598 
NATURE 
[APRIL 21, 1904 
« table is the numerical preeminence of attendance at Berlin, 
where the total exceeds that of Munich, Leipzig, Bonn and 
Breslau combined. But 42 per cent. of Berlin’s attendance 
is made up of non-matriculated students, representing a 
floating element to a considerable extent. Elsewhere in 
Germany this feature minor one in university 
attendance. 
is) a 
In his presidential address at the annual conference of 
the National Association of Manual Training Teachers, held 
at Hastings on April 5, Sir John Cockburn dealt with the 
psychological importance of manual training. It is now 
recognised, said Sir John Cockburn, that the hand is one 
of the best channels to the intelligence, and that in training 
the hand we minister most effectually to the.requirements 
of intellectual, moral, and physical development. Time in 
giving intellectual studies would be saved if half the school 
hours were spent in the workshop. Pupils detect their 
errors in actual work more readily than in abstract pro- 
cesses, and learn to despise inaccuracy and_ slovenliness. 
Nothing so clearly demonstrates the difference between right 
and wrong as manual training. A lie in wood stands self- 
exposed. The constructive imagination is strengthened, and 
invention is stimulated by manual work. Psychologists are 
agreed that in developing the mind manual training must 
rank as an indispensable element in all primary and 
secondary schools. 
To celebrate the seventieth birthday of President Eliot, 
president of Harvard University, the graduates and students 
of the university have subscribed a thousand pounds for a 
portrait or bust to be placed in the Union. A very eulogistic 
letter with ten thousand signatures was presented to Presi- 
dent Eliot on his birthday. After enumerating the dis- 
tinguishing characteristics of his thirty-five years of presi- 
dency, the letter continues :—‘ Through you the American 
people have begun to see that a university is not a cloister 
for the recluse, but an expression of all that is best in the 
nation’s thought and character. From Harvard University 
men go into every part of our national life. To Harvard 
University come from the common schools, through paths 
that have been broadened by your work, the youth who have 
the capacity and the will to profit by her teaching. 
Your influence is felt in the councils of the teachers 
and in the education of the youngest child. 
Fearless, just, and wise, of deep and simple faith, serene in 
affliction, self-restrained in success, unsuspected by any man 
of self interest, you command the admiration of ail men and 
the gratitude and. loyalty of the sons of Harvard.’’ British 
men of science will join in the congratulations to President 
Eliot that he has passed the age of seventy with un- 
diminished power. 
At the ordinary meeting of the Society of Arts on April 
13, Mr. J. C. Medd read a paper on agricultural education. 
He said it has now been realised that success in farming 
demands extensive scientific knowledge quite as much as 
thorough practical training. The development in the facili- 
ties for instruction since 1888 has been remarkable. Figures 
were quoted to show there had been a total outlay by the 
Government and by local authorities of nearly 100,000/. per 
annum. Mr. Medd thinks that it is to the evening school 
that the authorities must look for the improvement of the 
labourer and the recovery of the skilled or ‘‘ handy ”? man. 
The paper concluded with a scheme to coordinate and place 
upon a satisfactory basis the rural and agricultural educa- 
tion of every county. Small village schools should be closed 
and their children conveyed daily to some central school. 
Better buildings and equipment, more regular attendance, 
and a more efficient staff would thus be ensured. A few 
favourably situated schools should be developed upon the 
model of the écoles primaires supérieures. A continuation 
school should be organised in every village. Winter schools 
of agriculture and horticulture should be established in 
selected districts according to the particular requirements 
and characteristics of each county, and the services of their 
directors should be made available for all farmers and 
gardeners during the summer. Demonstration plots should 
be placed in the charge of men who combined scientific 
accuracy with some actual knowledge of practical farming, 
and were in touch with the farmers of the district. 
NO. 1799, VOL. 69] 
| 
‘Temperatures. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Lonpon. 
Royal Society, March 17.—‘‘ Physical Constants at Low 
(1) The Densities of Solid Oxygen, 
Nitrogen, Hydrogen, &c.’’ By Prof. James Dewar, M.A., 
1D DADE IDE syes., 1OSIRS 
The observed densities of solid oxygen and nitrogen, taken 
at the boiling point of hydrogen, are 1-425 and 1-026 re— 
spectively. Similarly the density of solid hydrogen between 
13° and 14° absolute was found to be 0-076. 
observations given in the paper, the ‘* Matthias Diameter 
Line ’’ is deduced in each case, and from these the critical 
density and molecular volume at the zero of tempera— 
ture follow. The molecular volume at zero of oxygen 
is 21-2, of nitrogen 25-5, and of hydrogen 242. From 
these results it follows that if solid water could result 
from a combination of solid hydrogen and oxygen taking 
place at the zero of temperature the reaction would in- 
volve a volume contraction of 45 per cent. A discussion 
follows of the critical constants of hydrogen in which the 
want of agreement between theory and experiment is pointed 
out. The conclusion reached is that in the case of the 
constants of hydrogen a marked variation from what in the 
case of other substances may be regarded as fairly general 
results must be anticipated, and that further experiments. 
are required to clear up the difficulties. 
Linnean Society, April 7.—Prof. S. H. Vines, F.R.S., 
president, in the chair.—Mr. E. P. Stebbing exhibited! 
lantern-slides of the metamorphoses of Clania Crameri, a 
Psychid moth from the Madras Presidency, showing its use 
of its food-plant, Casuarina equisetifolia, in the making 
of its protective case.—Mr. F. Enock displayed a series of 
more than fifty slides of natural colour photography of 
living insects and flowers by the Sanger-Shepherd three-- 
colour process, the president adding a few remarks on the 
results.—Mr. C. E. Jones then gave an abstract of his 
paper, the morphology and anatomy of the stem of the: 
genus Lycopodium. 
Faraday Society, April 13.—Mr. J. Swinburne, vice- 
president, in the chair.—Allovs of copper and arsenic : 
Arthur J. Hiorns. The object of the author’s investi- 
gations was to ascertain the exact relation between copper 
and arsenic in binary alloys, and the limit of proportion of 
arsenic that can be retained in copper in the cold solid 
state. The addition of arsenic lowers the melting point of 
copper uniformly down to about 14 per cent., when a steep- 
fall in the freezing point curve occurs, reaching its lowest 
point at 685° C. This alloy contains 19-2 per cent. of 
arsenic, which corresponds to the formula Cu,As,. The 
alloy with 22 per cent. of arsenic freezes at 708°, and the 
temperature gradually rises until the alloy with 28.34 is 
reached at 747°. This is the compound Cu,As. At 810° 
another chemical compound freezes, having the chemical 
formula Cu,As,; it contains 32-2 per cent. of arsenic. 
Beyond this point the temperature gradually falls again to 
a minimum at the alloy with about 35 per cent. of arsenic. 
The curve then rises to another summit at 740°, forming 
the compound Cu,As, with 37-24 per cent. of arsenic. From 
this position the curve descends to 702° with the alloy con- 
taining 41 per cent. of arsenic; this is nearly the practical 
limit of the direct combination of copper and arsenic.— 
Experiments with a new primary cell: E. G. P. Bousfield. 
The cell consists of an inner porous pot containing nitric 
acid and a carbon pole, and an outer vessel containing 
sodium hydrate solution and a metal pole, preferably zinc, 
te. with a solution of from 12 per cent. to 15 per cent. ; using 
solutions of maximum conductivity with zine and carbon 
poles on open circuit, an E.M.F. of 2-6 volts may be 
obtained. Not only does the cell possess this comparatively 
high E.M.F., but it may be short-circuited far longer than 
most cells before it runs down. A cell short-circuited 
through a total resistance of 0-61 ohm gave a current of 
4-18 amperes, which fell to 2.61 in an hour, 2-38 in 24 hours, 
and 1-75 in 6 hours. A smaller cell gave a fairly constant 
current of about 0-8 ampere for 20 or 25 hours. Discharge 
curves are given in the paper.—Mr. Bousfield also con- 
tributed a note on determining accurately the percentage 
of ozone in gases not dissociated by moderate heat. 
From the. } 
| 
