230 



NATURE 



[May II, 1916 



tions. On April 20 Mrs. Wilson, at Totteridge, re- 

 corded several meteors between 9.3b and 10.45, 

 when it became overcast. A bright meteor was seen 

 at 9.46 p.m., with radiant at 202° + 8°. Two bright 

 Lyrids were seen at Bristol at a later hour. On April 

 21 Miss Cook, at Stowmarket, saw about twelve 

 meteors, including eight Lyrids, between 9.39 and 

 11.49 P-i^' On April 23, 25, 26, 29, and 30 Mrs. Wil- 

 son obtained further observations, and meteors were 

 also seen at Bristol on the same nights, but they 

 were very scarce, notwithstanding the splendid skies 

 presented on several of the dates mentioned. 



The most important observation was that of a 

 bright but very late Lyrid on April 26, at 9.49, by Mrs. 

 Wilson and by the writer at Bristol. The two ob- 

 servations proved that the centre of the shower was 

 at 278° + 35° on that night, and that the radiant is 

 really a moving one, the position being at 271° + 33° 

 on April 20. 



Below are the observed paths of a few brilliant 

 meteors, duplicate observations of which would be 

 very valuable. 



Date Mag. From To Observer 



h. m. 00.. 



April 20 9 46 I 234 + lof 243 + 10 Mrs. Wilson 



III 1 256^ 36 226 35 W. F. D. 



II 6 I 276I I4i 276^ 13 W. F. D. 



21 II 22 I 215 25 205 20 Miss Cook 



II 49 4x $ 202 25 190 18 Miss Cook 



25 10 I I 240^ 29 237 J 20 Mrs. Wilson 



10 53 ? 323 52 . 341 38 Mrs. Wilson 



26 9 49 I 211 51 184 46 W. F. D. 



29 9 32 $ 235 4i 244 2j Mrs. Wilson 



11 17 I 187 - 6 184 -13 Mrs. Wilson 



30 II 17 I 278^ 20 276 18 W. F. D. 



SCIENCE IN EDUCATION AND THE 

 CIVIL SERVICES. 



'T^HE meeting convened by the committee formed 

 -^ in connection with the memorandum on the 

 " Neglect of Science," published in February last, 

 held on May 4 at Burlington House, was remarkable 

 for its enthusiasm, its size, its unanimity, and its 

 representative character. Leading and lesser lights 

 belonging to science, literature, art, and commerce 

 came from all parts to affirm their faith that our 

 educational system needed rectification in the interest 

 of physical science, in order to minimise the frequency 

 of the occurrence of national " regrettable incidents." 

 The lecture theatre of the Linnean Society was densely 

 packed, and for three hours the audience listened with 

 close attention to the convincing periods of the twenty- 

 five speakers supporting the resolutions submitted. 



Lord Rayleigh, Chancellor of the University of Cam- 

 bridge, presided, and in his opening remarks he referred 

 to the deplorable ignorance of science shown by all 

 classes of society. In indicating the remedy. Lord 

 Rayleigh emphatically denied that men of science had 

 ajiy desire to abolish or to cripple the study of litera- 

 ture — a point that was endorsed by many later 

 speakers. The modern curriculum was already con- 

 gested, and place^must be made by limiting- the study 

 of ancient languages. "There is a certain type of 

 mind for which classical education is best, but for the 

 majority of schoolboys I think it is nothing less than 

 an absurdity to talk ' about impressing them with the 

 language and literature of the ancients. Such a result 

 is not achieved with the average boy. I was myself 

 an average boy. A great friend and brother-in-law 

 of mine, Henry Sidgwick, used to say that the greatest 

 impediment to a literary education was classics." 

 In proposing the first resolution, "That the natural 

 NO. 2428, VOL. 97] 



sciences should be made an integral part of the educa- 

 tional course in all the great schools of the country, 

 and should form part of the entrance examination at 

 all the universities," Sir E. Schafer replied effectively 

 to the contention that men of science need a classical 

 education in order that they may be able to express 

 themselves clearly, and the unprejudiced eye-witness 

 of the meeting could not have failed to remark that 

 devotion to science was in no way incompatible with 

 the power of clear expression and a sense of literary 

 perception. Dr. Bridges, the Poet Laureate, seconded 

 the resolution in a forcible speech, in which he advo- 

 cated a drastic reform of our educational system. A 

 knowledge of the world we live in, and of our own 

 bodies, is a vital necessity to all classes. The question 

 of remunerating the teachers adequately was also of 

 urgent importance. 



The Rt. Hon. Huth Jackson, director of the Bank 

 of England, deeply regretted his ignorance of science, 

 the knowledge of which would have prevented him 

 from supporting commercial ventures which in them- 

 selves were unsound, and in other cases would have 

 made him abandon the banker's typical attitude of 

 refusing to listen to any new idea. Lord Montagu of 

 Beaulieu dealt principally with the neglect of science 

 in Government circles. Six years ago he had warned 

 the Government that it should take in hand the manu- 

 facture of acetone, which is indispensable for the pro- 

 duction of propellant powder. The advice was un- 

 heeded, and at the beginning of the war this country 

 possessed but a single toy plant in the Forest of Dean. 

 He had also pointed out the importance of low-tem- 

 perature distillation of coal, from which benzol, toluol, 

 and other by-products are obtained, including T.N.T., 

 essential for our Army; but nothing was done. In 

 the year before the war we spent 500,000^ with great 

 reluctance on aviation experiments ; Germany spent 

 seven millions, "Where America has more than 250 

 people at work in a certain research department, in 

 this country we have only four or five. The attitude 

 of the nation towards science is not one of dislike, 

 but of contemptuous neglect. There is an infinite 

 field for the use of science in the Government of the 

 country. In India there is no scientific adviser to the 

 Government. The country is pre-eminent to-day in 

 pure science, but not in applied science, or as regards 

 general scientific education all over the country." 



Dr. Macan, master of University College, Oxford, 

 said that by making the study of English and of 

 science two of the corner-stones of our educational 

 edifice, we should be working in the truest spirit of 

 Hellenism. The genuine study of antiquity would 

 not suffer by limiting the amount taught in our 

 schools, and the idea that the curtailment of such 

 instruction would demoralise our youth was a delu- 

 sion ; for ethical and physical training are the chief 

 factors in the formation of character. The science 

 students at Oxford had sacrificed themselves in the 

 war no less than their literary comrades. Mr. H. G. 

 Wells urged the importance of distinguishing between 

 the kind of teaching required for the training of 

 science specialists and that which should be part of 

 the education of all. The latter kind would Involve 

 a much smaller expenditure upon apparatus than the 

 former, and would not demand more than 10-15 hours 

 per week. "We want the elementary Greek which is 

 done in schools, and which does not go on to a 

 thorough knowledge of Greek, to be cut out. We 

 want to stop Latin verse-making for most pupils ; and 

 we do not believe in the premature teaching of history 

 to a child whose political sense is entirely undeveloped. 

 We do not propose to make the philosopher supreme 

 in this country at present, but we do want to bring 

 our statesmen into a relationship of co-operation with 



