January i8. 1900J 



NATURE 



275 



memory may prevent the performance of a measuring experi- 

 ment, e.g. in the recent Cambridge local examination one simple 

 question, to find the area of an ellipse by two methods, is a very 

 admirable question, but presumably one-half the marks allotted 

 are lost should a candidate forget the formula irab. 



And, again, it was required to find the specific heat of a 

 liquid by a non-mixing method. Why should this restriction 

 have been made ? The practical exercise is sufficiently difficult 

 without any restrictions as to the process employed. 



It is only fair to the science teachers in schools to call atten- 

 tion to this side of the question of knowledge-making power in 

 boys, and, instead of merely saying that few teachers have the 

 necessary inspiring spirit, to point out the hindrances with which 

 they have to contend, as Prof. Macgregor has done. 



G. H. Wyatt. 



Emmanuel School, Wandsworth Common, S.W. 



Echelon Film Gratings. 



Many of your readers will doubtless be interested to learn 

 that Mr. T. Thorp, of Manchester, who has so successfully re- 

 produced copies of Rowland's gratings, has been able to make 

 an " Echelon " grating on the principle suggested by Prof. A. A. 

 Michelson last year, but stated to be well-nigh impossible on 

 account of mechanical difficulties. The success of the opera- 

 lions depends on the shape, depth, and spacing of the grooves, 

 and after many calculations and preliminary trials Mr. Thorp 

 finds he can produce echelon films throwing the whole of 

 the light into the first, second, or other requisite order, the 

 direct image being practically suppressed. The first successful 

 films made in this way were obtained in November last, and it 

 is hoped that in a short time several will be available for ex- 

 amination. If permanent, they should be capable of giving 

 star spectra with the same facility as prisms. 



Royal College of Science, S.W. Charles P. Butler. 



The Stockholm Fisheries Conference and British 

 Fishery Investigations. 



In my letter published in Nature of January 4, I attributed 

 to the Government a larger grant in aid of the fishery investiga- 

 tions of the Royal Dublin Society than was actually given. My 

 friend Mr. Holt informs me that, of a total sum of 2800/. 

 originally provided for the work of the Marine Laboratory for 

 five years, the Government only supplied one-half, viz. 1400/., 

 the remaining 1400/. being voted by the Society out of its 

 private funds. It being found impossible to carry out the work 

 satisfactorily with such small funds, the Society has recently 

 voted a further sum of 500/. for the purchase and equipment of 

 a fishing boat. My contention that existing institutions should 

 t)e adequately supported before Government money is employed 

 for starting a new organisation is therefore considerably 

 strengthened. E. J. Allen. 



The Laboratory, Plymouth, January 12. 



THE REPRESENTATION OF THE UNIVER- 

 SITY OF LONDON. 



T T would seem that the University of London is in 

 ■^ some danger of missing a great opportunity in con- 

 nection with the vacancy created in its representation by 

 the elevation of Sir John Lubbock to the Upper House. 



Our readers need not be reminded that the theory on 

 which the representation of academic bodies in Parlia- 

 ment is based is often assailed by politicians and 

 •hinkers, and is only tenable on the assumption that 

 hose bodies inay be trusted to select persons of special 

 I uiinence in science or learning, and qualified to obtain 

 the confidence of the nation as representatives of its 

 higher educational interests. This principle has been 

 kept in view by Dublin in its choice of Mr. Lecky, by 

 Cambridge and Oxford in the choice of Prof. Jebb and 

 Sir W. Anson, and by the University of London so long 

 .IS it was represented by Mr. Lowe and Sir John Lubbock. 

 Unless men of higher intellectual rank than mere poli- 

 ticians are sent to the House of Commons by the Uni- 

 versities, there would no longer be any raison d'etre for 



NO. 1577, VOL. 61] 



University representation at all, and in a democratic 

 community the privilege would not be likely to survive 

 long. 



It appears now that there are two small Committees — 

 the one Liberal and the other Unionist — which seek to 

 control the Parliamentary elections of the University ; 

 and that on this occasion, instead of heeding the larger 

 public interests involved in a University election, each 

 caucus has been content to nominate one of its own 

 active meinbers, though wholly unknown to the learned 

 and scientific world, or indeed to the general public. 



Dr. Collins, the nominee of the Liberal party, took a 

 very distinguished degree in medicine and surgery ; has 

 been prominent in the domestic controversies of Con- 

 vocation, and has been for a time a member of the 

 Senate. Outside of the University he is known as a man 

 of great ability and promise, who achieved marked 

 success as Chairman of the London County CounciL 

 But he is considered very unlikely to secure the adhesion 

 of the medical or the scientific graduates. 



Mr. Edward Busk, the Unionist candidate, is less 

 known to the outer world. He has a creditable reputa- 

 tion in his own profession as a solicitor, and also as Sir 

 John Lubbock's election agent. As chairman he has 

 paid assiduous attention to the meetings of Con- 

 vocation and of the annual committee : and has come 

 to be regarded by a certain section of the members — 

 especially by those who opposed the recommendations- 

 of the Royal Commission and the University Act — as in 

 soiTie way a guardian of the interests of the country 

 graduates. But his supporters do not claim for him that 

 either in the departments of scholarship and science, or 

 in general academic or educational politics, he has yet 

 evinced any interest or is known to possess any authority 

 or influence. 



The fact that both of the Committees, with their special 

 command of electioneering apparatus, have been able to 

 gain a start in point of time, and in some cases to secure 

 provisional pledges, ought not to conceal from the general 

 body of graduates the gravity of the present crisis, or 

 prevent them from acting with due care and circumspec- 

 tion and a strong sense of responsibility in the choice of 

 their member. The truth is that neither of the candi- 

 dates selected by the named party organisations is of the 

 calibre required to fill the seat of Sir J. Lubbock. The 

 election of either would lower the reputation of the 

 University as a learned body, and bring serious discredit 

 on the principle of University representation itself. This 

 has been pointed out with strong emphasis in letters and 

 a leading article in the Times., which it is reasonable \.o 

 expect that the graduates will not fail to consider with 

 attention. 



It is to be hoped that before the seat is actually- 

 vacated the name of a distinguished graduate may be 

 submitted to the electors — a name not associated with 

 any party politics, but commanding high and general 

 confidence in the scientific and learned world. 



ZOOLOGY AND THE AUSTRALIAN 



MUSEUMS.^ 



ALL who are interested in Mammalian Palaeontology 

 and exploration in the Interior of Australia will 

 readily recall the graphic account contributed to our 

 pages in 1894 (Nature, vol. 1., pp. 184 and 206), by 

 Prof. Stirling, of the work of an e.xploring party sent out 

 to Lake Callabonna, under the auspices of the South 

 Australian Museum, of which he is the Hon. Director, 

 for the purpose of collecting the remains of the gigantic 

 vertebrates of Pliocene age known to be there entombed. 



1 " Memoirs of Royal Society of South Australia," vol. i., Part 1. By 

 E. C. Stirling, C.M.G., M.A.. M.U., F.R.S., and A. H. C. Ziet^ 

 C.M.Z.S. 



" Fossil Remains of Lake Callabonna." Part i. Description of the 

 Manus and Pes oi Diprotodoit aiistialis. Pp. 40 + 18 photo^taphic plates. 



