564 



NATURE 



[October 3, 1895 



their mode of life and their relations with the Chinese colonists. 

 The resources of the island were described, and the prospects of 

 foreign trade discussed. Probably no Euro|iean is sn well able 

 .•\s Mr. Dodci to speak from experience o( the latest accession to 

 the empire of Japan. 



Dr. A. Markoff drew attention to the geography of Russian 

 Asia, especially with reference to the Siberian railway. 



Major Darwin gave an epitome of the work of the sixth 

 International Geographical Congress. 



Mr. Miller Christy directed the attention of geographers to 

 ihe remote islet of Kockall, off the west coast of Scotland, which 

 has never been properly studied, and he suggested that it would 

 be a good field of research for a hardy yachtsman. This paper 

 provoked a lively discussion, in which the value of Kockall as a 

 weather-forecasting station was referre<l lo, and the practical 

 difficulties in the way of utilising it considered. 



The Section authorised the President to w rite a letter of con- 

 dolence to the parents of the late Mr. Joseph Thomson, express- 

 ing the high opinion universally held as lo the value of the work 

 he did in Africa, and the warm affection with which his genial 

 personality was regarded by every geographer. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The Report just issued by the Somerset County Kducation 

 Committee shows that the work of technical education is being 

 developed, and mostly in the right <lireclion. Much of the 

 instruction given was of a very elementary character, but this is 

 just what is needed by the type of student for whom it is in- 

 tended. It is satisfactory to note that a course of experimental 

 science was followed by a number of teachers. The instruction 

 was confined almost entirely to experiments suitable for class 

 demonstration, and, where [xjssiblc, for repetition by evening 

 school pupils. The words of Mr. C. II. Bothamley, the Direc- 

 tor of Technical Instrucliun in .Somerset, as to the use of such 

 practical work, are worth repealing here. "Since the chief 

 object of .science teaching in evening schools is not so much to 

 imparl a knowledge of useful facts (though that is im|xirtanl), 

 as to train pupils to use their eyes in their daily occujiations, to 

 observe accurately, and to reason correctly from what ihey have 

 observed, it is clear that, if this end is to be attained, the pupils 

 must see things for themselves, and not simply be told things, 

 and the experimental proofs must be complete, and the reason- 

 ing based on (hem must be sound." We will go further and 

 say that the only real scientific knowledge is obtained not from 

 seeing experiments performed, but by doing iheni. Clear and 

 accurate class demonstrations are undoubtedly good, but prac- 

 tical work carried out by the pupils themselves is far better, 

 and the more facilities that are given for such work, the firmer 

 will be Ihe foundation upon which a .superstructure of technical 

 education can be built. 



AmoN(; Ihe recent ap|)oinlmcnts we notice the following : — 

 Dr. A. IleydwcMler, I'rival-docent in Physics and Physical 

 Chemistry at .Sirassburg, to \k Extraordinary Profes.sor at 

 Bre.slau ; Dr. Leo Gruenhut lo .succeed Ihe late Prof. Borg- 

 mann at the KreHcnius Chemical Lalxjralory, Wiesljaden ; Dr. 

 K. W. V. Dalla-Torre, Privat-docent in Zoolog)- at Innsbruck, 

 to lie Extraordinary Professor. Dr. K. Zickler lo the full Pro- 

 fis'i.rship of Kleclrolechnolngy'at the Brllnn Technical High 

 School, and Dr. Dzieslewski to a similar |x>sl in the Technische 

 li<K:hschulc at Ix:ml)erg ; Dr. E. Vung lo succeed the laic 

 ("atl Vogt as Professor of Comparative .\natomy and Zoology at 

 tlcncva; Dr. B. Weinslein to i)c Extraordinary Professor of 

 Physics in Berlin University; Dr. Max \'erworn lo be Exlra- 

 • irdinary Professor in Physiology at Jena ; Dr. Herbert Hursl lo 

 \k Demonstrator in Zoology, and Mr. Vaughan Jennings to be 

 Demonstrator in Geology, at the Royal College of Science, 

 Dublin; Dr. J. P. Kuenen to the new Harris Chair of Physics 

 in llnivorsily College, Dundee ; Dr. Rawson to be Ileadmaslcr 

 of Huddcrsficld Technical School. 



At Ihc recent Matriculation Examination of the Cily and 

 Guilds Central Technical College, seventy-six candidales prc- 

 vmlcd Ihemsclvcs, and sixly-lwo have Iwen admitted to the 

 College. The highest place was taken l>y M. Solomon, to 

 whom the Clolhworkcrs' Scholarship of /6o a year and free 

 olucalion has l)cen awarded. 



NO. 1353. VOL. 52] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



P.\RIS. 



Academy of Sciences, September 23.- — M. Kizeau in ihe 

 chair. — On a specimen of bl.tck diamond from Brazil, by M. 

 Henri Moissan. The specimen is from Bahia Province, and weighs 

 630 grams (about 3073 carats). Its surface is in jxirt rough, 

 appearing when slightly magnified as if gas had escaped there- 

 from while in a pasty condition. It resembles the microscopic 

 grains of crystallised carl>t")n jiroiluced in the interior of suddenly 

 cooled silver and iron masses. This specimen is porous, and has 

 lost weight since removal from the soil to the extent of sixteen 

 grams. — On the existence of phlorizic glycosuria in dogs after 

 section of the spinal cord, by M. R. Lepine. On the adminis- 

 tration of phlorizine, glycosuria follows almost as in the case of 

 healthy dogs, and diflers from the latter case merely in the pro- 

 duction of a less total quantity of glucose. — .\ brochure entitled 

 "The actual limits of our science ; a presidential address to the 

 British .Association at Oxford, delivered .\ugusl 8, 1894, by the 

 Marquis of Salisbury '" (translated by M. \V. de Fonviellc), h.^s 

 been printed in the Correspondence of the Academy. — On the 

 composition of pelagcine, by MM. .\. B. CJriffiths and C. 

 Piatt. The violet pigment of the Medusa (Pelagia) has the 

 composition C.j„H,-NO;, and is termed by the authors pelagcine. 

 It is soluble in alcohol, ether, and acetic acid, very soluble in 

 carbon disulphide, and insoluble in water. It gives no character- 

 istic absorption bands. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Ritter's "Asia"; Russian Addenda. By P. K. . . 541 



Applications of Bessel Functions. Hv Prof. A. G. 

 Greenhill, F.R.S '. 542 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Perez: " Protoplasme el Noyau" 543 



Thunner : " -Vnalylical Key to the Natural Orders of 

 Flowering I'lanls. '— W.B. H 543 



Letters to the Editor: — 



.\llcin|il lo Liquefy Helium. — Prof. William 



Ramsay, F.R.S 544 



llL'liumaiid tile .Spectrum of Nova Auriga?. — Profs. 



C. Runge and F. Paschen . 544 



Latent \'ilalily in Seeds --Prof. Italo Giglioli . . . 544 

 To. I'Vientls and l'"ellow W'orker.s in '^Hiiilernions. — 



Dr. P. Molenbroek and Shunkichi Kimura 545 



.'\rlificial Human Milk.— Dr. E. Frankland, F.R.S. 546 

 The Elemenls of .\rcliilecuire, — H. Heathcote 



Statham ; The Reviewer 546 



Do the Componenis i.f C'mipound Colours in Nature 



follow a Law of .Mulliple Prn|uirtions? — Joseph 



W. Lovibond; Prof. J. McKeen Cattell . . . 547 

 .\ ProlilLin in Thciiiiodynamics. — Edward T. Dixon 547 



The New Mineral Gases. {ll'i//i Diai^ams.) By 

 J. Norman Lockyer, C.B., F.R.S. . 547 



Research in Zoology at Oxford. By Prof. Sydney J. 

 Hickson, F.R.S. .' 549 



Deep Sounding in the Pacific. By Admiral W.J. L. 

 Wharton, R.N., C.B., F.R.S. 550 



Louis Pasteur 550 



Notes 551 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Return of I'aye's Comet 553 



Elemenls and Ephemeris of Comet a, 1895 (Swifl) . 553 



7 Virginis 553 



The Third International Zoological Congress at 

 Lcydcn 554 



The International Congress of Physiologists at 

 Bern. I. liy F. W. Tunnicliffe • . . 555 



Forthcoming Books of Science 556 



Geology at the British Association 55S 



Zoology at the British Association 561 



Geography at the British Association 563 I, 



University and Educational Intelligence 564 



Societies and Academies 564 



