Feukuakv 9, 1905J 



NA TURE 



555 



menced by General de Nansouty and his coadjutors in 1873, 

 at the foot of the Pic, about 2300 metres above the sea, and 

 were continued under great hardships, and at considerable 

 personal expense for about eight years. The present station 

 was established in 1880, by public and private subscrip- 

 tions. The accompanying illustration gfivcs a general view 

 of the station as it now exists. On the left tlie thermo- 

 meter screen may be distinguished near the erection on 

 which the anemometer and actinometer are placed ; at the 

 other end of the terrace is the equatorial building, and the 

 apparatus for celestial photography. The magnetic instru- 

 ments are placed in vaults underneath the terrace. The 

 meteorological observations are regularly published in the 

 annals of the Central Meteorological Office; useful predic- 

 tions have been, given to the inhabitants of the plains of 

 impending thunderstorms, and of probable floods owing to 

 the sudden melting of the snow on the mountains. Amongst 

 the miscellaneous observations undertaken under the able 

 direction of IVI. Marchand, we mav speciallv mention those 

 relatino- to llir zu,ll;i, al liylit, to solar phen'. .iiii.n.i. ami llie 



persons have attended the various local lectures provided, 

 while 1000 students entered for the courses offered by 

 agricultural colleges. The expenditure of the counties is 

 given in detail, and presents some curious anomalies ; 

 thus the London County Council assigned to agricultural 

 education 742'., while the authorities of one of the most 

 fertile divisions of Lincolnshire, in wnich agriculture is 

 practically the only industry, voted 65/. for the purpose ! 

 .■\gain. East Sussex, with a total income from the 

 " Residue Grant" of 7773^, spent 6ii6i. in grants to 

 agricultural colleges or schools, while West Sussex, with 

 an income of 4503L, gave nothing for collegiate instruc- 

 tion, and was satisfied with an expenditure of 275/. upon 

 horticulture and poultry keeping. Conditions vary from 

 county to county, but differences in the needs of the agri- 

 culturist do not explain the widely different educational 

 policy of the local authorities. Under the new com- 

 mittees, it is to be hoped that the unsystematic and 

 spasmodic efforts that have been too common in the past 

 may disappear, and though it is proliable that in the 



-General View cif the Pic dii Midi Obs. 



connection of the latter with magnetic disturbances. His 

 observations in this direction have shown that whenever 

 a terrestrial magnetic disturbance occurs, spots or faculae 

 e.xist on the central meridian of the sun. Important spectro- 

 scopic results have also been obtained respecting the 

 atmospheres of Venus and Mars. 



A^ 



AGRICULTURAL NOTES. 

 N important new feature of the annual report on the 



i distribution of grants for agricultural education and 



research is a return giving the character of the instruc- 

 tion in agriculture provided by the county councils of 

 I England and Wales. The return shows that most counties 

 are now spending considerable sums on agricultural educa- 

 tion — altogether 88,893!, in 1902-3, and to this sum 9200!. 

 was added by the Board of Agriculture in the form of grants 

 to collegiate centres. It is estimated that some 22,000 



NO. I 84 I, VOL. 71] 



immediate future less money will be spent on agricultural 

 education, it is likely to be expended to greater advantage. 

 The Board of Agriculture's report should be studied by 

 all members of county education committees who are 

 interested in agricultural education. 



A piece of work which has just been completed in the 

 library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has greatly 

 enhanced the value of the leading Continental agricultural 

 journals for English-speaking students. Complete card 

 catalogues of " Annales de la Science agronomique," 

 " Landwithschaftliche Jahrbiicher," and " Die landwith- 

 schaftlichen Versuchs-stationen " have been prepared. 

 Each index card gives author's name, title of article, and 

 a brief outline of the scope of the article. The catalogues 

 may be purchased in two series, either " author entry " 

 sets, permitting papers to be indexed under the authors' 

 names, or " complete " sets, furnishing two or more cards 

 for each paper, which may then be indexed under the 

 author's name, and also under the subject or subjects to 



