440 



NA TURE 



fAuGUST 29, 1901 



air of which is kept in circulation by the plunging up and 

 down of half a dozen elevators, the visitor is lifted at a speed 

 of 500 feet a minute, past floor after floor, crowded with the 

 offices of financiers, managers and promoters of traffic and of 

 trade, lawyers, chemists, contractors, manufacturers, to the 

 headquarters of the controlling genius of the whole organism, 

 the civil engineer. For he it is to whom all the menibers of 

 this microcosm must apply for aid and advice in the successful 

 operation of their respective occupations. It is not his to 

 mechanically transform elements into matter, or matter into 

 other forms, or to show how energy may be produced, but to 

 direct the application of energy to the various forms of matter, 

 original or produced, in such way as to bring about the most 

 satisfactory results in the most speedy and economical manner. 



He has grown with the growth of the nineteenth century, and 

 is, so far as the relations between man and matter are concerned, 

 its most striking product. And so, while the definition given in 

 the "American Edition of the Encyclop.vdia," which appeared 

 at the beginning of the century, that "Civil engineers are a 

 denomination which comprises an order or profession of persons 

 highly respectable for their talents and scientific attainments 

 and eminently useful under this appellation," is still true, it is 

 hardly probable that the compiler of the Twentieth Century 

 Encyclop;-edia will be content to let it stand without further 

 explanation. 



But the end is not yet : there are still many problems of Nature 

 unsolved. The experience of every day shows that there are 

 sources of power not yet fully developed, and we cannot but say 

 with the great poet : 



" I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, 

 And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns-" 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



A GOOD estimate of the character of the work of a College or 

 University can be obtained from the investigations carried on 

 by its staff and students. The following statement of research 

 work done in the laboratories of the McGill College, Montreal, 

 last session, published in the Annual Calendar of the College 

 and University for the session 1901-1902, furnishes excellent 

 evidence of sound instruction and scientific activity : — The elifect 

 of cold on the physical properties of iron and steel ; the influence 

 of bending on the torsional strength of metals : the properties 

 of iron and steel as affected by annealing at moderate tempera- 

 tures ; experiments on frictional losses in i Vinch pipes and bends 

 under varying velocities of flow ; experiments on the determina- 

 tion of the " Miner's Inch " : the separation and concentration 

 of chromite, blende, nickeliferous pytrhotite and certain other 

 minerals by combined gravimetric and magnetic methods ; the 

 crushing and sizing of rocks by means of different types of 

 apparatus ; the treatment of Nova Scotia mispickel concentrates 

 'by cyanide, bromocyanide and chlorination methods ; conditions 

 affecting the wave form of alternators ; and the effect of change 

 of wave form in alternators on induction and synchronous 

 ■motors : induction motors used as frequency changers. 



The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has lately intro- 

 duced the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to supersede the 

 former degree of Doctor of Science. The following statement 

 of the requirements for the new degree is of interest as showing 

 the tendency of technical education in the United States : — 

 " The degree of Doctor of Philosophy certifies to high attain- 

 ments of a grade which qualifies the recipient as a scientific 

 investigator and teacher. The course of study leading to this 

 degree is mainly one of experiment and research, accompanied 

 by such other theoretical subjects as may be useful adjuncts to 

 the main scheme of work. The candidate must pursue his 

 studies and researches under the direction and oversight of the 

 Faculty for at least two school years, furnishing from time to 

 time such evidences of progress as the Faculty may require. 

 I lis attendance must be continuous, except in cases of absence 

 previously approved by the Faculty for the purpose of conduct- 

 ing researches and investigations in the field. He must present 

 a thesis embracing the results of an extended original investiga- 

 tion, and must pass such final examinations as the Faculty may 

 require." 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 19. — M. Fouque in the 

 chair. — The chairman announced the death of two members of 

 the Academy, Admiral de Jonquieres and Baron de Nor- 

 denskiold, and added a short account of their life-work. — The 

 relations of psoriasis with neurasthenia : treatment by injections 

 of orchitin, by M. F. Bouffe. Psoriasis is a trophonevrosis 

 having its seat in the nervous centres and especially in the 

 great sympathetic. It presents a great analogy with neuras- 

 thenia in its origin ; in both diseases there is constantly a 

 diminution in nervous activity, characterised by a fall in the 

 urographic line of phosphoric acid. The treatment of both 

 should consist in the invigoration without stimulation of the 

 nervous system by injections of orchitin, the average dose being 

 from ID to 12 c.c. three times a week. — On a problem of 

 d'AIembert, by M. F. Siacci. — On a particular critical point of 

 the solution of the equations of elasticity, in the case where the 

 forces on the boundaries are given, by MM. Eugene and 

 Francois Cosserat. — On the general principles of mechanisms, 

 by M. G. Kisnigs. — On the absolute value of the potential in 

 isolated nets of conductors having a capacity, by M. Ch. Eug. 

 Guye. — Researches on the mechanism of etherification in plants, 

 by MM. E. Charabot and .\. Hebert. Etherification in plants 

 is produced by the direct action of the acid upon the alcohol, 

 the action being favoured by a particular substance playing the 

 part of a dehydrating agent, the latter being a diastase the de- 

 hydrating action of which is exercised in a chlorophyll medium. 

 — Littoral deposits and movements of the soil during the 

 secondary era in the Quercy and western Rouergue strata, by 

 M. Armand Thevenin. — On the origins of the source of the 

 Loue, by M. Andre Berthelot. Through the accident of a fire 

 at an absinthe factory and the consequent liberation of a large 

 quantity of absinthe, it became evident that the Loue represents 

 a subterranean arm of the Doubs. — Observations of M. Berthelot 

 on the preceding communication. — Influence of colour upon the 

 production of the sexes, by M. C. Flammarion. A study of the 

 effect of light of various colours upon the development of silk- 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



The History of Physiology. By E. A. S 417 



Filtration of Water 421 



Intelligence as the Soul of the Universe 422 



Our Book Shelf:— 



Herbertson : " The Distribution of Rainfall over the 



Land " 423 



Seeliger : " Tierleben der Tiefsee." — W. A. H. . . 423 

 " A Guide to the Shell and Star-fish Galleries in the 



British Museum (Nat. Hist.)" 423 



Comstock : " A Text-book of Astronomy " .... 424 

 Taylor: "An Introduction to the Practical Use of 



Logarithms" 424 



Letter to the Editor :— 



The Moon and Wet Days. [With Diagram.) — 



Alex. B. MacDowall 424 



North American Folklore 425 



Some Scientific Centres. II. The Laboratory of 



Wilhelm Ostwald. (llltislraled.) By F. H. N. . 42S 



The Development of Chemical Research 430 



International Engineering Congress 431 



Notes 431 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in .September 436 



New Elements of Comet 1901 (I.) 436 



Brightness of the Solar Corona, January 22, 189S . . 436 



The Spectroscopic Binarj' " Mizar " 437 



Nova Persei 437 



The Future of Electric Traciion 437 



Prize-Subjects in Applied Science 43S 



Progress of Civil Engineering. By J. J. R. Croes . 43S 



University and Educational Intelligence 440 



Societies and Academies 44° 



NO. I 66 I, VOL. 64] 



