5^4 



NA TURE 



[October ii, 1894 



work was necefsarily tentative, and that indeed is part of its 

 value. Each local authority has started the woik in its own 

 way, according to its own circumstances, industries, and re- 

 sources ; so that the country has for two years been one great 

 exi^^erimcntal station, with some hundreds of separate plots of 

 educational varieties." The sums spent upon the erection of 

 important technical schools during the last six or seven years 

 will astonish many people. To quote -Mr. Rae : "Bolton has 

 built a technical school at a cost of /l5,ooo; liury, at a cost 

 of 2^i6,oco ; Blackburn, of £ap,Q0O Oldham and Rochdale 

 are now spending jfi 2,000 each in liuildin» one; Halifax and 

 Derby are spending ;f20,oco each ; Baih, /'ai.ooo; Worcester 

 and \Vest Ham, ;^40,ooo; Birmingham, ^48,000; and Man- 

 chester, on a site worth ;f 100,000, is erecting a technical school 

 estimated to cost ;f 130,000 mote, the most elaborate and magni- 

 ficent product ol the whole nuvcment." So far as we can 

 gather from the article, the work which has been done shows good 

 promise of practical (ruit. It is pointed out that the grant 

 should be secured permanently lor education by statute, and 

 this should 1 e done as soon as possible. Mr. Kae thinks that 

 the worst deficiencies which the experience of the past three 

 years has revealed are (1) the startling illiteracy of the men and 

 the lads who have passed the slandaids of elementary schools, 

 and (I) the general want of the means of good secondary educa- 

 tion. These are the deficiencies which must prevent the effectual 

 diffusion of technical instruction. -Mr. Rae's article should 

 certainly be re.id by everyone interested in the progress of 

 technical instruction. 



Another article in the Conlempjrary i; entitled "Joseph 

 Priestley in Domestic Life," by ^ladame Helloc. The mother 

 of the authoress was taught to read by Priestley, and she gave 

 her daughter a very clear idta of his personaliiy. 1 he article 

 thus contains a descripiion of the investigator as lie really was 

 according to the last echo of oral tradition. And though it deals 

 chiefly with Priestley^ private life, students of the history of 

 chemical science will lind paitsof it interesting. The Con- 

 ttmpirary also contains an aiticle by Mr. Herbert Spencer, 

 whose theme ii " Weismannism Once More." Mr. Spencer 

 harks back to the oiiginal points of discussion between Prof. 

 Weismann and liini-ell, in order to show (l) that certain leading 

 propositions havii g been passed by unnoticed, remain outstand- 

 ing ; .ind (2} th.Ti wliin leading propositions have been dealt 

 with, the replies given r.ie invalid. 



In the Nalioi.al A'fvU'v, Mr. F. W. H. Myers writes on 

 "The Drift of Psychical Research." Wonderful things are 

 told of telepathy and kindred pjwers, and the author is very 

 sanguine as to luturc developments. He rl■cogni^es that men 

 of science fight s-by 1 f the "glum researches," and are ever ready 

 to put their fingeis ujiun the weak points in psychical reasoning 

 and investigation. Ibis dislike is accounted for by the rude 

 approximate cliaiacter of the work cariied on by its votaries ; 

 but, on the otliir hand, Mr. Myers holds that psychology is a 

 new science, and has, therefore, to grope its way up to the 

 exactne's ol older blanches ol knowledge. He inclines to the 

 opinion that the meiliods of science cannot at present be ex- 

 tended to the rcalui in which lie is an explorer. After Mr. 

 Myers' arliilc, and as an aniiiluteio il, one contributed by Mr. 

 Ernest Hart to the C<^h/«;;)' should be read. Mr. Hart's paper 

 should convince e\ery even minded person of ibe imposture 

 widely practised under the names of hypnotism, spiritualism, 

 telepathy, "spookism" in its various manifestations, Ma- 

 hatmism, Mailcism, and other phenomena of an occult 

 character. The same magazine contains the conclusion of the 

 series of articles, " Acms. .\sta .m a Bicycle," contributed by 

 Messrs. T. G. Allen and W. L. Sachtlei en ; and .Mrs. C. L. 

 Franklin gives a short biography of Sophie Germain, whose 

 mathematical works and phil'i.M<phical writings gained for her 

 luch a high npulalion at tiic beginning of this century. 



Sir Robert Ball coniinici hii articles on "Tne Great 

 Astronomers," in Gooil IVinis, the subject this month being 

 Galileo. He h.indlts the mailer of Galileo's trial for heresy 

 very carefull), and does not give vent to the feelings whirh every 

 astronomer must experience when describing the events which 

 led up to the abjuration which the founder of ph)slcal astronomy 

 was loiccd to pronounce. Mr. 1\ Munro combines imagina- 

 tion with science in an ailide, ".Sun-rise or the Morn," in 

 CasseU's /•'aiiiily Maj^aiine. 'i he .Mauiiiiolh Cave ol Kentucky 

 is the subject ol an article, by Piol. W G. Blaikic, in the same 

 magazine, Umler the allitcrali\c liile, "Secis ol Science," 

 Mr. Munto show«, in the /.f/>«r^ /.c/rr, how poets and story- 



NO. 1302, VOL. 50] 



tellers have anticipated some of the discoveries of science. It 

 would have been strange if, in all the vague speculations which 

 have been given to the world, some coincidences of the kind 

 referred to had not been found. Salt, and sleeplessness are the 

 subjects of two other articles in the Ltisurc Hour. 



An extremely interesting account of "T.irahumari D.^nces 

 and Plant Worship " is given by Dr. Carl Lumholtz in Sirihncr, 

 with illustrations from photographs by the author. Another 

 article ol ethnographical importance is " Customs connected with 

 Burial among the Sihanaka," by the Rev. J. Pearse, in the 

 SiDiiiiiy Mai^azim, which also contains a p.iper entitled " .\ 

 Thousand Aides up the Irrawaddy, " by the Rev. W. R. 

 Winston. CIuvJil>^r:i^s Jottrtial contains, as usual, a number of 

 shoit and popular articles on more or less scientific subjects. 

 Among those we note a description of some remarkable artesian 

 wells, and a paper on the utilisation of waste products. Mr. 

 Grant Allen writes pleasantly on "The Night Jar," in the 

 Eiii;lisli Itlustrate<i, and Colonel How.ird \'incent describes the 

 scientific measurement and identification of criminals. 



In addition to the magazines mentioned in the foregoing, we 

 have received the Foitiiii;lil!y, Longman i, and the Ihunani- 

 tarian, neither of which, however, contain articles that call for 

 comment here. The first number of the Phonographic Quar- 

 terly Kcz'iau has also been sent to us. The Kcviciv is edited 

 by Mr. T. Allen Reed, and it bids fair to take a per- 

 manent stand among phonographic literature. .Some of the 

 articles have been furnished by phonographers, and others 

 by well-known writers, the writings of the Litter having been 

 transcribed. The editor evidently recognises the importance 

 of a knowledge of science to the shorthand writer of the present 

 day, for among the articles we note "The Native Tribes of 

 East Africa," by Dr. J. W. Gregory ; " Experiences of a 

 Naturalist," by Dr. A. S. Murray ; " The Myths of the Unicorn 

 and the Griffin," by Sir Henry Howorth ; and "The Forma- 

 tion of Flints," by Canon Bonney. The publication of articles 

 of this kind w ill help on the time when scientific lectures will 

 be reported without being caricatured. 



MEASUREMENTS OF PRECISION?- 



TV/TORE than two thousand years ago there lived in the far 

 •^ East a philosopher who established his claim to the 

 possession of a good measure of both wisdom and wit, when he 

 wrote : " .Vvoid even the appearance of evil : do not stop to tie 

 your shoe in the melon patch of an enemy." 



Suppressing the humour but not the senlimenl of the Oriental 

 teacher, it is easy to see that Confucius meant to impress upon 

 his followers the importance of taking care that, even in the 

 performance of trivial acts, the time anil place should be such 

 as would give rise to no suspicions as to motive or design. 



I am honoured by being permitted the freedom of your 

 academic groves to-day, I realise that the opportunity of 

 defending a theme under such circumstances is not to be lightly 

 esteemed, and I wish, in the beginning, to make terms with 

 everybody, by declaring that in bringing leforeyoua proposition 

 so simple as to need no argument, I am innocent of ulterior 

 motive or deep design. 



My desire to give formal expression to this proposition grows 

 out of the fre(|uency with which it has presented itself iu the 

 course of official duties during the past few years. 



I wish to consider "Precise Measurement " as one of the 

 agencies through which man has advanced from a condition of 

 savagery to his present state ; and the metrology of any age as 

 an exponent of the civilisation of that age. 



The brief tune during which I can venture to ask your 

 attention to this subject fortunately releases me from all obliga- 

 tions to consider literary excellence or rhetorical ornamentation, 

 and compels me even to deviate in some degree from the logical 

 order of presentation. It is safe, however, to take liberties 

 with an audience so largely composed of those who are not only 

 familiar with the facts to be presented, but who are accustomed 

 to arr.ingc, digest, and put in orderly sequence materials which 

 are found in a more or less chaotic condition. 



The first form of measurement to which primitive man 

 resorted was undoubtedly simple enumeration. In narration or 

 barter the number of units in a group was alone considered, 

 regardless of differences among individuals. The recognition 



' An addrf»s ilelivercd at the Johns II ipkins University, liidtimore, liy 

 I'rof, T. <J. Mendciihall. 



