2 l6 



NATURE 



[December 29, 1904 



04 y 



to their Agricultural Revenues." The paper is based on 

 the accounts, published annually, of the colleges (and the 

 university) of Oxford, and is a continuation of one read 

 in 1895. The gross external receipts of the colleges (and 

 the university) in 1903 exhibited an increase on 1893 of 

 29,797!., and'on 1883 of 16,343!. The net external receipts 

 of the colleges alone showed an increase of 16,566!. on 1893, 

 and a decrease of 10,3 ii(. from 1S83. Later in his paper 

 Mr. Price states that it hardly seems extravagant to affirm 

 that during a quarter of a century the colleges (and the 

 university) have lost between a third and a fourth of 

 their agricultural revenues. Had it not been for 

 an increase in revenues derived from other sources, 

 they would have been crippled yet more seriously. 

 The most noticeable feature is the large increase in the 

 receipts from houses and sites of houses. Between 1883 

 and 1903 these receipts were doubled, and between 1893 

 and 1903 they increased from 56,877!. to 91,388!. On the 

 whole this gross increase has more than balanced the gross 

 diminution in the receipts from lands and tithe. The in- 

 ternal receipts of the colleges increased by 5814!. between 

 1883 and 1893, and by 11,428!. between 1893 and 1903. 



The annual conference of headmasters of public schools 

 was held this year at Christ's HospitM, West Horsham, on 

 Thursday and Friday last, December 22 and 23. Among 

 the subjects discussed on Thursday were the recommend- 

 ations of the consultative committee of the Board of Educa- 

 tion for the establishment of school certificates, and the 

 policy of the Board of Education in encouraging the send- 

 ing of intending elementary school teachers to secondary 

 schools in lieu of pupil teacher centres. The following 

 resolutions were adopted : — " That the question of school 

 certificates be referred to the committee of the conference 

 with a view to immediate action, and that it be an instruc- 

 tion of the committee to obtain in writing the opinion of 

 every member of the conference on the various points in- 

 volved in the scheme of the consultative committee." 

 " That this conference pledges itself to support the educa- 

 tion authority in its policy of providing that candidates for 

 pupil teacherships in public elementary schools shall receive 

 a substantial portion of their education in a public secondary 

 school, and considers it desirable that as many recruits as 

 possible for teacherships in public elementary schools should 

 be obtained from the ranks of ordinary pupils of secondary 

 schools." On Friday a discussion took place on the sub- 

 ject of Greek, with special reference to the proposals of the 

 Cambridge Syndicate, and the following resolution was 

 carried by twenty-one votes to eight : — " That, without 

 committing itself to details, the conference generally dis- 

 approves of the Cambridge Syndicate with regard to Greek 

 in the Previous Examination." The conference also ex- 

 pressed itself against some of the reforms of the new Army 

 entrance examinations, and carried the following resolution 

 unanimously : — " That this conference hopes that the 

 scheme for qualifying certificates in the examination for 

 Woolwich and Sandhurst will be so amended as to encourage 

 the study of Latin." A strong representation is to be made 

 to the War Office on this subject. It was also agreed that 

 the committee of the conference should consider the 

 syllabus issued by the Board of Education on the teaching 

 of English literature, and should include their recommend- 

 ations in the annual report. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Royal Meteorological Society, December 21.— Capt. D. 



Wilson-Barker, president, in the chair. — Decrease of fog in 

 London during recent years: F. J. Brodie {Discussion). 

 — The study of the minor fluctuations of atmospheric 

 pressure: Dr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., and W. H. Dines. 

 The authors described an apparatus called the " micro- 

 barograph," which they have designed to magnify the 

 minor fluctuations, and at the same time to disentangle 

 them from the general barometric surges. They also 

 showed some records from three of these instruments. The 

 authors wish to obtain information as to the nature of the 

 disturbances and the causes to which they may be assigned. 

 Among the causes which suggest themselves as likely to 



NO. 1835, VOL. 71] 



produce temporary fluctuations of the barometric curves are 

 stated by the authors to be (i) atmospheric billows passing 

 along surfaces where there is discontinuity of density in a 

 manner somewhat similar to ocean waves ; (2) the passage 

 of minute whirls or cyclonic depressions of small scale ; 

 (3) variations of pressure due to the attraction or repulsion 

 produced by electric stress as masses of air at different 

 potential pass over : (4) the mechanical effects of wind ; 

 and (5) the mechanical effects of rapid condensation of 

 aqueous vapour. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



MoynAj; Jani-arv 2. 



Victoria Institute, 314.30. — Confucianism: Rev. A. Elwin. 

 tyEDJVESDAV, January 4. 



Geological Society, at 8. — The Marine Beds in the Coal Measures of 

 North Staffordshire : J. T. Slobbs.— The Paleontology of the Marine 

 Bands in the North Staffordshire Coalfield : Dr. Wheelton Hind.— The 

 Geology of Cyprus- C. V. Bellamy, with Contributions by A. J. Jukes- 

 Browne. 



THURSDAY, January 5. 



RONTGEN Society, at 8. 15. — Description of an Automatic Vacuum Pump : 

 C. E. S. Phillips. (The apparatus will be shown at work.)— E.\hibition 

 of a Method by which Strongly Adherent Films of Aluminium may be 

 applied to Glass.— A Note on the Coloration of Glass by Radium 

 Radiation. 



FRIDA Y, January 6. 



Gfologists' Association, at 8. — The Third Issue of the British Associa- 

 tion Geological Photographs : Dr. C. G. Cullis. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The Future of the Human Race. By F. W. H. . . 193 



British Freshwater Algae 194 



Theory of Rapid Motion in a Compressible Fluid. 



By A. E. H. L 196 



The Great St. Bernard Pass. By T. G. B 197 



Trachoma . 198 



Our Book Shelf :— 



.Vlguc : "The Cyclones of the Far East. "--C. H. . 198 

 Hutton and Drummond : " The Animals of New 

 Zealand : an Account of the Colony's Air-breathing 



Vertebrates" 199 



Rhumbler : " Zellenmechanik und Zellenleben " . 199 



Gore : " Studies in Astronomy " 199 



Dobbie and Marshall: "Salts and their Reactions" 200 

 Letters to the Editor : — 



Radiation Pressure.— Prof. J. H. Poynting, F.R.S. 200 

 The Date of Easter in 1905.— Dr. A. M. W. 



Downing, F.R.S . 201 



Lepidocarpon and the Gjmnosperms. — Dr. D. H. 



Scott, F.R.S 201 



Fishing at Night. — S. W 201 



A New British Bird !— W. P. Pycraft 201 



Intelligence of Animals.— T. S. Patterson . . .201 



Fauna of the Highlands. (Illnslraled.) By J. A. T. 202 



A Naturalist in Sarawak. {Illustrated.) ByA. C.H. 203 



Oils for Motor-Cars. By C. Simmonds 20J 



Admiral Sir Erasmus Ommanney, K.C.B., F.R.S. . 207 



Notes ,207 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Aslionomical Occurrences in January, 1905 211 



Elements and Ephemeris of Comet 1904 iZ' 211 



Observations of Bright Meteors 211 



The Great Red Spot on Jupiter 211 



Report of the United States Naval Observatory . . . 211 

 Mathematical Drawing. By Prof George M. 



Minchin, F.R.S. 211 



Central American Mammals. {liluslrattd.) By R. L. 212 

 The Fisheries of Scotland. By Frank Balfour 



Browne .... 213 



Prize Awards of the Paris Academy of Sciences . . 214 



University and Educational Intelligence 215 



Societies and Academies 216 



Diary of Societies 216 



