August 22, 1895] 



NA TURE 



407 



some one else has caliliraled. Again, the determination of the 

 mechanical equivalent of heat is a matter of vital importance to 

 the engineer, but the best and most accurate work thus far upon 

 the subject has been done by Prof. Rowland, a physicist, in his 

 physical laboratory. 



As a rule, when experiments are to be [jerformed on the large 

 scale they get beyond the possibilities of a physical laboratory. 

 In this categor)' we may place such experimental work as the 

 testing of steam engines and steam boilers, the testing of the 

 strength of materials of construction on a practical scale, i:c. ; 

 but, in order to carry out these tests with proper accuracy, we 

 have generally to perform delicate measurements, as, for instance, 

 measurements of temperatures, iSic, in the first, and measure- 

 ments of very small elongations or shortenings in the second 

 case, and consequently have to use the suitable ap|)aratus with 

 the necessary degree of accuracy. 



Since we have just been considering mathematics and physics, 

 which may be called general sciences, perhaps a few words 

 should be said in regard to chemistry. I cannot claim for it a 

 similar position of fun<lamental inqiortance in the engineering 

 part of an engineering course that belongs to mathematics and 

 physics. Nevertheless, a certain amount of chemical knowledge 

 is of great importance to all engineers ; but when they have 

 passed this point, although a farther knowledge would be useful, 

 it is not one of the most important things. The chemical com- 

 position of fuels, of steels and irons, of cements, of oils, and of 

 other materials, is a matter that directly concerns the engineer. 

 It is true that he can usually have his chemical analyses made for 

 him, and generally would better do so ; but he must know 

 enough of chemistry to understand the bearing which the chem- 

 ical composition of his materials have on their use in engineering 

 work. Some knowledge of industrial cheinistry is also desirable, 

 so that he shall understand the nature of the processes performed 

 in manufactories in which chemical processes on a large scale are 

 [lerformed. 



The instruction in chemistry shoidd, if possible, be given very 

 early in the student's course. In the case of the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology, and also, I think, in that of several 

 other schools, both lectures and laboratory work in chemistry 

 are given in the first year, and when this is done the instruction 

 in chemistry fulfils another important function, viz. it introduces 

 the student at the very threshold of his course to a species of 

 scientific work that obliges him to think, and this, in a direction 

 in which, as a rule, he has not been trained in the preparatory 

 schools. Especially is this true of the laboratory work, for, by 

 i>bserving the results of experiments which he himself makes, he 

 must learn how to interpret the replies of nature; and as 

 chcmistr)', unlike mathematics, is an experimental science, it 

 trains the thinking powers of the student even more than do his 

 algebra, geometry, antl trigonometry. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 A I'ROsi'F.cri's of the course in practical chemistr)" at the 

 Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn has been received, and it in- 

 dicates that very efficient work is carried on at the Polytechnic. 

 The course, which is under the direction of Prof. P. T. Austen, 

 appears to be adapted in every way to meet the wants of the da), 

 and to train competent analytical and technical chemists. The 

 claim.s of pure chemistry are also recognised, facilities being 

 giveit for post-graduate work in it, as well as in applied chemistry 

 and chemical engineering. 



TnK Department of Science and Art has issued the following 

 lists of Scholarships and Exhibitions just awarded : — Whitworth 

 Scholarships (tenable for three years), ;,J 125 a year each : Arthur 

 II. Karker (24), engineer : George \V. Shearer (21), apprentice 

 engineer ; Percy Nicholls (24), engineer ; Harold K. Cullen (21), 

 engineer. Whitworth Exhibitions (tenable for one year), ^50 

 a year: Charles E. (loodyear (21), shipwright; George .M. 

 Brown (23), draughtsman ; Norton Baron (22), engineering 

 student; Harry Jacksim (20), engineering student : Edward .M. 

 LeHufy (22), engine-fitter apprentice; Arthur E. Hyne (21), 

 fitter apprentice ; Robert McMillan (20), engineer apprentice ; 

 John W. Roebuck (23), fitter; George Follows (24), engineer: 

 Arthur J. Baker (19), engine-fitter ajiprentice ; WHliam U. Ross 

 (21), fitter ; Frank II. Phillips (20), engineer apprentice ; Henry 

 T. Ilildage {20), fitter ; William P. Jones (25), marine engineer ; 

 John W. Milner (20), mechanical engineer; William Bayliss 

 "(20), .api-rrentice fitter ; John B. Shaw (21), engineer; lames 



NO. 1347, VOL. 52] 



Walker (22), engineer; William H. C. Kemp (21), engineer 

 apprentice ; William J. Talbot (23), engineer ; Henry C. Trigg 

 (24), draughtsman ; Duncan R. McLachlan (24), engineer ; 

 George A. Robertson (21), engineering student ; Charles H. 

 Inirie (22), engineer ; William McG. Wallace (20), apprentice 

 fitter ; William J. (5ow (20), apprentice fitter ; William Lauder 

 (20), draughtsman ; Samuel A. Clarke (25), draughtsman ; 

 Edmund B. Ball (21), engineer student; Jabez W. Ashdown 

 (20), engineer apprentice. 



The list of successful candidates for Royal Exhibitions, 

 National Scholarships, and Free Studentships (Science) is as 

 follows : — National Scholarships for Mechanics : Edmund R. 

 Verity (19), student ; George Patchin (17), engineering student ; 

 Harr)' Jackson (20), engineering student ; William Ditchburn, 

 jun. (19), teacher. National Scholarships for Chemistry and 

 Physics: Thomas S. Price (19), student ; Franz E. Studt (21), 

 tailor; Herbert Bailey (18),, student ; William Bennett (16), 

 .student; John W. Barker (18), laboratory assistant. National 

 Scholarships for Biological Subjects : Thomas G. Hill (19), 

 student ; Ernest A. .Scott (17), student. National Scholarships : 

 Charles E. Goodyear (21), shipwright ; Edward M. Leflufy (22), 

 engine-fitter apprentice : William H. James (22), student ; 

 William T. Clough (18), student; Herbert Halliday (22), 

 student; William Cameron (18), laboratory assistant; Ernest 

 Hibbert (15), student; Sidney E. Lamb (21), engine-fitter 

 apprentice; Joseph Lister (19), teacher; William Parker (19), 

 student; Ernest T. Harrison (iS), laboratory assistant. Royal 

 Exhibitions : George E. Clarke (17), student ; Edward C. Hugon 

 (16), student ; Thomas G. Procter (19), engine-fitter apprentice ; 

 John A. Tomkins (20), scientific instrument maker ; William T. 

 Swinger (20), engineer ; John W. Roebuck (23), fitter ; Robert 

 L. Wills (21), shipwright apprentice. Free Studentships: 

 William D. Ross (21), fitter : Leonard W. Cox (21), student; 

 Edgar R. Sutclifle (20), engineer ; William P. Jones (25), marine 

 engineer ; Percy M. Hampshire (19), lecture assistant ; William 

 J. Talbot (23), engineer. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



Bulletin de fAcaddmie des Sciences de St. PJtersbourg, 5th 

 series, t. ii. No. 4, April 1895. — Proceedings, in which we 

 notice the discover)-, by G. Schneider, in Prof. Kovalevsky's 

 laboratory, of lymphatic glands in the earth-worm, Dendrolicna 

 rubida (Crimea), and in Perichata ; as well as a communi- 

 cation by E. Burinsky, on his method of restoring by 

 means of photography the writing in old documents which time 

 has rendered invisible. A number of good negatives having 

 been taken on collodion pellicules, they are superposed, and the 

 visibility of the faintest markings is rendered still greater by 

 means of a "contrast positive'' obtained with regulated artificial 

 light. — Definitive researches into the variations of latitude at 

 Pulkova, on the ground of older observations made with the 

 great vertical circle, by A. Ivanoft' (in French). The pre- 

 vious men\oirs of the author on the same subject being 

 considered as first approximations only, the definitive fonnuke 

 are now given. The observations of the years 1863-1S75 and 

 1842-1849 are treated for that purpose separately. Both series 

 lead to formuUe which agree very well with the formula 

 given by Mr. Chandler in the .Astronomical fournal. No. 322 ; 

 however, the Pulkova observations of the first-named period seem 

 to point to the necessity of slightly reducing the half-amplitude 

 of the yearly term in Chandler's formula. Two long series 

 of Pulkova observations thus fully confirm .Mr. Chandler's 

 conclusions. — On the niea.surements and calculations of some 

 photographic charts of the stars, by 1'". Renz (in German). A 

 catalogue of all stars, down to the magnitude 1 1 "O, which were 

 occultated by the moon during the last eclipse, was given in 

 the Astronomische Nachricliten. It appeared, however, that 

 occultations of stars down to the twelfth m;ignitude could be 

 observed at several observatories. Accordingly, the correspond- 

 ing region of the sky was photographed by Prof. Donner with 

 such an exposure (25 minutes) as to obtain the stars of twelfth 

 magnitude as well, and F. Renz measured their positions with 

 the Pulkova Repsold apjiaratus. The Potsdam photographs of 

 the same region, made in 1S91, were also re-measured, while the 

 right ascensions of thirty-five fundamental stars were accurately 

 determined at Pulkova with the meridian circle. The agreement 

 between the difterent plates is quite satisfactory ; and no dis- 

 tortion of the field could be detected. However, there are 

 certain small .systematic errors which cannot yet be well 



