November 9, 1899] 



NA TURE 



45 



H. Pope Hennessy on notes on some West African tribes 

 north of the Benue, were laid before the Section. 



The usual reports of various Committees were read at various 

 times, the most voluminous being that of the Ethnographic 

 Survey of Canada. It stated that during the past year the work 

 of the Committee had been extended in important directions. 

 The introduction into the North-west of large bodies of Euro 

 peans who were to become permanently incorporated in the 

 population suggested the importance of securing as soon as 

 possible such facts relating to their general ethnology as might 

 seem to establish a suitable basis for the study of these people 

 under the influence of their new environment. Satisfactory 

 arrangements had been made with respect to Russian refugees 

 known as the Doukbohors, and it was probable that similar 

 arrangements might be completed during the coming year with 

 regard to other large bodies of immigrants. The exceptional 

 circumstances in British Columbia, the fact that it was becoming 

 more difficult each year to obtain trustworthy accounts of its people, 

 the rapid disappearance of old customs, dress, and modes of 

 living had seemed sufficient reasons for devoting to their study 

 a much larger share of the resources of the Committee than 

 might otherwise appear justifiable. An appendix contained an 

 account of early Canadian settlers and studies of the Indians of 

 British Columbia. On the whole Section H may be con- 

 gratulated on the very uniform high excellence of the papers, 

 it probably being one of the very best meetings that the Section 

 has ever had. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



O-XFORD. — A meeting of the Junior Scientific Club was held 

 in the University Museum on Wednesday, November i. After 

 private business, Mr. F. C. Lees (Hertford) read a very interest- 

 ing paper on geysers in action, exhibiting also an excellent 

 working model. A brisk discussion afterwards ensued. — Mr. 

 Gibson (Ch. Ch.) also read his paper on the retention of 

 plant-food in the soil, which had been postponed from the 

 previous meeting. 



Cambridge. — At the annual election on November 6, at 

 St. John's College, the following were elected Fellows : Mr. 

 W. A. Houston, fifth Wrangler 1896 and Smith's Prizeman 

 1898, Lecturer in Mathematics at University College, Liverpool ; 

 Grafton Elliot-Smith, B.A. 1898, M.D. of the University of 

 Sydney. Dr. Elliot-Smith, who entered the University in 1896 

 as an Advanced Student, has made a number of highly im- 

 portant contributions to the comparative anatomy of the brain, 

 and is one of the assistant-demonstrators of anatomy under 

 Prof. Macalister. 



The Council of the Senate propose that, having regard to the 

 extensive and valuable collections procured for the University 

 by the Torres Straits Expedition, a further grant of 100/. 

 (making 550/. in all) be made from the Worts Travelling 

 Scholars' Fund to Dr. Haddon towards the expenses of the 

 expedition. 



Mr. C. Hose, of Borneo, has presented to the Museum of 

 Zoology a fine example of the ourang outan's nest. A 

 collection of skeletons and skulls of the extinct Moriori race, 

 which formerly inhabited the Chatham Islands, has been acquired 

 for the Museum of Anatomy. 



Mr. Timothy Holmes has been added to the Medical School 

 Buildings Syndicate. It is understood that the plans for the 

 buildings are in a forward state of preparation. 



Mr. F. W. B. Frankland, third Wrangler in 1897, has been 

 elected to a Fellowship at Clare College. 



Mr. Horace Plunkett, M.P., has been appointed vice- 

 president of the new department of Agriculture and Technical 

 Education for Ireland. 



The educational movement in Wales has afforded an ex- 

 ceptional opportunity of bringing the Principality into the front 

 rank in the matter of scientific education, and it cannot fail to 

 be a matter of regret to well-wishers of the movement to notice 

 indications that the " modern side " of education is not develop- 

 ing to the same extent in Wales as in other countries. In the 

 recent scholarship examination at the University College of 

 North Wales only six science candidates presented themselves, 

 of whom three were not Welsh, while twenty-five candidates 

 intending to qualify in arts entered. 



NJ. 1567, VOL. 61] 



Among other agencies by which the Technical Education 

 Committee of the Essex County Council is cultivating scientific 

 knowledge is the County School of Horticulture at Chelmsford, 

 the prospectus of which is before us. The aim of the School 

 is to impart sound elementary instruction in the best methods 

 of cultural treatment, based upon a knowledge of the structure 

 and physiology of plants. The garden attached to the School 

 covers an area of three acres, and is entirely devoted to edu- 

 cational uses. Horticultural and botanical students in Essex 

 are fortunate in possessing an institution in which wisely planned 

 courses of work upon plants can be followed under such good 

 conditions as are available at Chelmsford. 



The purposes for which the Technical Education grant is used 

 in the various counties are shown concisely in a document just 

 published by the County Councils Association. The counties 

 are arranged alphabetically, and under each is given inform- 

 ation concerning the work done in regard to (a) schools of 

 science and art, {b) technical institutes, (t") agricultural schools 

 and institutes, {d) domestic economy schools and institutes, (;) 

 day or other schools or classes giving instruction in agricultural, 

 commercial, domestic, manual or technological subjects. The 

 Returns (which refer to 1897-98) also show the number of 

 scholarships and exhibitions given by each County Council, and 

 the provision made for examination and inspection of classes. 



Reports received from time to time, referring to the work, 

 carried on under the auspices of Technical Education Com- 

 mittees of County Councils, show that in many agricultural 

 counties the committees are gradually building up a system of 

 leaching and experiment which serves much the same purpose 

 as the educational branches of the agricultural experiment 

 stations in the United States and elsewhere. In Somerset, for 

 instance, the committee, of which Mr. C. H. Bothamley is the 

 director, have organised courses of instruction in most branches 

 of agricultural work ; and the instructors not only lecture, but 

 visit farms, gardens and orchards for the purpose of giving- 

 information and advice, for which no fees are charged, on points, 

 both general and special, arising in agricultural practice, such 

 as the manuring of arable and grass land, the treatment of wire- 

 worm, farm buildings, water supply, and similar matters. On 

 one farm the failure of the mangold crop for the second year in 

 succession was found to be due to an attack of large numbers 

 of a very minute beetle, which Miss Ormerod identified as what 

 is known as the pigmy mangold beetle, an insect which rarely 

 occurs in sufficient numbers to be injurious, and which was in 

 fact first recognised in this country in 1896. It is satisfactory to 

 read that information has been given by several farmers to whom 

 previous visits have been paid, to the effect that favourable 

 results have followed the adoption of the methods suggested by 

 the county instructor. A scheme for the establishment of an 

 experimental farm has been drawn up, and will be put into 

 effect as soon as the Secondary Education Bill is passed. School 

 gardens are already carried on at several places in the county, 

 and with much success. In other sciences, as in agriculture, 

 the Somerset Education Committee appear to be proceeding orv 

 the right lines, and good results must attend efforts so wisely 

 directed. 



The U.S. Experiment Slation Record gives information 

 concerning an extensive system of agricultural education which 

 the Government of Russia is organising. The scheme provides 

 for (i) higher education, furnished by independent agricultural 

 institutes situated in the chief agricultural zones of Russia, and 

 by chairs of agriculture and allied sciences in the universities ;.. 

 (2) agricultural high schools, which are in the nature of technical 

 schools, and schools with courses in agriculture ; (3) lower 

 agricultural schools, ; and (4) the diffusion of general agricul- 

 tural information. The schools for the so called lower educa- 

 tion include (a) secondary agricultural schools, \,b) primary 

 agricultural schools, (c) agricultural classes, and {d) practical 

 agricultural courses. These lower schools are to be under th^ 

 jurisdiction of the minister of agricultural and imperial domains, 

 They are to be maintained at the expense of municipalities, 

 local communities, associations, &c., but may receive a part of 

 their support from the Government. The secondary schools are 

 to be established on Government land, or land donated for that 

 purpose. The other lower agricultural schools may be estab- 

 lished on private estates. The secondary schools are open to 

 young men of all conditions who have completed the course 

 in the primary public schools. The diffusion of general agri- 

 cultural information is to be provided for by the organisatioo 



