554 



NATURE 



[October 2, 1890 



Another determination of the atomic weight of the element 

 beryllium has been made by Drs. Kriiss and Moraht, with the 

 purest oxide that has probably ever been prepared {Berickte, 

 No. 13, 2552). The result is eminently satisfactory to those 

 who entertain a certain amount of belief in a modified * Trout's 

 law," for the value obtained, 9*05 when oxygen is considered 16, 

 is almost exactly a whole number, much nearer the round 

 number 9 than the value obtained by Nilson and Petterson, 9*11, 

 and the still earlier one of Awdejew, 9*22. The method em- 

 ployed consisted in igniting under special conditions the 

 sulphate BeS04 + 4H2O. The advantages attending the 

 use of this salt are that it is capable of preparation by a 

 method detailed in a former communication in an almost 

 absolutely pure state, and it is not hygroscopic. The powdered 

 crystals lose two molecules of their water of crystallization 

 at 105° C, and the remaining two molecules at 250°- 260°. 

 When heated to redness the residual anhydrous sulphate is 

 decomposed, beryllium oxide remaining. The last traces of 

 sulphuric acid are completely removed by ignition to bright 

 redness in a stream of air saturated with ammonia gas. The 

 beryllia used for the preparation of the sulphate was obtained 

 from three distinct minerals — leucophone, beryl, and gadolinite. 

 Sixteen separate determinations were made, about 20 grams of 

 the sulphate being ignited in each case. The excellent agree- 

 ment between the results is seen from the fact that the maximum 

 value obtained was 9*08, and the minimum 9*03, when oxygen 

 = 16. It appears, therefore, that in the case of beryllium the 

 value obtained for the atomic weight approximates the more 

 closely to the whole number 9 the purer the materials and the 

 more perfect the method employed in the work. 



Writing to us on the subject of sonorous sand, Mr. Henry 

 C. Hyndman asks whether Prof. H. C. Bolton is aware of an 

 inland locality in South Africa, where it is stated the sands are 

 sonorous. In a recent letter to the Scotsman, Mr. Hyndman 

 mentioned that he had come across a paragraph in a work 

 entitled " Twenty- five Years in an African Waggon," by 

 Andrew A. Anderton, published in 1887, in which the author 

 said, "Before leaving this part of the Griqualand West I should 

 like to describe that peculiar sand formation on the west side of 

 the Langberg mountain, which is in fact part of it. I heard from 

 many of the Griquas and Potgielet living near it, that the lofty 

 hills are constantly changing ; that is, the sand hills, 500 and 600 

 feet in height, in the course of a few years subside, and other 

 sand hills are formed where before it was level ground." And 

 then in a footnote it is added, " I regret very much the descrip- 

 tion of this sand formation has been left out, it being the only 

 extraordinary geological formation known in Africa, and fully 

 describes the musical sand." 



There is an interesting article in Education on the Uni- 

 versity Correspondence College (London and Cambridge) and 

 its founder. Mr. William Briggs is the principal and founder, 

 and the idea of teaching by correspondence first suggested itself 

 to him while holding the appointment to a Marquis of Bute 

 Professorship in a Scotch College. The idea soon took root, 

 and the general method of work now adopted is as follows : — 

 Students every week i-eceive a scheme of work, consisting 

 of selections from text -books, indications of important points, 

 hints, notes on difficult portions of each subject that is under 

 consideration. At the end of the first week, in addition to 

 the above, a test paper is sent on the work of the preceding 

 week, the answers to which are sent to the tutor on an arranged 

 day. These are then examined and returned with corrections, 

 hints, and model answers in each subject and solutions of all the 

 difficulties. The advantage this method has over oral teaching 

 is that all difficulties, &c. , are committed to writing, and can be 

 looked at over and over again and kept for future reference. 

 The staff employed consists of forty tutors, whose academical 

 NO. 1092, VOL. 42] 



careers were exceptionally brilliant, twenty-six of them having 

 taken first places at London University examinations. The 

 best judgment as to the work of the students may be formed 

 from the following information :— In the Intermediate and B.A. 

 examinations, 79 and 70 passes were obtained in one year. In 

 the Honour and M.A. examination, 105 at the recent June 

 examination passed, including the tenth, thirteenth, and seven- 

 teenth places in the Honour list ; at Intermediate Arts, twenty 

 took honours, one with a first and two with second places ; at 

 B.A., sixteen took honours, one being University Prizeman. 



The Durham College of Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has 

 issued its Calendar for the session 1890-91. The schedules for 

 the A.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees have been re-modelled, and are 

 now on the same lines as the corresponding examinations in the 

 London and Victoria Universities. Attention may also be 

 drawn to the fact that the list of subjects on which courses of 

 lectures are delivered includes agricultural botany. 



The Calendar of the University College of North Wales for 

 the year 1890-91 has been published. 



We have received the calendar of the Imperial University of 

 Japan (Teikoku Dargaku) for the year 1889-90 (22nd-23rd year 

 of Meiji), published by the University at Tokyo. This Uni- 

 versity is under the control of the Minister of State for Education, 

 and depends for its revenue upon annual allowances from the 

 Treasury of the Imperial Government. An accumulation fund, 

 made up of tuition fees and other sources, helps to pay the 

 current expenditure of the University when the cases are of such 

 a nature as to demand the outlay. The whole University, con- 

 sisting of offices of the University, library, colleges of law, 

 medicine, engineering, literature, and science, the first hospital 

 of the College of Medicine, &c., are situated in the grounds at 

 Molofujicho, Hongo, Tokyo, known as Kaga-yashiki. The 

 Botanical Garden Observatory and the second hospital of the 

 Medical College are all situated within the city bounds, and the 

 Marine Biological Station is situated at Misaki. The Calendar 

 contains information on everything concerning the University, 

 viz. University offices, regulations for colleges, courses of in- 

 struction, examinations, scholarships, fees, &c. The appendix 

 gives the address delivered by President Watanabe on the oc- 

 casion of the annual graduation ceremony, July 10, 1889. 



M. E. Drake del Castillo has recently published a 

 memoir, rewarded by the French Academy of Sciences, on the 

 Flora of Polynesia, 



A CATALOGUE of numerous works in every branch of astronomy 

 has been issued by Felix L. Dames, Berlin, W., Taubenstrasse 

 47. To those who may wish to have copies of rare and standard 

 astronomical publications at a reasonable price it will be found 

 extremely useful. 



Messrs. G. Philip and Sons, Fleet Street, have published 

 a portable sun-dial adjustable for all latitudes and fitted with a 

 compass. The model has been designed to illustrate simply 

 and accurately the principle of the sun-dial. The equation of 

 time on the ist, nth, and 21st of each month is given, so that 

 civil time may be found. No table is given of magnetic varia- 

 tion, hence the fixing of the instrument in the magnetic instead 

 of the geographical meridian involves a-, certain amount of error. 

 The box into which the model fits is made exactly one cubic 

 decimetre in capacity, and is intended to illustrate the decimal 

 system of weights and measures. 



"YviiK Engineer oi\hs. 19th inst. contains an important article 

 on " Railway Axles in India," due to a remarkable statement in 

 the Indian technical press, to the effisct that steel railway axles 



