214 



NATURE 



[June 28, 1894 



done to help them ; 1 mean our manujaclurers generally. Let ] 

 me remind you that the Chemical Society a'oj established for ' 

 the ^nera! advancement of chemical science as intimately con- 

 nee ted U'itl: the prosperity of the manufactures of the United 

 Kingdom : these very words form part of our charier. Vet to 

 how small an extent is it recognised that chemistry is of service 

 — that many of our manufactures, in the words of our charter, 

 mainly depend upon the application of chemical principles and 

 discoveries for their beneficial development? It is of no use to 

 manufacture goods if you cannot sell them, and that is too 

 often our position. Every teacher of any standing in Germany 

 can count on placing his students so soon as he is in a position i 

 to state that they are fully capable and worth a trial ; but ■ 

 here there is no such relationship established between j 

 the schools and the works ; no proper opportunity is given ' 

 to young men to prove their fitness for an industrial 

 career. It is not even recognised that the discipline aflTorded by 

 the study of our subject is an admirable preparation for an in- 

 dustrial career. Take the brewing industry, which in this country 

 has availed itself far more than any other of our services — the 

 brewer is called on to conduct operations involving chemical 

 changes of a most complex and delicate character, subject to 

 variation if the slightest departure be made from a very limited 

 range of conditions, and this too with a m,-iterial subject to con- 

 stant fluctu.ition in composition and character, requiring the 

 most vigilant and appreciative watching. Every brewer ought 

 consequently to have received a chemical training ; yet those 

 who enter this industry are, with very rare exceptions, pitch- 

 forked into it as raw lads from school, without any preliminary 

 training whatsoever, having received their position through the 

 influence of a friend and from no merit of their own. The same 

 might be said of the dyeing industry, of that of gas manufacture, 

 and of many others. Some of you may have seen the list of 

 subscriptions to the proposed Schorlemmer laboratory at the I 

 Owens College, Manchester, and may have marked with I 

 sorrow, as I have done, how few and small are the contributions 

 from those connected with the local industries, and how large 

 and numerous relatively are those from friends and admirers of j 

 the deceased chemist and from members of the college staff. 

 Contrast with this the great number of subscriptions towards 

 the erection of the Hofmann-Haus in lierlin. Although the 

 comparison is not quite a fair one, perhaps, yet it illustrates 

 my meaning, the reception accorded to the Manchester scheme 

 being sufficiently indicative of the absence o( appreciation of the 

 real value of chemical science to industry in one of our chief 

 industrial strongholds. . . . 



The proposed Teaching University in London and the Com- 

 mission on Secondary Education may help in an extraordinary 

 degree to improve our position. Hut it is to be feared that our 

 subject will not attain to its pr.iper condition unless some 

 action be taken which will consolidate the teaching — which will 

 lead lo the centralisation of students of chemistry proper, so 

 they may enjoy the inestimable a'lvantage of inlercomse, and 

 have at their disposal a complete stall of competent teachers, 

 each one of whom thoroughly represents some special branch of 

 the subject ; so long as students are distributed about the town 

 in half-dozens and each chief teacher is called on to cut him- 

 self up into any number of small pieces, so as to deal with the 

 subject of chemistry as a whole, true higher teaching is im- 

 possible. 



Much to be feared, also, is the tendency lo over-estimate the 

 value of examinations, and the great work of the future will be 

 so lo improve ihese that they shall have no prejudicial influence 

 on the student's work and in no way check the development of 

 original methods of teaching ; we must fix our attention mainly 

 on the influences lo which the student ii to be subjected durmg 

 his career ; the competent teacher will ever study his sluilents 

 while they are at work, and do the best for them, provided he 

 be not rendered powerless by the Itammcls of an examination 

 system which heeds " results " only and not individuals. 



Finally, let me say that, while symjiaihising most fully with 

 lho»c who advocate a complete course of study, I feel that it is 

 very easy todemand loo much — very easy lo make it impossible 

 for students to do justice lo iheir work by imposing too many 

 subjects. Our chief ilesirc must always be that students shall 

 acquire a knowledge of scientific method and the power of 

 working independently. Certain subjects must be insisted on 

 — for example, mathematics and drawing : if a knowledge of 

 these be not acquired early it will never be acquired ; but 

 apart from Ihcie and a competent knowledge ol Ihc main 



NO. I2S7, VOL. 50] 



subject, we probably may, as a rule, be satisfied with compara- 

 tively little. Those who have once learnt to work and acquired 

 a knowledge of scientific method will of their own accord, in 

 proportion to their intelligence, apply themselves also to the 

 study of other subjects — as many among us have done ; those 

 who are not sufficiently intelligent to do this are not, as a rule, 

 improved by being forced to pay attention to unpalatable 

 studies ; on the contrary, they are, more often than not, thereby 

 hindered from acquiring a competent knowledge of some one 

 subject which does appeal to them, and are spoilt for life in 

 consequence. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 

 Bulletin dc V Academic Royale de Be'gique, No. 4. — On the 

 hydrates of the alkyl-amines, by Louis Henry. It has been 

 known for some time that ammoniacal bases form compounds 

 with water, a typical example being 2CH.J . 2NH„ . HjO, 

 ethylenic diamine. Their properties have not yet been fully 

 investigated. The author distinguishes between hydrates whose 

 bases are soluble, ami such whose bases are insoluble in water, 

 lie deals with methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, and amyl com- 

 pounds, with the aromatic series, and with nitrites and amidcv 

 Their density increases with the percentage of water contaim 

 in them, even if the molecul.ir weight diminishes. Their powu 

 of combining with water increases with their solubility and their 

 richness in hydrogen, whether this be contained in the nitrogen 

 radicle or the hydrocarbon. — On the creation of an International 

 Hureau of Bibliography, by M. Mourlon. M. Y. Vandtr 

 Ilaeghen had proposed to the literature class of the Academy tn 

 initiate a movement for the compilation of a universal catalogue 

 of public libraries. This proposal coincides with that for the 

 establishment of a comprehensive and international catalogue of 

 scientific papers, brought forward by the Royal Society. M. 

 Mourlon proposed the deputation of three delegates to confer 

 with ihe other two classes of the .\cademy with a view toward- 

 co-operation with the Royal Society. — On the aurora boreal 

 observed at I.ouvain on March 30, 1894, by F. Terby. Tli 

 author points out the recurrence of the monthly period pre 

 viously observed in Ihe ap|>earances of February 2S and 

 March 30. — Vascular hyph.x" of the mycelium of Ihe Aulobasl- 

 diomycetes, by Ch. van Uambeke. The mycelium in question 

 always contains v.iscular hypha;, varying in number, distribution, 

 dimensions, and form according to the species of mycelium. 

 They are larger than ordinary hypha;, and are usually cylindrical, 

 with occasional fusiform or claviform extensions. They consist 

 of a thin, extensible, and elastic envelope containing a sub- 

 stance which is usually homogeneous and highly refracting, but 

 sometimes granular. They may be considered as a conducting 

 apparatus playing an important part in Ihe distribution of 

 nutritive materials. 



Symons's Monthly Meteorological Magazine, June. — The May 

 frosl of 1894. M. Symons publishes minimum temperatures in 

 the shade, obtained from forty-six counties in England anil 

 Wales, in which the thermometer fell below the freezing point 

 between Ihe 20lh and 22nd May. In six counties minima of 

 25' or lower were recorded, while on the grass, readings of 18' 

 in Nottingham, and ic) in Stafford were registered. The 

 readings were not excessively low for May, which has always t 

 cold period about the middle or latter part, for during a frost 

 in May 1891 these low temperatures were exceeded by about 

 1'. Letters from correspondents show that the wide-spread 

 disaster to vegetation was caused not so much by the lownessof 

 the air temperature, .as by the r.idiation, which was facilitated by 1 

 the clearness of the sky, while owing to the mildness and 

 dampness of the weather previously Ihe vegcl.alion was more 

 forward and fuller of sap than usual, which froze and burst the 

 cells by expansion. The frost was, as usual, most severe in the 

 lowlands, near streams, and except in the north-east, where 

 the temperature just touched 32°, none was recorded on the 

 English sea-coasi. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Royal Society, May 31. — "Propagation of Magnetisation 

 of Iron as afleciel by the Electric Currents in the Iron." By 

 J. Ilopkinson and E. Wilson. 



Consider a solid, cylindrical elcclromagnel, it is well known 

 that, in reversing the magnetising current, ihe induction does 





