

NATURE 



[January 30, 1919 



sight is known as Dial-sight No. 7, and was pa 



Goei . oi Bei tin, both in German) and this 

 country. At the outbreak of war the Wai Office had 

 id] ipproached thi British manufacturers Messrs. 

 , oi Olapham Common, and Messrs. Beck, of 

 Kentish Town — but the position as regards these siedus 

 was exceedingly serious when the \lini-ir\ ,,i Muni- 

 tions was formed. The total deliveries to October, 

 1915, were 1 j& ; the total del ntii elj 



from home manufacturers are 21,000. The two firms 

 1 have mentioned were recentl) producing 250 pet 

 week, The sight is a beautiful and delicate piece oi 

 work, and its production in such numbers, and in a 

 perfection which Germany never exceeded, is a triumph 

 for British skill. Ii is, al an) rate, a comfort to knon 

 Bhal we no longer have to d< pend on potential enemies 

 for the sighting of our magnificent artillery. 



s, i Him. C are. — This can be divided into 



ace-made and lamp-blown. Almost without ex- 



ception, the furnace-made scientific glassware used in 

 this country was, prior to the war, obtained from 

 Germany and Austria. As regards lamp-blown 

 scientific glassware, there existed a few small firms 

 capable of executing repairs and making a limited 

 number of articles of special design. Beyond this our 

 requirements were met by supplies which originated 

 in Austria and Germany. To show the developments 

 made during the war, it is sufficient to state that, 

 stalling al practically nothing, the turnover oi the 

 scientific glassware industry is now equal to more 

 than 600,000/. per annum. Within a short period, by 

 careful and judicious treatment, this country should 

 he independent of outside supplies. 



Illuminating Glassware, — Prior to the war the whole 

 of the glasses for miners' safety-lamps and oil-lamp 

 chimneys were obtained from abroad, mainly from 

 Germany and Austria. Seventy-five per cent, of the 

 bulbs, tubing, and rod for electric lamps also 

 came From Germany and Austria. Our dependence on 

 Germany and Austria for the glass for our miners' 

 safety-lamps very nearly landed us in disaster. The 

 position was so' serious that the Home Office was 

 forced to relax She very stringent conditions which up 

 to thai time had been insisted upon with regard to 

 the quality and dimensions of glasses for miners' 

 safety4amps. It was a serious thing to do, but thene 

 was no alternative, as it was impossible to obtain 

 supplies of the necessary quality. The Home Office 

 came to the Ministry of Munitions for assistance, and, 

 notwithstanding the extraordinary difficulties met with, 

 we are now producing sufficient supplies of the right 

 quality. 



As regards oil-lamp chimneys, before the war prac- 

 tically none were made in this country. The position 

 been greatly improved, but there is room for 

 further improvements. 



n lake the position of glass used in the manu- 

 1 lectric lamps. Before the war our output 

 libs for this purpose was approximately twelve 

 rrrillions per annum, and three out of every four of 

 fhe el ric light bulbs in use in this country were 

 import ieillv from Germany and Austria. 



We are ■ "• manufacturing sufficient to meet our 

 essential needs. 



Then we 1 1 glass for domestic use, bottles 



and iars used for foodstuffs and for pre- 



-erving. Our production in 1014 for vacuum fruit jars 

 alone was 22,31? do In 1018 it was 83,333 dozen. 



We are now quite self-supporting. 



Much more remains to lone b) the provision of 



more efficient works and I'm aces, the installation of 



the most modern machinery, thi development of potash 



action, the training of labour, srientific research, 



and Government organisation. 



NO. 2570, VOL. I02] 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Cambridge. Ch< Francis Maitland Balfour student- 

 ship for research in biology, vain, ar for 



three yeai s, has again I awaa ded to Mi . V. A. 



l'oiis, fellow of Trinity Mall, who was elected to it 

 in 1913. 



A gift of 20,ooo2. to the Universil ,1 for 



the erection of an administration building is announced 

 in Science from Mr. Andrew MacLeish, vice-president 

 oi the board of trustees of the University. 



W'l learn from the British Medical Journal that the 

 medical university at Peking now being erected by the 

 Rockefeller foundation at a cost of 1,200,000/. will 

 be opened not later than next October. An 

 medical university will be built at Shanghai. 



A course of six public lectures on " Physiology and 

 National Needs," arranged in conjunction with the 

 Imperial Studies Committee of the University of 

 London, will be delivered at King's College, Strand, 

 W.C. The lectures will be given on Wednesdays at 

 5.30 p.m. The first lecture will be by Prof. W. D. 

 Halliburton on February 5 on " Physiology and the 

 Food Problem," and Bucceedings lecturers will be Dr. 

 M. S. IYmbrev, Prof. F. G. Hopkins, Prof. A. 

 Harden, Prof. D. Noel Paton, and Prof. A. Dendy. 



On January 2 last the joint session of the Head- 

 1 1 us' Conference and the Incorporated Association 

 of Headmasters passed a series of resolutions which, 

 if carried into effect, will go far to improve the posi- 

 tion of science teaching in our schools, especially in 

 the public and the preparatory schools. One of these 

 ran as follows: — "That mathematics and natural 

 -1 ii nee should be necessary subjects in the entrance 

 si holarship examinations of public schools, in the 

 First School Examination, and in the examinations for 

 entrance in the Navy and the Army, provided that good 

 work in other subjects should compensate for com- 

 parative weakness in mathematics and natural science, 

 and vice versa." Unfortunately, an incomplete version 

 of this resolution was published in the Press, including 

 our issue of January 9 (p. 379), the words "and viae 

 versa " being omitted. We are glad to be able to 

 remove the disappointment of those who read the 

 inaccurate reports. 



At the general meeting of the Association of Si i 

 Teachers, held on January 6 at University College, 

 London, Prof. F. W. Oliver opened the conference on 

 " The Relations between the School and the University 

 in Regard to Science Teaching." He pointed out that, 

 as a consequence of the improvement in the science 

 teaching of schools, the inn t mediaie Examination is 



ling the standard for many of them, and that 



this results in a repetition of work at the university, 

 as the colleges do not realise that students are better 

 ied than formerly. In order to bring about 

 greater co-operation between the schools and universi- 

 ties, thi teachers ia botia should have opportunities for 

 meeting foi thi exchange of views on methods, curri- 

 cula, 1 tc. Prof. Oliver also suggested that the univ. rsi- 

 iCAlld provide special courses for school tea' 

 ible them to keep abreast of the advances made 

 in ilv various branches of science. Prof. Weiss (Man- 

 chester) referred to the difficulty of co-ordinating the 

 highei work in schools with the first year's course at 

 the university, and suggested that, instead of specialis- 

 ing in one or two bran. lies, the schools should aim at 

 amor, level standard in the general science teaching. 

 If the general level of the school work were raised, 

 the university would he able to remodel the first year's 



