge 

 should be gained by scientific me hods, and that no special 

 subjects should be taught even in the higher standards of 

 elementary schools, but rather fundamental principles. Dr. 

 Armstrong thought the time was ripe for great changes. In 



every direction educational authorities were adopting such work 

 as they had heard described. There was no necessity to teach 

 science, but to form character by teaching scientific methods. 

 He advocated the teaching of mental drill and mental discipline, 

 and in conclusion seconded the resolution, which was carried 

 unanimously. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Wiedeniamis Amtalen der Physik und Cheniie, No. II. — 

 Emissivity of bodies at high temperatures, and the Auer burner, 

 by Ch. E. St. John. The Auer burner only shows very slight 

 fluorescence and phosphorescence. A thin sheet of oxide on 

 electrically-glowed platinum foil does not assume the tempera- 

 ture of the platinum. The emissivities of glowing bodies are 

 best compared by introducing them into a stove whose walls are 

 at a uniform temperature. The oxides composing the Auer 

 incandescent gas-burner show a high emissive power, which, 

 together with its small mass, large surface, and low conductivity, 

 accounts for its efficiency as an illuminant. — The true surface 

 tension of pure water between 0° and 40° C, by P. Volkmann. 

 This was determined by capillary tubes, and controlled by similar 

 observations upon toluol and benzol. Under a pressure of 750 

 mm. of moist air, the surface tension of pure water was found 

 to be 7 "683 mg. per mm. at 0°, 7 "543 at 10", and 7 '236 at 30° C. 

 — Condensation of vapours, by Mathias Cantor. The capillary 

 constants of a surface exert a decided influence upon the dew- 

 point of a vapour in contact with it. The author allowed steam 

 to condense on a thin sheet of petroleum spread on mercury. As 

 soon as the thickness of the layer so deposited is equal to the 

 radius of molecular action, the dew-point and the temperature of 

 saturation become the same. This radius was calculated from 

 the results obtained, and was found to be 6'5 x io~^ mm., or 

 slightly less than that found by Reinold and Riicker from soap- 

 bubbles. — Relation between the dielectric constant of a gas and 

 its chemical valency, by Robert Lang. This is an important 

 new law connecting the specific inductive capacity of a gas with 

 its chemical valency. Whatever the nature of the gas, its (sp. 

 ind. capacity - I ) increases directly as the total valency of the 

 atoms constituting its molecules. This difference from unity is 

 called by the author the " electrification number," since it indi- 

 cates the difference of behaviour in the dielectric ether due to 

 the presence of matter. The electrification numbers of H, O, 

 CO, and CO.^ are very nearly as 1:2:3: 4.— Dielectric con- 

 stants of liquefied gases and the Mossotti-Clausius formula, by 

 F. Linde. These constants of liquefied COj, CI, and NjO were 

 determined by means of the electric oscillation method. On 

 plotting the calculated and observed values different curves were 

 obtained, and it was evident that the spec. ind. capacity depends 

 upon other conditions besides density.— Circular magnetisation 

 of iron wires, by I. Klemencic. When a current traverses an 

 iron wire, the molecules tend to arrange themselves in circular 

 chains round the axis. This gives rise to strong extra currents 

 at break. The magnetic susceptibilities are different along and 

 round the axis. In soft iron the former exceeds the latter, 

 whereas in Bessemer steel the circular susceptibility is the 

 greater. 



In the number of the Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano for 

 November, Sigr. M. A. Mirabella has an interesting paper in 

 which he describes the extra-floral nectaries of various species of 

 ' Ficus cultivated in the Botanic Garden at Palermo. They 

 occur as well-marked nectariferous areas on the young branches 

 or under-side of the leaves. In the same number, Sigr. E. Baroni 

 describes several new species of Lilium from China. 



The Bulletini of the Italian Botanical Society for October 

 and November contain, in addition to papers addressed especially 

 to Italian botanists, several of more general interest. Prof. G. 

 Cuboni describes a successful attempt to obtain in Italy the very 

 rare germination of the seed of the double cocoa-nut of the 

 Seychelles, Loidoicea Sechellarum.—Vxol P. Baccarini has found 

 albuminoid crystalloids in the petals of a considerable number of 

 plants bekmging to the Leguminosse, and especially in fugacious 

 flowers ; from which he draws the conclusion that they cannot, in 

 these instances, be regarded as a reserve food-material. — Prof. 

 A. Aloi confirms his previous statement that both terrestrial and 

 atmospheric electricity exercise a very beneficial influence on the 

 growth of plants, and predicts that this may be an important 

 element in the agriculture and horticulture of the future. 



NO. 1364, VOL. 53 



