22 



NA TURE 



[November 2, 1893 



publication, and a considerable number of such papers have ap- 

 peared in scientific and technical journals. 



A high value is attached to the thesis work; and rightly. In it 

 the student is placed in the attitude of an independent investi- 

 gator. He is thrown to a large extent upon his own resources 

 in devising methods of invesiigation and in finding means of 

 overcoming the difficulties that always arise in original work. 

 Such individual aid is given to each student as is necessary to 

 keep him from too great loss of time from using wrong methods 

 ■jf procedure, without, on the other hand, giving him such 

 specific directions as would entirely deprive his work of origin- 

 ality. He thus acquires a knowledge of the patience, care, and 

 .time which it is usually necessary to spend upon the experi- 

 mental solution of any new and untried problem. This early 

 trnining of investigators has produced excellent results. A 

 register of the publications of the Institute and of its officers, 

 students, and alumni, between 1862 and 1S82, was compiled by 



Prof. W. R. Nichols, and has been brought up to date by the 

 late Prof. L. M. Norton and Prof. A. H. Gill. The list in- 

 cludes books, pamphlets, reports, contributions to periodicals — 

 everything, in fact, except contributions to daily newspapers^ — 

 made by the the teaching staffduring their connection with the 

 school, and by students during their connection with the school 

 and in after life. As Prof. Gill remarks, no truer index of the 

 value of an educational institution can be found than the work 

 which its alumni have done and are doing, and when we say 

 that the total number of titles of communications given in the 

 list is nearly 2,900, thirteen hundred of which have been added 

 since 1SS8, it will be agreed that the system of training at the 

 Massachu-etts Institute of Technology is one that gives a love 

 of investigation to the students ; and lo the man of science this 

 desire to extend natural knowledge should be the end and aim 

 of all scientific education. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



OxFOKD.— At a meeting of the Junior Scientific Club, on 

 Friday, October 27, Mr. M. D. Hill, of New College, was 



NO. 1 25.:;, VOL. 49] 



elected President for the current term. Mr. E. S. Goodrich 

 exhibited some recent additions to the University Museum, 

 including a specimen of Palseospondylus, a specimen of Indris- 

 brevicandatus, and the brain of "Sally," the chimpanzee, who 

 was so well known at the Zoological Gardens. Mr. Wynne- 

 Unch, of New College, read a paper on mining ; and Mr. 

 Gordon, of Keble College, read a paper on the effects of tem- 

 perature on the incubation of eggs. 



The Ashmolean Society held a meeting on Monday, October 

 30, when Mr. A. G. Vernon Harcourt read a paper on the 

 properties of ferrous chloride, and Dr. W. B. Benham one 

 on the effects of sedentary life on certain annelids. 



The Junior Scientific Club seems to have ousted the older and 

 more senior Ashmolean Society almost completely. At the 

 meetings of the latter, which offers communications of at least 

 equal, perhaps of greater, interest than the Junior Society, the 

 attendance seldom reaches a dozen, and of these a large propor- 

 tion consists of ladies who are more or less directly interested 

 in the lecturer. The attendance at the Junior Scientific Club, 

 on the other hand, is always large, and frequently exceeds fift). 

 The reason of this disparity is not easily found. Some people 

 attribute it to the lesser formality of the proceedings of the 

 younger society, and to the fact that smoking is permitted 

 during the meetings. 



The Sherardian Professor of Botany announces a course of six 

 lectures on forestry, to be given by Dr. J. Nisbet, at the Botanic 

 Garden, daily from Monday, November 6, to Saturday, Novem- 

 ber II, inclusive. 



Cambridge. — The Engineering Laboratory Syndicate ask 

 for a grant of ;^iooo to enable them to complete the buildings 

 lequired for the accommodation of the department. From 

 private sources nearly _^5O0o have been subscribed lor the pur- 

 pose, but this is insufficient for the whole of the work in 

 contemplation. Prof. Ewing reports that no less than seventy- 

 four students have entered for courses in engineering during the 

 present term ; and it is very desirable that their work should 

 not be hampered by delay in providing the necessary rooms for 

 their accommodation. It had been hoped that subscriptions 

 towards so valuable an extension of the scientific equipment of 

 the University would flow in liberally, but the stream of bene- 

 faction seems for the present to have dried up. 



The scheme for examinations in agricultural science will come 

 before the Senate for decision on November 9. Already a 

 note of dissent has been sounded by a well-known theological 

 graduate. 



Mr. R. A. Sampson, Fellow of St. John's, has been ap- 

 pointed Professor ot Mathematics at the Newcastle College of 

 Science. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 



U Antliropologie, tome iv. No. 3. —The current number 

 contains four papers of much interest. Dr. R. Collignon con- 

 tributes an article on the proportions of the trunk among the 

 French, whom he divides into three classes : (i) the Celts, in 

 the sense in which Broca used that term, that is to say, a short, 

 dark, brachycephalic and mesorhine people, such as those found 

 in Auvergne, Limosin, and the centre ot France generally ; (2) 

 the tall, lair, dolichocephalic Kymris, found in the north-eastern 

 or Belgic departments of France ; and (3) those who are really 

 cross-breeds. The measures of the trunk are five in number : — 

 (i) The total height, in the sitting position, from the inter- 

 clavicular notch to the seat ; (2) the maximum bi-acromial 

 diameter ; (3) the maximum bi-humeral diameter ; (4) the 

 maximum bi-iliac diameter ; (5) the maximum bi-trochanteric 

 diameter. The following measures of the thorax are also 

 taken : (l) the distance from the superior border of the clavicle 

 to the inferior border of the false ribs, measured on a perpen- 

 dicular line passing over the nipple; (2) the transverse width, 

 and (3) the antero-posterior width, at the height of the nipples ; 

 (4) the circumference just below the nipples ; (5) the circum- 

 ference about 3 cm. below the nipples. Observations were 

 made on sixty Celts, seventy Kymris, and eighty Celto-Kymris. 

 It appears that there is a regular gradation between the three 

 classes. Among the brachycephalic Celts, the trunk and thorax 

 are shorter than amongst the dolichocephalic Kymri, whereas 

 in all other respects the measurements of the Celt exceed those 

 of the Kymri. The people cf mixed blood occupy an inter- 

 mediate position. When the total height or the length of the 



