January 22, 190,3] 



NA TURE 



285 



■conference, and in the afternoon a similar one — the third of its 

 kind — was opened. Three papers were read, the first of which, 

 on the tyranny of Greek, was by Mr. J. Talbot, of Harrow. He 

 said that the amount of Greek which boys did at school was 

 too small to be of any use, and he suggested that its place 

 should be taken by English and by science, though from the 

 latter alone he considered that it was impossible to obtain literary 

 style. Sir Michael Foster pleaded for elasticity of curriculum 

 and no compulsory Greek, though he did not define what he 

 would substitute for it. Prof. Armstrong argued that if science 

 was studied, literary style could be acquired at the same lime. 

 In the end, the meeting agreed that compulsory Greek should 

 not be required of candidates for entrance examinations at the 

 universities. 



Mr. E. C. Sherwood, of Westminster, in his address dealt 

 with how to make practical work of any use in "a low big 

 form." He was of opinion that lectures should be used to sum 

 up and criticise the work of the previous lesson. Text-books 

 in the laboratory he considered a snare and a delusion, and he 

 maintained that notes should be roughly written at ihe time and 

 copied out carefully in ink afterwards. In the discussion, how- 

 ever, a number of speakers ch iracterised it as a mistake for any 

 notes to be made away from the laboratory. Furthermore, Mr. 

 Sherwood laid down that the aim of the very earliest course of 

 chemistry and physics, especially if not preceded by a course of 

 " nature-study," should hi to train the powers of observation 

 and description, as well as to give a familiarity with the nature 

 and properties of the commoner substances and materials, and 

 the object and application of the easier methods of manipula- 

 tion. The " problem " and the heuristic element should not 

 be prominent features. 



The third paper consisted of a criticism, by Dr. T. J. Baker, 

 of Birmingham, on the new syllabus (or science in the matricu- 

 lation examination of the University of London. In this contri- 

 bution, it was pointed out that it is now possible to matriculate 

 at London without offering any science at all. It was con- 

 tended that a matriculation examination should test the grounding 

 of candidates in this as well as in literary subjects. At the same 

 time, there should be no incentive to specialisation as in the 

 new science syllabus under consideration. 



This contention was borne out by the fact that chemistry has 

 been separated from physics and the latter divided into two 

 sections each of which counts as a distinct subject. The stan- 

 dard of attainment required i< too high and directly encourages 

 specialisation. Dr. Baker would retain only chemistry and 

 mechanics, the syllabus in the first case being limited in scope, 

 but insisting upon thoroughness of treatment. 



Sir A. W. Riicker, in the course of a well-considered speech, 

 explained that the syllabus complied with Sir Michael Foster's 

 desire for elasticity. He alluded to the difficulty of examining 

 2500 candidates practically at a fixed centre, and showed how 

 the University had arranged to test the pupils of a school on 

 the spot by means of the leaving examination recently devised. 



Wilfred Mark Wekk. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Sir Michael Foster has decided to retain his seat in 

 Parliament as member for the University of London. In a 

 letter to Sir John Rotton, he says : — " The answers which you 

 have received to the inquiry which you kindly made on my 

 behalf give me so fully the assurance which I needed in order 

 that I should feel justified in renouncing my intention to resign 

 that I have decided to do so." 



Sir William Turner, K.C.B., F.R.S., who has held the 

 chair of anatomy in the University of Edinburgh since 1S67, 

 has been elected principal of the University. 



The Lancet states that the Bristol Health Committee has 

 decided that the bacteriological work which has been done 

 hitherto in the rpedical officer's department shall be for one 

 year transferred to the University College, where it will be 

 carried on by Prof. Stanley Kent at a cost of 200/. 



A laboratory has been opened in the gardens of the Royal 

 Botanic Society at Regent's Park, in which classes for instruction 

 in botany and horticultural chemistry are held three days a 

 week. Mr. E. J. Schwartz, demonstrator in botany at King's 

 College, has been appointed director, and has now completed 



NO. 1734, VOL. 67] 



arrangements for the reception of pupils. The laboratory has 

 been erected and equipped under the auspices of the Technical 

 Education Board. 



The Carnegie Institution of Washington has adopted, 

 Science says, a plan to encourage exceptional talent by appoint- 

 ing a certain number of research assistants. As a rule, the 

 annual emolument will not exceed 200'., and no limitations are 

 prescribed as to age, sex, nationality, graduation or residence. 

 A person appointed will generally be expected to work under 

 the supervision of a man of science known to the authorities of 

 the Carnegie Institution. Applications for appointments may 

 be presented by the head of a college, or by a professor, or by 

 the candidate ; they should be accompanied by a statement of 

 the qualification of the candidate, of the research work he has 

 done and of that which he desires to follow ; also of the time 

 for which an allowance is required. 



In a speech made at the opening of the Indian Industrial 

 Exhibition in connection with the eighteenth Indian National 

 Congress, the Gaekwar of Baroda referred to the question of 

 education in India. The Pioneer Mail says that his Highness 

 founded an institution called the Kala-Bhavan with departments 

 in dyeing and weaving, carpentry and mechanical engineering, 

 and with the object of diffusing technical education had branches 

 of it set up in the various parts of the Raj ; but the response 

 among the people was so faint that after a time the institution 

 had to be contracted within narrower limits. Until the means 

 of the people and the material wealth of the country expand, 

 there can be but little demand for the work which such institutes 

 turn out. So far, the Kala-Bhavan nas done but little beyond 

 providing skilled dyers for Bombay mills. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIAL. 



Journal of Botany, January.— Mr. E. S. Salmon traces out 

 the characters and history of several mosses which, after a care- 

 ful examination, he considers should be included under the 

 species Calyptopogon mntoides, Schwaeg. The type specimen 

 was collected in Chili, but others were obtained in Ecuador, 

 Patagonia, New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia. This dis- 

 tribution is paralleled in the case of several other mosses, and a 

 similar range was described for certain phanerogamous plants 

 by Sir W. J. Hooker. The identity of these variously named 

 forms receives confirmation by the presence of gemma; which 

 arise on the leaves. — Mr. E. G. Baker discusses Turroea, a 

 genus belonging to the Meliaceae, and in the main follows the 

 classification laid down by Dr. Harms in the " Pflanzenfamilien." 

 The African and Mascarene species are arranged separately, 

 and in the former appear descriptions of two new species. — Two 

 Hepatics new to Britain are recorded. Kantia submersa was 

 gathered by Messrs. A. Wilson and J. A. Wheldon on Cocker- 

 ham Moss, west Lancashire, and Geocalyx graveolens was 

 discovered by Mr. S. M. Macvicar, in west Ross-shire. — Miss 

 A. L. Smith, in the course of her description of a gooseberry 

 disease caused by a form of Botrytis, mentions the appearance 

 of a Peziza growing from a sclerotium, which also gave rise to 

 Scle'olinia Fuckeliana. — A note on the localities of Acorus 

 Calamus is contributed by Mr. Arthur Bennett — A supple- 

 ment to ihe Journal is devoted to notes on the drawings for 

 "English Botany," by Mr. F. N. A. Garry. This woik, 

 generally known as Sowerby's " English Botany," bears tribute 

 to the artist who drew the plates ; the descriptions of the first 

 edition were almost entirely written by Sir James E. Smith. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Royal Society, December II, 1902. — " On Certain Proper- 

 ties of the Alloys of the Gold-Silver Series." By the late Sir 

 William Roberts-Austen, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Dr. T. 

 Kirke Rose. 



The earliest trial plate for testing the composition of the gold 

 coinage was made in 1527, .the year following the first intro- 

 duction of the standard oi6'6. This plate contained only 62 

 parts per 1000 of copper and was probably intended to consist 

 of gold and silver only. All subsequent plates, however, down 

 to that made in 1S29, contained much larger amounts of copper. 



