August 30, 1894J 



NATURE 



423 



Mansion House since i885. In most of the addresses, 

 special aspects of study are considered, but those by 

 Lord Playfairand Canon Browne deal with the Extension 

 movement itself. 



Men of science, as a rule, look askance at University 

 Extension lectures. They know that there is no royal 

 road to scientific knowledge, and believe that popular 

 lectures of a " peep-show " kind have no place in a 

 pr operly organised educational system. This is true to 

 some extent. Popular lectures of any sort, whether de- 

 livered at the Royal Institution or in a village club, are 

 of little use to the practical student of science. They 

 are useful, however, in bringing people into touch with 

 current opinions, and in creating an interest in scientific 

 things. 



The subject of Lord Playfair's address is the evolution 

 of University Extension as a part of popular education. 

 After people have heard lectures, they desire to found in- 

 stitutions in which instruction is regularly given. Out of 

 the single and unconnected penny readings in the early 

 part of this century grew the Mechanics' Institutes that, 

 in the Midlands and the North, have helped on the cause 

 of education. It was, of course, inevitable that the com- 

 mittees of these institutes should sometimes have had 



■ queer ideas as to the kind of programme which should 

 be offered to the community. Lord Playfair says that 

 one of the most prosperous of them asked him to give a 

 single lecture on chemistry in 1846, and sent him the 

 programme for the preceding year as an inducement to 

 accept the invitation. It was as follows ; — " Wit and 

 Humour, with Comic Songs — Women Treated in a Novel 

 Manner — Legerdemain and Spirit-rapping — The Devil 

 <with illustrations) — The Heavenly Bodies and the Stellar 

 System — Palestine and the Holy Land — Speeches by 



■ Eminent Friends of Education, interspersed with Music, 

 to be followed by a Ball. Price to the whole 2s. 6d. 

 Refreshments in an Anteroom." Even now, programmes 

 of this motley character can be found at many of the large 

 workmen's clubs in the East End, and though most 

 educationists consider tbem to be " awful examples," 



■ the fact that the science lectures are usually ver)- largely 

 attended testifies to a desire for knowledge, which often 

 leads to systematic study. The University Extension 

 scheme has certainly done something to mould this de- 

 mand for popular instruction. When interest has been 

 awakened by a pioneer lecture, it becomes a compara- 

 tively easy matter to run a successful course of six or 

 twelve lectures. And if such courses are linked together 

 in proper sequence, it cannot be denied that advantage 

 must accrue from them. For, to use a simile of Lord 



Playfair's, not only does the lecturer scatter inform- 

 ation broadcast among his audience, trusting that 

 some of it will fall on fertile soil, but, in the class after 

 ■each Extension lecture, he acts as a tutor and is able to 

 treat the students individually, giving each mind the 

 attention conducive to the production of good results. 

 The great difficulty, however, is with regard to practical 

 work. Every man of science feels that, so far as serious 

 study is concerned, lectures should take a secondary 

 place in a scheme of instruction. Observations in the 

 field, laboratory, or observatory, are absolutely neces- 

 sary for a proper appreciation of the facts and 

 phenomena of nature ; and, until some provision is made 

 NO. 1296, VOL. 50] 



for this kind of work, the science lectures will be con- 

 sidered little more than a form of recreation. 



Sir James Paget's address is concerned with the study 

 of science. He points out that a scientific mind should 

 be educated in four ways, viz. (i) in the power of observ- 

 ing, (2) in accuracy, (3) in the difficulty of ascertaining 

 truth, (4.) in proceeding from the knowledge of what is 

 proved to the thinking of what is probable. The subject 

 of Prof. Max Miiller's address is " Some Lessons of 

 Antiquity," and that of the Duke of Argyll, "The Appli- 

 cation of the Historical .Method to Economic Science." 

 The addresses are interesting from many points of 

 view, and they help to define the role of courses 

 of University Extension lectures in our educational 

 system. R. A. GREGORY. 



SOME RECENT WORKS ON ELECTRICITY. 



(i) Electric Traction on Railways and Tramways. By 

 Anthony Reckenzann, C.E. (London : Biggs and Co.) 



(2) Portative Electricity. By J. T. Niblett. (London : 

 Biggs and Co.) 



(3) First Principles of Electrical Engineering. By C. H. 

 W. Biggs. New edition, partly rewritten and ex- 

 tended. (London : Biggs and Co.) 



(4) Electrical Distribution, its Theory and Practice. Part 

 i., by Martin Hamilton Kilgour. Part ii., by H. Swan 

 and C. H. W. Biggs. (London ; Biggs and Co.) 



(5) Town Councillors' Handbook to Electric Lighting. By 

 N. Scott Russell, M.Inst. C.E. (London: Biggs and 

 Co.) 



(i) T^HE present state of electric traction is precisely 

 jL given, and the various methods and constructive 

 details at present in use described. The best modern 

 examples of traction are explained, with many excellent 

 illustrations. In particular may be mentioned the pro- 

 posed St. Louis and Chicago high-speed electric rail- 

 way, designed to convey passengers 250 miles in two 

 and a half hours. Much useful information has been 

 collected from the various electrical journals and Trans- 

 actions, and a handbook formed, which is sure to be of 

 great service to practical men. We notice that the 

 words "energy," " power," and " work " are used in the 

 popular rather than in the exact scientific sense ; but 

 this circumstance detracts little from the value of the 

 work. 



(2) This little work is described as being " A Treatise on 

 the -Application, Methods of Construction, and the Man- 

 agement of Portable Secondary Batteries." It has been 

 written mainly for the benefit of those who find this form 

 of stored energy of service for economic, artistic, or 

 scientific purposes. Part i. deals with applications 

 to mining operations, domestic use, medical and other 

 scientific purposes, the Army and Navy, carriage light- 

 ing, and traction and decoration. In a popular form we 

 are presented with much information that will be very 

 useful to anyone contemplating some of these special 

 uses of electricity. Many of these are recent and novel, 

 and not to be found in any other work with which we are 

 acquainted. 



Part ii. is occupied with the description and manage- 

 ment of primary and secondary batteries and their 



