65 



NATURE 



[May i6, 1895 



formation of school museums and prizes given for the best 

 collections. 



Mr. G. B. Barton gave a concise historical account of the 

 first discover)- of the Eucalj-ptus, including the names and 

 nationalities (if those to whom the honour has been ascribed by 

 various writers. 



.■\ paper by Dr. J. Lauterer contained physiological and 

 microchemical researches on the Eucalyptus, and contributed 

 some new items with regard lo the life-history of those trees con- 

 nected with the origin of the gum exuded by their bark. 



Geography. 



The I'resident of the Section, Baron von Mueller, was absent, 

 •but his address, on " The Commerce of Australia with Neigh- 

 bouring Countries in Relation to Geography," was read. 



Mr. C. L. Wragge gave an account of his investigations of 

 ocean currents by means of bottles thrown into the sea. He was 

 of opinion from the results obtained that many of the bottles had 

 been influenced more by winds than by ocean currents ; but if 

 this were not the case, the bottles cast adrift in the .Vustralian 

 Bight distinctly indicated that a strong current sets from the 

 neighb<5urh(x)d of Kangaroo Island towards the head of the 

 Bight and Israelite Bay. The most interesting of the bottle 

 papers is one that was cast adrift near the Cocos Islands, in the 

 north-eastern portion of the Indian Ocean, and w hich was found 

 a few months afterwards on the shores of German East .\frica. 

 Papers cast adrift by Mr. Wragge during a voyage to England, in 

 the neighliourhood of the Sargasso Sea, were picked up at ilayti, 

 on the .Vlatania coast, and on the Louisiana coast. Others thrown 

 overboard with a view to testing Kennel's current, which sets 

 towards the coast of Ireland, from the neighlxjurhood of Cape 

 Einisterre, were certainly influenced by the strong wcsl-south- 

 west winds which were experienced on that occasion between the 

 Western Islands and the English Channel. None of these appear 

 to have followed the current, but went straight across it, some 

 Ijeing found on the west coast of Erance, and near the islands 

 of Sein, while one was picked up at Brighton. It ai>|Kars to 

 be highly desirable, judging from the results obtained, that the 

 Iwttles should be weighted with sand or other material, with a 

 view to more completely sinking them in the water, and thus 

 minimising the influence of the winds. 



.•\mong other ])apers contributed to this Section were — "The 

 Southern .Alps of New Ze.-iland," by Mr. A. P. Harper ; " The 

 Hiss.Tgos Islands," by M. Max Astrie ; and " Physiography of the 

 Victorian (iold Eields," by James Stirling. 



Ethnology and Anthropology. 



Mr. Thomas Worsnop, President of the Section of Ethnology 

 and .•\nthro|Kj|ogy, delivered an address u|X)n the prehistoric arts 

 of the .Australian Alxirigines. Messrs. W. ). Enright and R. H. 

 Matthews descrilxid the almriginal drawings in theWollombi Caves, 

 New South Wales. A pa|)er was contributed by .Mr. Thomas 

 I'etrie, on the habits and customs of the wild tribes as he saw them 

 in 1837, from UrisU-ine lo Maroochy. " EckhIs of North-west 

 Alxiriginals" w.is the title of a |apcr by J. Coghlan. Mr. John 

 E. .Small contributed a |iaper on customs and traditions of the 

 Clarence Kiver alKiriginals. The |)apcr dealt with the traditions, 

 funeral ceremonies, marriage laws, and the Bora ceremony. .Mr. 

 E. Thonie read a [aper entitled "Curious Ab<iriginal .Marriiige 

 Custom." The i)a|ier was the result of investig.ttions made by 

 the author in the I.aguna Bay. 



The other pa|)ers communicated to this Section included : 

 *• • BfKjmerang ' an<l ' Woomera,' P'volution, Varieties, and Dis- 

 tribution," by Mr. A. Weston: "The Ancient Government of 

 .Samoa," by Rev. S. Ella ; " Notes on Tokelau, Gillbert, and 

 Ellicc Islands," by Rev. J. E. Newell ; " A Com|>arative View 

 of some .Samfan Customs," by Rev. J. B. Stairs ; ' ' Eariy Samoan 

 Voyages and .Settlements," by Rev. J. B. Stairs; and "Gaelic 

 Contributions to Folk Ixjre," by Rev. A. C. Sutherland. 



Agriculture. 



in .1 |rii|«t 'ai iiic leaching of agricultural botany, .Mr. C. T. 

 .Mu.wjn said that the object to l>e aimed at by instructors in agri- 

 cultural liotany should be lo im|>art such information lo the pro- 

 »pcctivc cultivator as would make him acquainted with plant 

 structure and the more im|iortant useful plants. Practice alone 

 would not make a go<«l farnicr, but ])ractice, when based upon 

 a knowledge of the animate and inanimate objects he was dealing 

 with, and their surroundings, wouhl make ihe man of resources 



best fitted for his work. .Mr. T. B. Guthrie contributed a paper 

 on examinations of difl'erent varieties of wheat grown in New 

 South Wales. He also read a paper on " soil analysis," in which 

 the value of soil analysis to the f;\rmer was discussed, and dif- 

 ferent methods for the deterininalion of the available plant food 

 in soils were reviewed. The paper embodied a suggestion for a 

 scheme of soil analysis, the results of which should be of practical 

 use to the farmer, based upon the determination of those conditions 

 which conduce to fertility rather than to the chemical constitution 

 of the soil. Of the remaining [lapers read before this section, 

 the following were of more than technical interest : — 



" Climatic Influences on Contagious Diseases of Live Slock," 

 by P. R. Gordon : " How to Grow Fruit," by .Albert H. Benson ; 

 "Floods and F'orests," by Philip MacMahon ; " Semi-Tropic.al 

 Horticulture," by Leslie (!. Corrie ; " Forage Plants and Grasses 

 of Australia," by Fred. Turner ; "The Agricultural Chemistry 

 of the Sugar Cane," by Joseph Fletcher. 



Enginklring and -Architecture. 



Mr. James Finchani, President of this Section, delivered bis 

 presidential address on " .Architecture and Engineering." 



Prof. W. C. Kernot contributed a paper on wind jiressure. 

 The |)aper was a continuation of one read at the .Adelaide 

 meeting. It dealt with the relation between velocity and 

 pressure, and detailed series of experiments leading to the formula 

 P='0033\"-', which approximates very closely to the rule given 

 by Dines, and disagrees with the rules given by Smeaton and 

 Crosby. The pressure of wind upon roofs was also dealt 

 with, and experiments were quoted to show that the ordinary 

 method of com|nUiiig the pressure is fairly accurate when the 

 roof is supported on thin columns, so that the wind can pa.ss 

 freely below, but is altogether wrong when the roof is supported 

 on walls. In this latter case the pressure is greatly reduced, 

 and when the walls terminate in parapets is often rendered 

 negative, the roof having a distinct tendency to lift. 



Other pa]K-rs communicated to this section were : — " Experi- 

 ments on the Waterproofing of Bricks and .Sandstones with Oils," 

 and " Experiments on the Porosity of Plasters and Cements," by 

 Prof .A. Liversidge, M..A., F.R.S.; " On Teredo- Resisting River 

 Stnictures," by Thomas Parker ; " Earthquakes in Relation to 

 Building Construction," by Thos. Turnbull. 



Sanitary Science and Hygiene. 



The President of the Section of Sanitary Science and Hygiene, 

 Dr. J. W. Springthorpe, read an address on " The Teaching of 

 .Science in Matters of Health." 



.Among the papers read were : — " The Promise of ' Serum 

 Therapeutics' in regard lo Tuberculosis," by Dr. J. Sidney Hunt ; 

 "Contagiousness of Tuberculosis," by F. H. X'ivian Voss ; 

 "The Prevalence and Intercommunicability of Human .and 

 .Animal Tuberculosis," by S. S. Cameron ; " Le])rosy,'' by Dr. 

 C. E. Dunibleton, and also by .A. Francis; .and " l^tiological 

 Views of the Maintenance of Leprosy,'' by Dr. J. -A. Thompson. 



Menial Science and Education. 



Prof F. .Anderson, the I'resident of this Section, delivered 

 his a<ldress on " Education in Politics." 



Dr. Henry Belcher contributed a paper on the use and abuse 

 of examinations. The advantages of the examination system 

 were shortly .stated .as follows : — It enables the teacher lo .stimu- 

 late the intelligence and test the progress of the pupil, ami to 

 fill up flaws and gaps due to im|x'rfecl ajiprehension, careless- 

 ness, or defective memory : it is a power almost indis- 

 |x;n»able to the teacher's efticiency, and is thus a poUnl factor 

 in general education ; it had an alterative and prcjphylactic 

 e fleet upon private .adventure schools, raising their lone both 

 inlelleclually and morally. The author doubted whether it was 

 wise lo entrust the examination of pupils to persons other l1 an 

 their teachers. The disjidvanlages of the exiiminalion syslem 

 were that Ihe liest part of a teacher's work escajies analysis ; 

 methods of higher leaching rise in quality and character, while 

 methods of examination lie behind : liy Ihe seleclion of set 

 IxM.ks, and the publication of manuals tliereon, an intolerable 

 yoke and shackle is placed u])on elementary scholarship ; ex- 

 amin.ations appeal to the lower side of human nature — wli.at 

 will |)ay Iwcomes the pupil's ruling thought. Certain .subjecU 

 of great ini|)<)rtance are neglected because they do not largely 

 count for prizes and honours ; and research is altogether 

 neglected. 



NO. 1.^33, VOL. 52] 



