ii6 



NA TURE 



[June 2, 1904 



de montium Dolomitorum seiie et in Rhaetia et prope 

 Venetos ab eodem dilucide descripta? quid de ratione ilia 

 quam inter Europae atque Asiae montes maximos intercedere 

 indicavit? Oceanum certe ingentem, quem ex mari 

 Mediterraneo ad oceanum Pacificum quondam extendere 

 magister eius probavit, argumentis novis revera exstitisse 

 discipulus confirmavit, ultraque Atlantida quandam, etiam 

 maris " Arcto-Pacifici " fines antiques determinavit. Nemo 

 mortalium i'ortasse Oceanorum antiquorum amplitudines 

 metiri audacius conatus est, nemo tot Alpium ingentiuni 

 varietates accuratius inter sese comparare. 



Emeritus Prof. Retzius, of Stockholm. 

 Scandinavia, cuius etiam Regem inter doctores nostros 

 numeramus, auspiciis optimis ad nos misit anthropologiae 

 plnj'sicae conditoris insignis filium illustrem, qui anatomiam 

 olim praeclare professus, eidem scientiae etiam otium suum 

 et annos emeritos destinavit. Peritis nota sunt volumina 

 ilia maxima, eademque et typorum et imaginum splendore 

 pulcherrima, et cerebri ipsius et sensuum omnium anatomiae 

 et physiologiae explicandae dedicata. Idem, patriae non 

 immemor, etiam Scandinaviae priscae "crania antiqua," 

 arte eximia depicta, in libro singulari ordinavit. O terram 

 feliceni, quae non modo regia in domo artium et scientiarum 

 tot cultores, tot patronos, numerat, sed etiam inter pro- 

 fessores suos virum munificentia prope regia insignem non 

 immerito admiratur. 



Prof. Riecke, of Gottingen. 

 .\cademiae Goettingensis, et regiae domus Hanoverianae 

 vinculo antique et hospitii iure vetere nobis coniunctae, 

 socium eximium salutamus, qui scientiae physicae pro- 

 vincias multas peragravit ; qui et de vi electrica cum 

 crystallis consociata, et de corpusculis illis electricis inter 

 nosmet ipsos primum indicatis, non minus breviter quam 

 dilucide disputavit ; qui denique, in scientiae illius experi- 

 mentis libro in unico explicandis, inter tot res minutissimas 

 ab alio aut alio observatas, rationem ipsam ubique eminere 

 et apparere passus est. Ilia vero rerum omnium domina 

 est ; ilia nos praesertim et in scientiarum inventis praeteritis 

 delectat et spe maioris in posterum incrementi excitat. 

 Etenim de studiis ad lucis leges pertinentibus, non minus 

 quam de ipsa luce, poetae antiqui verba ilia vera sunt : 

 " suppeditatur enim confestim lumine lumen 

 et quasi protelo stimulatur fulgere fulgur." 



Prof. Waldeyer, of Berlin. 



Academiam Berolinensem, et in scientiis et in litteris 

 celeberrimam, oculis nostris quasi praesentem hodie reddit 

 vir eximius, Academiae ipsius in scientiis physicis et mathe- 

 maticis alter e ministris praecipuis, qui anatomiae in pro- 

 vinciis plurimis plurima cum laude versatus, vitae nascentis 

 praesertim e studiis famam singularem est adeptus. Neque 

 vitae ipsius circa limina obscura moratus, etiam urbium 

 magnarum in lucem progressus est. Is certe, qui morum 

 urbanitate et sermonis eloquentia anatomiae professores illos 

 antiques, Herophilos et Erasistratos, sine dubio superavit, 

 est profecto, velut alter Hippocrates medicinae pater a Celso 

 laudatus, " vir et arte et facundia insignis." 



The honorary degree of Doctor in Letters was conferred 

 upon the Comte de Franqueville, sometime president of the 

 Institute of France; Prof. Goldziher, member of the 

 Hungarian Academy of Sciences and professor of Semitic 

 philology in the University of Budapest ; Prof. Gomperz, 

 Emeritus professor of classical philology in the University 

 of Vienna ; Prof. Krumbacher, member of the Royal 

 Bavarian Academy of Sciences and professor of medieval 

 and modern Greek philology in the University of Munich ; 

 M. Paul Leroy Beaulieu, of the Institute of France; and 

 M. Georges Perrot, member of the Institute of France. 



Mr. W. Gardiner, F.R.S., Clare, Prof. C. S. Sherring- 

 ton, F.R.S., Caius, and Mr. G. T. Walker, F.R.S., Trinity, 

 have been approved for the degree of Doctor of Science. 



The John Lucas Walker studentship in pathology, value 

 200Z. a year for three years, will be vacant at Michaelmas. 

 Applications are to be sent to Prof. Sims Woodhead before 

 June 27. The student need not be a member of the 

 university. 



It is proposed to appoint a demonstrator of surgery, a 

 demonstrator of experimental psychology, and an assistant 

 curator of the museum of botany. 



Sixty-seven men and twenty-two women have acquitted 

 themselves so as to deserve honours in the mathematic 

 tripos. The class list will be published on June 14. 



\ " Nature Study " museum at St. George's Recre- 

 ation Ground, Cable Street, E., will be opened to-morrow, 

 June 3, at 5 p.m., by Sir William J. Collins, chairman of 

 the Education Committee of the London County Council. 



The governing body of the Northampton Institute has 

 decided to establish day classes in technical optics at the 

 institute next winter. These courses will include full time 

 courses, in which students will attend about thirty hours 

 per week, and also morning classes for two mornings per 

 weelc for those already engaged in the industry. .\n appeal 

 is being made to members of the optical trade for donations 

 towards the support of these technical classes with a view 

 to the establishment and maintenance of British supremacy 

 in the optical industry. It is reported that the London 

 Education Committee will proceed shortly to consider the 

 establishment of a central optical institute or college, and 

 it is probable the decision arrived at will depend largely 

 upon the attitude of the optical trade towards classes such 

 as those at the Northampton Institute. 



.\ report prepared by the preliminary scientific education 

 and examination committee of the General Medical Council 

 was considered at the meeting of the council on Friday 

 last, and the following resolutions were passed : — (i) That 

 an examination in chemistry, in order to be sufficient, should 

 comprise a written paper, a practical examination, and an 

 oral examination ; (2) that, in respect of chemistry, a 

 synopsis or syllabus of subjects should be issued by each 

 licensing body, and that the scope of the examination in 

 chemistry should not fall below that which has been in- 

 dicated in the report of the visitors, and has been generally 

 approved by the licensing bodies ; (3) that the examination 

 in practical chemistry should not be limited to simple 

 qualitative analysis, but should include easy preparations, 

 simple volumetric analysis, and simple experiments illus- 

 trating important principles ; (4) that an examination in 

 physics, in order to be sufficient, should comprise a written 

 paper and an oral examination, the latter to include practical 

 questions on the use of physical instruments and apparatus ; 

 (S) that, in respect of physics, a synopsis or syllabus of 

 subjects should be issued by each licensing body, and should 

 include the elementary mechanics of solids and fluids and 

 the rudiments of heat, light, and electricity ; (6) that elemen- 

 tary biology should be retained in the curriculum ; (7) that 

 an examination in elementary biology, in order to be 

 sufficient, should comprise a written paper and an oral 

 examination, the latter to include practical questions on 

 specimens and dissections, and on methods of microscopical 

 investigation ; and (8) that, in respect of elementary biology, 

 a synopsis of subjects should be issued by each licensing 

 body. 



The " Code of Regulations for Public Elementary 

 Schools " for 1904 has been issued by the Board of Educa- 

 tion. It has been much simplified, both in phraseology 

 and arrangement. In the place of detailed schemes of 

 work in a multitude of subjects suitable for the seven 

 standards of an elementary school, the Board has sketched 

 in broad outline a graduated course of instruction on which 

 the education given in every public elementary school should 

 be based. In this course of instruction a prominent place 

 is given rightly to a " knowledge of the common pheno- 

 mena of the external world, with special reference to the 

 formation of a habit of intelligent and accurate observation, 

 and to the application of that habit — in conjunction with 

 simple forms of experiment — in the daily life and surround- 

 ings of the scholars." Nor is this the only opportunity 

 taken by the Board, in this important official document, to 

 show clearly its belief in the value and essential nature 

 of scientific work in all schemes of education. An introduc- 

 tion to the code defines the purpose of an elementary school 

 education as being " to form and strengthen the character 

 and to develop the intelligence of the children." The intro- 

 duction continues later to say that " with this purpose in 



NO. 1805, VOL. 70] 



