164 



NA TURE 



[June 16, 1904 



had been taken to stem the tide of emigration into towns, 

 was not endorsed by the Rev. Claud Hinscliff, who, from 

 his experience in Derbyshire, had come to a different 

 conclusion. 



Mr. J. Weathers, instructor in horticulture to the Middle- 

 se.x County Council, read a paper on " Horticultural Teach- 

 ing among Adults." His remarks referred mainly to the 

 practical side, though in touching upon laboratory work 

 he said that he believed in practice first and theory after- 

 wards. Mr. Weathers also considered the question of 

 allotments, and in the discussion which followed. Earl 

 Carrington tellingly described from his own experience the 

 advantages derived from small holdings by the tenants, by 

 the landlords, and by the country at large. Mr. J. Martin 

 White thought that a little theory was sometimes good to 

 begin upon, and he pointed out the need for more attention 

 to be paid in general to methods of cutting and keeping 

 flowers for decorative purposes. 



Mr. E. Caesar, headmaster of Hale School, Farnham, 

 outlined in a paper " On School Gardens " the scheme of 

 the Surrey County Council, and the work which had re- 

 sulted in his own school holding premier place for four 

 years running. 



The last paper, on " .School Nature-study," was by Miss 

 Violet James, of Heidelberg College, Ealing. Miss James 

 has tested the value of nature work, and not only has she 

 discovered its powers for good, but has recognised the 

 opportunities that exist for evil if the teacher pursues wrong 

 lines. Wilfred Mark Webb. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford. — In convocation on June 2 the honorary degree 

 of M.A. was conferred on Mr. F. A. Bellamy, first assistant 

 at the university observatory. 



Junior Scientific Club : — The ninth Robert Boyle lecture 

 was delivered on June 3 by Prof. J. J. Thomson, F.R.S., 

 on the subject of " The Structure of the Atom." On June 

 10 Dr. G. Mann, New College, read a paper on " The 

 Importance of Salts in our Economy." 



Cambridge. — In the mathematical tripos, part i., the 

 senior wrangler is Mr. A. S. Eddington, Trinity. The 

 second place is taken by Mr. G. R. Blanco-White,' Trinity, 

 and the third by Mr. F. J. M. Stratton, Caius. 



Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., professor of geology in the 

 University of Melbourne, has been appointed to the chair of 

 geology in the University of Glasgow. 



The following honorary degrees w'ere conferred by Dublin 

 University on June 11 : — Doctors in Science, Prof, j! Dewar, 

 Prof. J. H. van 't Hoff, Prof. Felix Ixlein, Major Ronald 

 Ross, C.B., Mr. J. J. H. Teall, F.R.S., and Prof. W. H. 

 Thompson. 



Dr. T. Martin Lowry has been appointed lecturer in 

 science at the Westminster Training College. Dr. Lowry 

 will have charge of the whole of the science work of the 

 college, and will also supervise the scientific instruction at 

 the Southlands Training College. 



Mr. R. Blair, secretary in respect of technical instruc- 

 tion for the Department of Agriculture and Technical 

 Instruction in Ireland, has been appointed executive ofiicer 

 for the performance of duties in connection with the 

 administration of the Education Acts by the London Educa- 

 tion Committee. 



Mr. John D. Rockefeller has, says Science, given to 

 the Case School of Applied Science 40,000/. to be used for 

 building and equipping laboratories for physics and mining 

 engineering. Yale LTniversity will receive as residuary 

 legatee more than 50,000/. from the estate of the late Mr. 

 W. B. Ross, of New York City. The will of the late Prof'. 

 Maxwell Sommerville provides 4000/. for the preservation 

 and care of the collection of engraved gems and ethno- 

 logical collections given by him to the University of 

 Pennsylvania some years ago. 



NO. 1807, VOL. 7o"| 



Among recent appointments to professorships in American 

 colleges announced in Science are the following : — Prof. 

 C. Baskerville, of the University of North Carolina, to be 

 professor of chemistry in the College of the City of New 

 York. At Cornell University, Mr. D. S. Kimball to be 

 Sibley professor of mechanic arts, in charge of the Sibley 

 shops. Dr. R. Burton-Opitz to be adjunct professor of 

 physiology in Columbia University, with a seat in the 

 faculty of pure science. At the University of Nebraska, ..ir. 

 G. E. Condra to be professor of geology, and Mr. H. S. 

 Evans to be an adjunct professor of electrical engineering. 



In the thirtieth general assembly of Iowa, it is stated 

 by Science, an appropriation of 10,000/. was made for erect- 

 ing either the first of a new series of engineering buildings 

 or the wing of a single large engineering hall at the State 

 University at Iowa City. An additional appropriation was 

 made for constructing a dam in the Iowa River which will 

 yield on the average more than three hundred horse-power. 

 This power will be used for lighting and ventilating the 

 university buildings, besides supplying power to the various 

 engineering shops and laboratories. An additional 1000/. 

 was appropriated for the better equipment of the bacterio- 

 logical laboratory. Ground will at once be broken for a 

 new museum building to cost about 25,000/. The present 

 natural science building, completed in 1885 at a cost of 

 gooo/., will be moved bodily to a new site to make room 

 for the proposed structure. The total income of the uni- 

 versity for the next biennium will exceed 192,000/., about 

 one-third of which must be used for building. 



The Education Committee of the Essex County Council 

 has decided to continue, during the course of the present 

 summer, the Saturday afternoon demonstrations on field 

 botany and other branches of nature-study which have 

 proved highly successful in previous years. Two rambles 

 will be held each Saturday during the remainder of June 

 and throughout July. While these demonstrations are 

 organised exclusively for school teachers, they are not in- 

 tended only for those who have already studied botany ; 

 any teacher is eligible who takes an interest in general 

 natural history. The same committee has decided to hold 

 a holiday course in the principles and practice of horti- 

 culture at the biological laboratories and garden at Chelms- 

 ford for two weeks beginning on August 8. The object 

 of the holiday course is to assist Essex teachers to gain a 

 knowledge of the gardening operations necessary for the 

 successful working of school gardens. The Essex Educa- 

 tion Committee will defray travelling expenses once to and 

 from Chelmsford, and will, in suitable cases, make a special 

 allowance of 12s. 6d. per week towards the maintenance 

 of teachers fulfilling the necessary conditions. 



The annual report of the council of the City and Guilds 

 of London Institute for the year 1903 is a gratifying record 

 of continued progress. The high standard of the work at 

 the Central Technical College, at the college in Finsbury, 

 as well as at the other special schools in different parts of 

 London subsidised by the institute, has been well main- 

 tained. From the report of the examiners in the depart- 

 ment of technology, it would seem that there is a 

 decided improvement in the general character of the \vork 

 presented, both in the written answers and the practical 

 exercises ; the most evident faults in the written parts of 

 the examinations being due to the candidates' imperfect 

 knowledge of the elements of physical science and of draw- 

 ing, and to their inability to express their ideas in written 

 language. It is certain that no great improvement in the 

 intellectual character of the answers can be looked for until 

 the teaching in elementary schools is made more practical, 

 and further attention is given to training in drawing and! 

 scientific method and English composition. The large per- 

 centage of failures in all the preliminary examinations is 

 an indication of the unprepared condition of the candidates 

 on commencing their technological instruction. What the 

 examiners in paper manufacture say is applicable to other 

 subjects : " Without a previous attainment to a fair 

 standard of mental training it is impossible either that a 

 student can do justice to the technology of the subject, or 

 have a ready habit of reducing h^s knowledge to expression." 



