February i, 1900J 



NATURE 



m 



the Directory to organise such schools throughout their 

 unty, to receive and supplement the grants made by the B<iard 

 ; Kducation, and to supply and pay qualified teachers. The 

 instruction should be in such subjects as natural history, botany, 

 and other sciences bearing upon agriculture and horticulture, 

 hee and poultry keeping, land measuring, farm accounts, &c., 

 i.itlier than in such subjects as typewriting, commercial arith- 

 metic and shorthand. Between these classes and the highest 

 igricultural colleges, schools should be established in every 

 unty, where lads from the age of thirteen to eighteen might 

 tain two years' thorough theoretical and practical training. 

 ich of these schools should be developed by its managers upon 

 vhe lines most suitable to the agriculture of the district. Thus 

 it may be possible to organise a satisfactory system ofagricul- 

 ural education, but, as was well observed by M. Tisserand, 

 'irector of Agriculture in France in 1896, in his memorandum 

 I ihe Recess Committee : " the agriculturists must be made 

 understand that the improvement they desire depends as 

 much upon themselves as upon the Ministry, if not more so ; 

 ■hit the latter must be powerless without their help ; that they 

 u ill receive succour from the State in proportion as they them- 

 selves put forth energy and labour ; and that it is only by the 

 united effort of all concerned that progress can be brought 

 about." 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — The practical teaching of physical chemistry is 



in^ introduced this term at the Daubeny (Magdalen College) 

 ,il))ralory. The course of instruction will be given by Mr. 

 l>uiican Wilson, who was recently appointed Lecturer in Che- 

 111 stry to the College, and has studied with Prof. Ostwald. 



Cambridge. — The Allen Scholarship for research, worth 

 250/. for one year, will this term be given for work in medicine, 

 mathematics, physics and chemistry, biology and geology, or 

 moral science. Candidates are to be graduates of the University 

 of not more than twenty-eight years of age. Applications should 

 l)e sent to the Vice-Chancellor by February 20. 



Ihe Faculty of Medicine of the University College of South 



ales and Monmouthshire has been recognised for the purpose 



medical study outside the University. 



Plans and estimates for the new botanical laboratory have 



en suljmitted to the Senate. The cost will be over 22,000/. 



The Mathematical Board have amended in a few details their 

 previous report on the Mathematical Tripos. They now pro- 

 pose that each class in Part I. shall be arranged in two divisions, 

 the names in each being in alphabetical order. They think it 

 important that these divisions should, so far as may be practic- 

 able, indicate a uniform standard from year to year. The voting 

 will take place on February 15, at 2 p.m. 



Dr. Jackson was on January 26 unanimously elected a member 

 of the Council in the room of Mr. Dale, now Principal of 

 University College, Liverpool. 



The present state of war has affected the University in a 

 remarkable manner. Not only have a considerable number of 

 graduates and undergraduates volunteered for active service, but 

 the Vice-Chancellor has summoned a meeting with a view to 

 applying to the Government for an increase of the establish- 

 ment of the University Rifle Corps. The present strength is 

 600 ; it is proposed to increase this to 800, and the recruits are 

 ready. Moreover, it is proposed to place the Senate House at 

 the disposal of the corps for a drill hall, at times when it is not 

 rccjuired for University purposes. Colonel Dyke is giving a 

 course of lectures on tactics thrice weekly. 



Lord Lister has been appointed an Elector to the Chair of 

 Pathology in the place of the late Sir James Paget. 



The Slate Medicine Syndicate have made a grant of 50/. in 

 aid of a course in bacteriology, provided for candidates desiring 

 to obtain the Diploma in Public Health. 



The London County Council have agreed to retain a site in 

 Clare Market, Strand, valued at 14,770/., for the establishment 

 of a school for higher commercial education in connection with 

 the new University of London. 



The Queen's Speech, read at the new session of Parliament, 

 which opened on Tuesday, announced that a mea.sure would be 

 introduced in regard to education in Scotland, and that pro. 

 NO. 1579, VOL. 61J 



posals would be made for better ej^abling local authorities to 

 aid secondary and technical education in England and Wales. 



The following officers were elected ,^t the annual meeting of 

 the Association of Technical Institutions, held in the Mercers' 

 Hall, London, on Wednesday, January 24 : — President, Sir 

 Swire Smith ; vice-presidents, Lord Spencer, Sir Bernard 

 Samuelson, Bart., Mr. H. Hobhouse, M.P., Mr. W. Mather; 

 treasurer, Mr. R. F. Martineau (Birmingham) ; honorary 

 secretary. Prof. J. Wertheimer (Bristol). 



In order to meet increasing demands for space, and to keep 

 pace with modern requirements, the Council of King's College 

 have been obliged to undertake very extensive additions to and 

 improvements in the departments of physiology, bacteriology, 

 anatomy, botany, geology, public health, architecture, and 

 applied mechanics. For these purposes, and for the resulting 

 equipments and adaptations, an expenditure of not less than 

 18,000/. has to be met immediately. The object in view is 

 specially commended to friends of the college and of science by 

 Lord Salisbury and by Lord Lister. Mr. Balfour, M.P. , will 

 preside at a special festival dinner in aid of the fund, to be held^ 

 at the Hall of Lincoln's Inn on Wednesday, February 14. k\\\ 

 contributions promised before or at the dinner will be placed on, 

 the chairman's list and announced at the festival. Contributions. 

 may be sent to the Hon. W. F. D. Smith, M.P., treasurer, at 

 King's College. 



Mr. W. p. Hartley, of Aintrce, Liverpool, has added to., 

 his many donations to University College, Liverpool, the 

 munificent gift of a completely furnished Botanical In.stitute. 

 The building, which has been carefully designed to meet all the 

 requirements of modern teaching and research, will be built of 

 Ruabon brick with sandstone dressings, on land specially 

 purchased for it by Mr. Hartley, and situated close to the 

 new chemical laboratories. The building, the architect of 

 which is Mr. F. W. Dixon, of Manchester, will consist of three 

 main floors containing the Museum, Lecture Theatre and Junior 

 Laboratory. Two mezzanines and top floor will provide space 

 for senior and research laboratories, library, experimental , 

 physiology laboratory, herbarium and private rooms. The 

 basement will contain store-rooms, heating chambers, lavatories, 

 &c. It is expected that the new laboratories will be ready !or 

 occupation early in 1901. 



The first report of the Liverpool School of Tropical Diseases 

 has been issued. The school was formally opened last April, 

 with Major Ross as the lecturer jn tropical diseases, and though 

 much time has had to be devoted to organising courses of study, 

 and arranging the material available for research, an abundance 

 of other work has been done. The most important result, how- 

 ever, achieved by the school, was the despatch of an expedition 

 to West Africa to investigate the prevalence there of tropical 

 malaria and other diseases. The expedition, which started at 

 the end of July and returned in October, chose Sierra Leone as 

 the field of their labours, owing to its proximity to Liverpool, 

 the time at their disposal being short. The results of the ex- 

 pedition have been in the highest degree .satisfactory, and a 

 report on its labours is now in course of preparation, and wilf 

 shortly be issued. The expedition brought back a considerable 

 amount of very valuable material for teaching purposes, more 

 especially a unique collection of malaria infected mosquitoes, 

 which have proved exceedingly useful for demonstration pur- 

 poses. Full recognition by the Government has not yet been . 

 extended to the school, and until that recognition is given, the 

 class of students most desired, namely, medical officers about to 

 enter into the service of the Government in tropical colonies,, 

 will not be attracted. It is confidently expected, however, that 

 full recognition will .shortly be given, and that the medical 

 officers in question will be allowed the option of undergoing 

 their course of instruction in tropical medicine at Liverpool 



A DErUTATiON of the Agricultural Education Committee 

 waited upon the Duke of Devonshire at the Education Depart-, 

 ment on Friday last, to urge the adoption of certain educational 

 reforms on the lines of a series of resolutions which were adopted 

 a short time ago by the executive of the Committee. Among 

 other reforms, the resolutions suggested that in view of the 

 importance of concentrating the control of agricultural and rural 

 education in the hands of one Government department, the 

 educational work of the Board of .Agriculture should be trans- 

 ferred to the new Board of Education ; that the staff of the new 

 board should include an adequate number of inspectors well 



