376 



NATURE 



{August 1 6, 1883 



We are glad to see that the system of appointing men 

 as professors who only teach, and scarcely that, is now 

 being discussed in the United States. It is to be hoped that 

 it will soon be discussed here. The following letter from 

 a correspondent in Germany to the New York Nation of 

 July 26 gives the last contribution to the ventilation of the 

 subject: — "Sir, — The controversy carried on in your journal 

 in regard to professorial salaries has not failed to attract con- 

 siderable attention in Germany, and especially the comparisons 

 instituted between the financial condition of American and that 

 of German professors. As some wrong ideas seein to prevail in 

 America on the subject of the remuneration of university pro- 

 fessors in this country, I should like to call attention to the real 

 siate of affairs. In the first place, it mast be understood that a 

 man who is elected to fill a chair at some German university is 

 n it expected to act merely as a teacher. His abilities as an 

 instructor are, as a rule, regarded as a matter of minor import- 

 ance, if they are at all taken into consideration on his appoint- 

 ment. But he is required to advance science ; and, to enable 

 him to fulfil the expectations entertained of him, the Government 

 feels bound to make him financially independent. A grand 

 laboratory or observatory or clinic is placed at his disposal, 

 enormous sums are voted to defray the expenses of the most 

 costly scientific experiments, and, in order to allow him to devote 

 hinself exclusively to the advancement of his science, a large 

 saliry insures him against the necessity of undertaking extraneous 

 la >our. The salary of an ' ordinary professor ' amounts to 15,000, 

 often 20,000 or 25,000 marks ($3500 to $5000) per annum. 

 Besides his regular pay he receives the fees paid him by those 

 nln attend his lectures. At large universities, like those of 

 Berlin, Breslau, Munich, and Vienna, these fees may reach 

 extraordinary amounts. At Berlin, Reichert, the Professor of 

 Aintomy, is paid 120 marks ($30) by each student for the lecture 

 on anatomy and the concomitant dissecting exercises, during the 

 winter term alone. There were over 400 students, and the sum 

 thus received by one professor amounts to over 48,000 marks. 

 A professor of law or philosophy generally gets 20 marks from 

 each student for a course of lectures extending over one term, 

 and delivered three or four hours a week. Asa professor usually 

 delivers more than one course of lectures a term, and as his 

 lectures, especially at a very large university, may be attended 

 by about 150 or 200 students, the emoluments which he enjoys 

 besides his salary may be considered as affording him quite a 

 respectable income. Added to this, the ' ordinary professor ' 

 holds his position during good behaviour. Should he choose to 

 resign in his old age, he has claims to a good pension. Socially 

 the professors rank as high as officers, which signifies the respect 

 in which the devotees of science are held in this military country. 

 Prof. Esmarch of Kiel is allied by marriage to the Imperial 

 family of Germany. This care which the German people takes 

 of its savants, in absolving them from the necessity of engaging 

 in the ' madding strife ' for existence, is the main secret of the 

 success of the German university system and German scientific 

 triumphs. When the braiu-power of the American nation shall 

 be concentrated under such favourable conditions at a few grand 

 seats of learning, and the drudgery of the pedagogue be exchanged 

 for the fruitful labour of the independent scientist, then the youth 

 of America will no longer be compelled to seek opportunities for 

 intellectual development in Europe alone. — L. N." 



Estes and Lauriat, Boston (U.S.), announce, the Nation 

 informs us, several important new publications : "Ornithology 

 of the World," a popular treatise by Dr. Elliott Coues, fully 

 illustrated ; the same author's " Key to North American Birds," 

 revised to date and entirely rewritten, with the incorporation of 

 a practical manual of field ornithology ; " The Natural History 

 of Man," a popular work based on Helhvald's " Naturgeschichte 

 des Menschen," which has been translated by Mr. J. S. Kingsley, 



and edited by him in conjunction with Messrs. W. H. Dall, F. 

 W. Putnam, and Stephen Salisbury, jun. ; " Travels in Mexico," 

 by Fred. A. Ober, well equipped with drawings from the author's 

 photographs and with maps. 



On July 19 a terrible hailstorm is reported to have passed 

 over the Government of Tomsk in Siberia. The haiUtones 

 were as big as eggs. Two women struck on the head were 

 killed on the spot, besides a number of animals and birds. 

 A terrible hailstorm is also reported to have raged in Iowa 

 on the night of August 7. The track of the storm was four miles 

 wide, passing through three counties. All vegetation was 

 destroyed in its course. One woman lost her life, and many 

 persons were injured. Twenty-two cattle were killed. The 

 hail fell in some places to a depth of five feet. On the Rock 

 Island, Chicago, and Milwaukee Railroads the trains were 

 blocked ; and at Lonah station nine freight cars were blown 

 from the rails. 



A special correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, who has 

 been on a visit to Mr. Stanley, and has journeyed a considerable 

 distance up the Congo, contributes the first of a series of letters 

 to Tuesday's issue of that journal, accompanied by a map and a 

 rough sketch. 



It appears from recent analyses communicated to the Kieff 

 Society of Naturalists, that the Sorghum saccharatum, of Minne- 

 sota, U.S., which was recently introduced into the Russian 

 provinces of Poltava and Kieff, yielded as much as I4"2 to l6'7 

 per cent, of its weight of crystalline sugar, thus exceeding 

 the average percentage of sugar, which commonly is from 9 to 

 9*5 per cent. 



An illustrated " Circular of Information," distributed by the 

 United States Bureau of Education, directs attention to a very 

 general yet very sad deficiency, viz. imperfect hearing. Dr- 

 Sexton in it points out that it causes, among other things, defects 

 in pronunciation through children not knowing the correct 

 sound ; and failure and ill temper among teachers who may be 

 unaware of their pupils' defects or their own. He urges that 

 the hearing of all pupils should be examined each session, and 

 no one accepted as teacher who has not passed an aural test. 

 He strongly recommends dental inspection of pupils, as from 

 diseased teeth especially arise deficiencies of hearing, from which 

 follow, first, the appearance of stupidity, and eventually the 

 reality. Among the practical precautions recommended, absti- 

 nence from bathing seems a very costly one, but few pamphlets 

 could show so clearly the interaction of physical and mental 

 education. 



Mr. Mattieu Williams points out that on p. 350 of 

 Nature, the dimensions of Jan Mayen are stated in "geo- 

 graphical miles," but that it is evident the old Norwegian sea mile 

 is the measure used. This is equal to four English geographical 

 miles. The length of the island is, therefore, thirty of our 

 geographical miles. Mr. Williams says the "old" sea mile 

 and the long land mile have, since July 1879, been legally 

 superseded by the kilometre. 



VOL. III. Tart VII. of the Transactions of the Essex Field Club 

 contains several long papers of interest, besides a considerable 

 number of shorter ones. Among the former are "The Ancient 

 Fauna of Essex," by Dr. H. Woodward ; " The Macro-Lepi- 

 doptera of the District around Maldon," by Mr.'G. H. Rayner; 

 " Deneholes," by Mr. T. V. Holmes; "Primeval Man in the 

 Valley of the Lea," by Mr. W. G. Smith; " On the Species 

 of the Genus Primula in Essex," by Mr. Christie ; with Mr. 

 Meldola's presidential address, and a notice and portrait of the 

 late Sir Antonio Brady. The society has also issued in a sepa- 



