July 2, 1903] 



NATURE 



201 



four reached a height sufficient to require trigo- 

 nometrical determination. These were a Hargrave 

 kite, of rhomboidal cross section, with four bands of 

 linen, by Mr. S. H. R. Salmon; a kite of special 

 design, by Mr. S. F. Cody, having the appearance in 

 the air of a very large bird ; a similar kite by Mr. L. 

 Cody, and a Burmese kite by Mr. Charles Brogden. 



In the course of an hour, four sets of observations 

 were obtained for each kite, and were subsequently 

 computed by Mr. Mason, of King's College, London, 

 in accordance with a systematic programme drawn up 

 by Prof. C. Vernon Boys. 



As the result of the calculations, it appears that 

 the greatest height measured for Mr. Salmon's kite 

 was 1250 feet, for Mr. L. Cody's 1476 feet, for Mr. 

 Brogden's 1816 feet, and for Mr. S. F. Cody's 1407 

 feet, and, therefore, none reached the minimum height 

 required for the award of the medal. This unfor- 

 tunate result was probably due to the fact that the 

 \\ ind, which had gradually increased from a light air 

 as the sunshine continued, was a surface wind, and 

 fell off in strength at some little height above the 

 surface. The average heights of the several kites 

 from the four observations of each were 1189 feet, 

 1271 feet, 1554 feet, and 1326 feet respectively. 



At 4.45 the signal was given to haul in the kites, and 

 all but one were safely brought back. The wire of 

 this one had become entangled in the trees, and the 

 kite was still in the air when the majority of the 

 visitors had left the ground. The winding gear was 

 in each case hand gear. 



The supervision of arrangements for the competition 

 was entrusted to a jury consisting of Dr. W. N. 

 Shaw, F.R.S. (chairman), Prof. C. V. Boys, F.R.S., 

 Mr. E. P. PVost, J. P., D.L., Sir Hiram Maxim, Dr. 

 Hugh Robert Mill, Mr. E. A. Reeves, and Mr. Eric 

 Stuart Bruce, secretary of the Aeronautical Society. 



The society and its energetic secretary are to be 

 congratulated upon having carried out successfully a 

 series of arrangements that were necessarily elaborate, 

 and not free from difficulties of many kinds. 



THE CELTIC GOLD ORNAMENTS. 

 'T^HE decision in the Court of Chancery that the 

 -*- gold ornaments from the north of Ireland, and 

 bought as long ago as 1897 by the British Museum, are 

 treasure trove, and, therefore, are to be taken from 

 the Museum and handed over to the King, will pro- 

 duce a curious effect on the mind of the intelligent 

 foreigner. But when he is told that the action at 

 law is due to the persistent claims of the irreconcil- 

 able Irish party, he will probably begin to understand 

 the position, from analogous conditions in his own 

 country. The whole affair is to be regretted, but it 

 must in fairness be stated that the entire blame lies 

 at the door of the Irish executive, and that but for 

 their incomprehensible apathy in making no effort to 

 secure the ornaments before the British Museum ever 

 entered the field, there would have been no need for 

 a costly lawsuit. There is, however, a wider applica- 

 tion of this particular example, arising from the con- 

 tention of the Irish archaeologists that all antiquities 

 found in Ireland must remain there. Foreign students 

 coming to an institution like the British Museum will 

 expect to find there, primarily, an adequate represen- 

 tation of the archaeology of the British Islands — 

 surely not an unreasonable expectation in the central 

 museum of the Empire. But if the Irish contention 

 is to prevail, Scotland will claim equal rights, and 

 Wales also when it decides on a capital for the 

 Principality, so that the earnest student, not generally 

 a wealthy individual, will be compelled to seek out 



NO. 1757, VOL. 68] 



what he wants in widely separated cities. There are. 

 of course, arguments in favour of such a course ; 

 but, as a practical matter, there are, in fact, ancient 

 remains enough in these islands to admit of the 

 central museum having a fair comparative series, 

 without in any way damaging the local museum. A 

 little mutual understanding is all that is wanted, and 

 it is to be hoped that the parochial idea that seems to 

 prevail in Dublin will not be thought worthy of 

 Edinburgh. London, after all, is the capital of these 

 islands, and, for one foreign or English student in 

 Dublin or Edinburgh, there are fifty, or, may be, a 

 hundred, who work in London. The greater the 

 number of workers, the greater will be the benefit 

 to science. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 



THE presentation of degrees at the University of 

 London, which took place as we went to press 

 last week, was noteworthy in several respects. 

 Honorary degrees were conferred for the first time in 

 tile historv of the university, the recipients being the 

 Prince and Princess of Wales, Lord Kelvin and Lord 

 Lister; and representatives of the many and various 

 institutions and organisations which are connected 

 with the university, or are promoting its development, 

 were also assembled together for the first time. 



In his report on the work of the university during 

 the year 1902-03, the principal. Sir Arthur Riicker, 

 gave" a short description of the educational scheme of 

 th..' reconstituted university, beginning with arrange- 

 ments which are primarily intended to be of benefit to 

 those who are not aiming at degrees, and proceeding 

 through the various stages of a university course to 

 post-graduate study and research. 



The following are some of the points of general 

 interest mentioned in the report :— 



Relation of the University to Schools. — The matriculation 

 examination of the University of London has for many years 

 served some of the purposes of a school-leaviner examin- 

 ation. Persons who had passed it were excused by various 

 professional bodies from their own entrance examinations ; 

 and for this or other reasons the examination was taken 

 by many candidates who did not intend to pursue a uni- 

 versity career. On the other hand, the Senate has for long 

 included the examination of schools among its duties, and 

 of late it has been felt that the time has come for perform- 

 ing this work on more modern lines and on an extended 

 scale. A scheme has therefore been approved bv the Senate 

 for the inspection of schools, and the university has been 

 recognised bv the Board of Education as an authority under 

 the Board for that purpose. This inspection will include an 

 inquiry into the aims of the school, a consideration of its 

 curriculum and arrangements as adapted to those aims, an 

 inspection of the school buildings and fittinp'S, and of the 

 teaching work of the staff as tested by an inspection of the 

 classes at work. 



Entrance to the University. — The first matriculation ex- 

 amination under the new scheme took place in September 

 last. It is a real matriculation examination in the sense 

 that no candidate can begin his university career until he 

 has passed it. It represents the minimum standard of 

 admission to the university, and is intended to be such that 

 it can be passed without special preparation or cramming 

 by a well-educated boy or girl of about seventeen years of 



The Senate has agreed to waive the" matriculation ex- 

 amination altogether in the case of graduates of a large 

 number of approved universities, and of persons who have 

 passed the Scotch leaving examination or hold the Zeugniss 

 der Reife from a Gymnasium or Real-Gymnasium within 

 either the German or the Austrian Empire. A large 

 number of persons have availed themselves of this privilege, 

 which will be particularly valuable to those who may intend 

 to supplement a degree taken at another university by study 

 in London. 



