May 7, 1903 



NATURE 



The visual observations corroborate the photographs in 

 showing that at this eclipse the shadow was especially 

 black, so that no details of the eclipsed surface could either 

 tie seen or photographed. This result differs greatly from 

 that recorded for the eclipses of December, 1898, and 

 December, 1899, when the eclipsed surface was plainly 

 visible and of a marked ruddy colour. 



The Occurrence of Spark Lines in Arc Spectra. — in a 

 paper which recently appeared in the Sitzungsberichte dcr 

 K. Akademic zu Berlin (January 22), Messrs. J. Hartmann 

 and G. Eberhard give the results of a number of experi- 

 ments they have made in order to determine under what 

 conditions various lines, usually associated with spark 

 spectra, may appear in the spectrum of the arc. 



In the cases of magnesium and silicon — which are so 

 Important when considering stellar spectra — the authors 

 found that when the arc was produced under water, using 

 metallic poles, the magnesium line at A. 4481 and the silicon 

 lines at W 4128 and 4131 were produced, although all 



t three are usually called " spark " lines. In the case of 

 zinc, the " spark " lines at W 4912 and 4925 were obtained 

 under similar conditions. 



The authors have also photographed the spectra of these 

 metals when the arc was enclosed in an atmosphere of 

 hydrogen, and again, under these conditions, the " spark " 

 lines appeared. From this similarity of the results Messrs. 

 Hartmann and Eberhard arrive at the conclusion that, when 

 the arc is struck under water, it immediately becomes sur- 

 rounded by an atmosphere of hydrogen, produced by the 

 decomposition of the water, and so the same results under 

 the two different primary conditions are obtained {Astrono- 

 mische Nachrichten, No. 3858). 



Four Stars With Variable Radial Velocities. — 

 In Bulletin No. 31 of the Lick Observatory, Mr. H. M. 

 Reese announces the discovery of four more stars having 

 variable velocities in the line of sight ; they are as follows : — 



V Andromcdac. — Plates secured on October 8 and Novem- 

 ber 5, 1902, and January 14, 1903, show velocities of 

 — 17 km., —76 km., and -I-49 km. respectively. The spec- 

 trum shows few lines, and the hydrogen lines are broad, 

 but the helium lines are fine and easily measurable. 



V* Orionis. — The plates obtained on October 6, 1902, 

 January 4 and January 12, 1903, indicate velocities of +43 

 km., +0 km., and -f-6 km. respectively, the spectrum being 

 similar to v Andromedae. 



ff Gcminoriim. — Velocities of -^74 km., -|-i2 km., -I-9 km. 

 and +69 km. are indicated by negatives obtained on March 

 16, 1902, January 12, 13, and February 15, 1903, respec- 

 tively. The lines, though numerous, are rather hazy, but 

 they give trustworthy results. 



I Argus. — The variable velocity of this star was discovered 

 by Prof. Campbell from the comparison of a plate obtained 

 on February 21, 1898, with previous measures. A series of 

 seven photographs obtained between February 23, 1897, and 

 February 18, 1902, shows a range of velocity from +41 9 

 km. to -1-50 3 km. 



The photographs mentioned above have been obtained 

 with the Mills spectrograph, and measured by Messrs. 

 Reese and Curtis. Mr. Reese also announces that the star 

 <p^ Orionis is an especially interesting object on account 

 of its great radial velocity, plates obtained on October 28, 

 November 24, and December 30, 1902, indicating velocities 

 ■^ of -i-94 km., +102 km., and -I-96 km. respectively. The 

 1^ range of 8 km. may not be taken as indicating a variable 

 velocity for this star, for although the photographs show 

 fairly good lines, the second one — in which the variation 

 appears — was very much under-exposed. 



The Harvard Meridian Photometer Observations. — 

 Part ii. vol. xliv, of the Harvard College Observatory 

 Annals is devoted to a description of the reduction of the 

 observations made with the meridian photometer during the 

 years 1892-98. The editor. Prof. E. C. Pickering, gives 

 a detailed description of the meridian photometer and the 

 methods pursued in making the observations. This de- 

 scription is followed by tables giving the results of the 

 observations of Harvard photometer and A.G. catalogue 

 stars made during the period named above, each table being 

 followed by voluminous notes as to the peculiarities of the 

 observed objects and the observing conditions. 



NO. 1749. VOL. 68] 



ENGINEERING EDUCATION ABROAD. 



"T^HE conditions governing the competition among the 

 ■*• great manufacturing countries for the markets of the 

 world have, during the last thirty years, undergone pro- 

 found modification. At the beginning of the latter half of 

 last century British manufacturers held an unique position 

 which secured for them what was practically the monopoly 

 in some departments of the world's trade. The reasons for 

 this fortunate position are too well known to require 

 elaborate recapitulation. It is enough to remember that 

 while other countries were on one hand engaged in war 

 and on the other in maturing a stable and enduring con- 

 stitution, Britain was establishing flourishing manufactur- 

 ing centres, which, with the assistance of her possession of 

 coal and iron, supplemented as it was by the natural en- 

 dowments of her citizens so far as perseverance and in- 

 ventiveness were concerned, resulted in her becoming the 

 world's workshop. In no direction was this supremacy 

 more pronounced than in the several branches of the 

 engineering trades. But since then great changes have 

 taken place. By carefully laid plans and persistent effort, 

 other countries have succeeded in overcoming their dis- 

 advantages, and as a result of the provisions they have 

 made for the education of their young men in scientific 

 technology, the British manufacturer has now to reckon 

 with formidable German and American competitors. 



The changed conditions have been made the subject of 

 study by several authorities in this country, one of the 

 most recent being Prof. W. E. Dalby, who has studied 

 the question of the education provided for engineers in 

 America, Germany and Switzerland. The opportunity 

 which his commission from Mr. Yarrow to report on the 

 training of engineers in other countries has given Prof. 

 Dalby make the recent papers read by him before the Institu- 

 tion of Naval Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers of exceptional value, and it is much to be hoped 

 that the following facts from his papers, and the lessons 

 to be drawn from them, may have a good effect in con- 

 vincing our manufacturers and educational authorities that 

 the higher education of those engaged in industrial pur- 

 suits has a direct and immediate effect on success in the 

 struggle for cominercial supremacy. 



The paper read before the Institution of Naval Architects 

 was concerned only with the education of engineers in 

 the United States ; that before the Institution of Mechanical 

 Engineers included a study of the question in Germany and 

 Switzerland also. It will be most convenient to take these 

 countries in order. Beginning with the United States, the 

 nature of the technical education in the best colleges may 

 first be considered, and then the relation between the em- 

 ployers and the technically trained men graduating from 

 these colleges. 



America. — A good idea of the aims of the technical 

 colleges of America may be gathered from the words of 

 one of the chief founders of the Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology of Boston, who laid it down that the most truly 

 practical education, even in an industrial point of view, is 

 one founded in the thorough knowledge of scientific prin- 

 ciples, which unites with habits of close observation and 

 exact reasoning a larg? general cultivation. The highest 

 grade of scientific culture is not too high a preparation for 

 the labours of the mechanic and manufacturer, and there are 

 in the history of social progress ample proofs that the 

 abstract studies and researches of the philosopher are often 

 the most beneficent sources of practical discovery and im- 

 provement. 



Inspired by such enlightened views of technical educa- 

 tion, it is not surprising that there has been a steady in- 

 crease in the number of engineering students in the chief 

 American colleges. The first table on p. 18 gives an idea of 

 the growth of their engineering departments. 



At Cornell University students of mechanical engineering 

 and the allied branches do their work at Sibley College ; 

 there is a separate building for civil engineering and archi- 

 tecture. Sibley College is divided into eight departments, 

 viz. mechanical engineering, mechanical laboratory instruc- 

 tion, electrical engineering, mechanic arts (workshops), in- 

 dustrial drawing and art, machine design, graduate schools 

 of marine engineering, and the graduate school of railway 

 mechanical engineering. 



