274 
NATURE 
| JANUARY 17, 1907 
those students who are lilely to proceed to the highest 
work in pure mathematics. Schedule B comprehends 
the highest kind of work in all parts of pure and 
applied mathematics which may be expected from 
men of the age and experience of the best candidates. 
The examination in part ii. comprises the subjects 
in Schedules A and B. Schedule A contains the 
ordinary subjects to be talken by all candidates, the 
B subjects being taken only by men who are candi- 
dates for a mark of distinction. Six papers will be 
set on A and not more than six papers on B. In 
each of the papers on A there will be set some simple 
questions specially indicated, partly on the syllabus 
of part i.; a candidate who answers these questions 
sufficiently well will be entitled to honours. The 
questions on the various subjects will be distributed 
among the papers at the discretion of the examiners. 
Some months before the examination the registrary 
must be furnished with names of students who in- 
tend to present themselves as candidates for distinc- 
tion in subjects B, specifying their special subjects 
or branches of subjects; and still some time before 
the examination students will specify the range of 
subjects B in which they desire to be examined. It 
is again laid down, as in part i., that there will be 
tests of knowledge of phenomena in the physical 
questions, and simple numerical or other illustrations 
will be given. Also the questions on even the subjects 
of Schedule B will consist in part of questions of an 
elementary or simple character. Part ii. cannot be 
taken earlier than in the eighth term. The list of 
successful candidates for honours will be in three 
classes, wranglers, senior optimes, and junior optimes, 
the names in each being in alphabetical order. The 
class in which a man is placed depends usually on 
his answers in Schedule A, but in case of doubt his 
answers to B may be consulted. A distinctive mark 
is attached to the name of a man who has done fairly 
well in Schedule B, and a different mark if he de- 
serves special credit for his answers to B. 
NoW there is no doubt that much depends upon the 
spirit in which an examiner acts; he may greatly 
help or hurt the desires of the reformers, but surely 
this reform is a great step in the right direction. 
The old order of merit did incalculable harm. Candi- 
dates spent far too much tim? in the details of the 
general mathematical course, and as straightforward 
questions would have been answered equally well by 
all the good men, to differentiate them it was neces- 
sary to set questions which were complex and indeed 
tricky. Again, a just order of merit can be arranged 
only if all students are examined in the same subjects, 
and to compel all students to study the same subjects 
in the one way that leads to success in such an 
examination is uneducational. Not only has the 
course of study been mischievous for physicists and 
engineers, who ought to be allowed to advance 
quickly to those parts of higher mathematics which 
are necessary for them, but it is utterly uninteresting 
and hateful to the general student, for whose culture 
it might be made valuable. The greatest sufferer 
hitherto, however, has been the real mathematician, 
who is drilled so long on elementary work that even 
after he becomes a wrangler he is only ready to begin 
that higher work which he might have studied years 
before. In nineteen cases out of twenty he has be- 
come stale, so that even when he becomes a teacher 
of mathematics he is no longer a student. It would 
be useless for us to express an opinion as to the 
effect of the examination upon those Cambridge pure 
mathematicians from whom an advancement of know- 
ledge might be expected; a senior wrangler of 
European reputation has given a curious opinion in 
Nature, February 12, 1903, p. 339. 
NO. 1942, VOL. 75] 
This reform will be far-reaching; it will extend to 
all places in Great Britain where a Cambridge man 
teaches, and to all examinations in which the Cam- 
bridge examiner has been in the habit of setting 
riddles and conundrums as questions. A _ large 
general committee has been formed of men who think: 
that the regulations should be approved. It is re- 
presentative of Cambridge at its best, not merely in 
men who teach, but in men who are doing original 
work in pure mathematics and mathematical physics 
and engineering, as well as in history and literature, 
scholars and workers of all kinds. It would be in- 
vidious to compare with these the names of the men 
who have organised the opposition. A scrutiny of 
the October votes shows that the members of Senate 
who are resident in Cambridge are in favour of re- 
form by majorities considerably more than in the 
case of the general members. The opponents of 
reform now call upon all country members to come 
to Cambridge and record their votes. Should they 
persist in their intention, it is just possible that they 
may succeed in reversing the recent decision of the 
Senate; but if they do they are establishing a pre- 
cedent which cannot conduce to the smooth and 
consistent working of the University. 
There is another matter for these gentlemen to 
consider. Should they succeed, it is certain that the 
reformers will ask for and obtain a Parliamentary 
Commission.-. Is it likely that such a commission will 
inquire only into the question of mathematics? There 
is the Greelx question, and there are others which the 
opponents of reform surely do not wish to have ex- 
amined. Some of us wish that they would persevere 
and defeat the reformers, so that our greatest uni- 
versity might through a commission get those other 
reforms which it is hopeless to expect from the 
Senate. Joun PErrRy. 
THE INTERNATIONAL SEISMOLOGICAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
ae first meeting, since its definite organisation, 
of the committee of the International Seismo- 
logical Association was held at Rome on October 16, 
1g06, and was attended by representatives of each 
of the States belonging to the association. The 
United States having quite recently joined, the only 
important outstanding countries at present are Great 
Britain and France. The answer of France has not 
yet been received, while Great Britain has signified 
its intention to join under certain conditions, among 
which the simultaneous adhesion of France is the 
only one which at present prevents our country front 
being a member of the association. Nevertheless, 
both countries sent representatives to the meeting, 
M. Bigourdan acting for France and Prof. Schuster 
for Great Britain. 
The time of the meeting was taken up in great 
part by questions of organisation, as, for instance, 
the drawing up of regulations concerning the proce- 
dure of the committee itself. Prof. Palazzo, of Rome, 
occupied the chair, and was re-elected president until 
the general meeting of the association, which is to 
take place in September. Reports were presented 
from the various States showing the organisation of 
the seismic service in the different countries, and 
these reports gave evidence of the great interest now 
generally taken in the seismic tremors of the earth. 
The more important scientific questions submitted 
to the conference were deferred for decision to 
the general meeting in the present year, but it was 
decided to supply the Arctic station of Disko with 
an instrument for measuring the vertical component 
of disturbances, and to open a competition for the 
