308 
NATURE 
[January 28, 1897 
at present possessed by the universities, and place them in a 
position of dependence on the Government. Although it is 
intended that the new regulations shall only come into opera- 
tion gradually as new appointments are made, and shall not be 
applicable to the professors who already occupy chairs, the 
effect has been to cause so much uneasiness in university circles 
that the Government may possibly abandon the proposal. 
Tue annual general meeting of the Association of Technical 
Institutions was held on Friday last- Mr. Hobhouse, M.P., in 
the course of his presidential address remarked that he hoped 
the rising generation of agriculturists, as of other classes, would 
listen to the wise advice given them by such men as the Duke 
of Devonshire, Lord Rosebery, and Sir Henry Roscoe, and 
would avail themselves of every opportunity to acquire skill and 
apply knowledge in adapting their industry to the altered con- 
ditions of the times. As to how far this kind of instruction 
was to be carried, he urged that they should extend and advance 
their instruction as far as ever their funds would permit. It 
was somewhat extraordinary to see the same men who were 
willing to pour money out like water on new ironclads and 
regiments for meeting the remote contingency of an invasion by 
foreign troops grudge a few thousands a year for checking, and, 
if possible, defeating, the immediate and actual invasion of our 
country by foreign products and foreign workmen. As to the 
conditions under which technical instruction should be given, 
he pleaded that specialised training should not begin too early 
in life, but should as far as possible be based on a solid founda- 
tion of literary and general culture ; and they should bear in 
mind the importance of a well-balanced and truly educational 
curriculum. They would, further, all agree that in a properly- 
managed institute there should be no cramming for examina- 
tions ; that neither children nor adult pupils should be treated 
as grant-earning machines; and that they ought to aim at 
securing that continuous ‘low-pressure ” system of work that 
was induced by enlightened and helpful inspection rather than 
an intermittent ‘‘high-pressure” system resulting from 
mechanically-conducted paper examinations. 
THE Technical Education Committee of the Derbyshire 
County Council have already provided definite systems of 
applied technical instruction for agriculture and mining—the 
two great industries of the county, but they have found a diffi- 
culty in doing anything for the smaller and more scattered 
industries. For these it is often not possible to do more than 
provide general secondary education and instruction in scientific 
principles. From a report just issued by the Committee, it 
appears that in the north-west of the county there is, in a com- 
paratively small area, a large development of the calico-printing 
industry, involving & capital expenditure of over half-a-million, 
and giving employment to 2000 hands. Recent inquiry has 
shown a definite want of technical instruction in this industry. 
At a meeting of manufacturers, attended by Mr. Perey Hawk- 
ridge, the Organising Secretary, it was shown that they obtain 
their colours from Germany, and that their composition is not 
known in this country by the people engaged in their use. They 
are bought and used in accordance with instructions supplied by 
the German colourist. Most of these colours are, however, 
definite chemical compounds derived from coal-tar. They are 
understood thoroughly by English chemists, and there is no 
valid reason why they should not be produced in this country, 
in association with the industries employing them. Indeed, the 
Committee reports that, even with the ordinary chemical 
appliances in use at New Mills, valuable results have been 
achieved. Asa result of the meeting referred to, it has been 
resolved to ask the Derbyshire County Council to construct a 
laboratory to be specially devoted to this work. The scheme 
commends itself to the Committee on account of its decidedly 
practical nature, and also on account of the unique development 
of the calico-printing industry in the neighbourhood of New 
Mills. 
SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 
American Journal of Mathematics, vol. xix. 1 (Baltimore, 
January, 1897).—Theorie der periodischen cubischen Trans- 
formationen im Raume Rg, by S. Kantor, contains a full account 
(in 59 pages) of the theory on the lines of the same author's 
Theorie der endlichen Gruppen von  eindeutigen Trans- 
formationen in der Ebene (1895).—Mr, Basset, in theories of 
NO: 1422, VOL. 55] 
the action of magnetism on light, discusses the theories of 
Maxwell, Fitzgerald, and Larmor. His object is twofold. 
First, he subjects Mr. Larmor’s theory to a searching exam- 
ination, and maintains that instead of being an improvement on 
its predecessors, it is open toa variety of additional objections 
and defects. In the next place, by means of a modification of 
the fundamental hypothesis, he proposes to show that the theory 
of Rowland and himself may be placed on a perfectly satis- 
factory basis, and that the difficulty with regard to the dis- 
continuity of the tangential component of the electro-motive 
force at an interface may be removed.—In the article on the 
roots of Bessel- and P-functions, Mr. Van Vleck confines his 
attention to those functions which are symmetrical in their 
properties with respect to the real axis of the complex variable. 
The first part of his work aims at proving that between two 
successive positive or negative roots of J:=o there lies one, and 
only one root of J,+;=0. He gives an extract from Gray and 
Mathews’ treatise on Bessel Functions, but in so quoting he 
spells each author’s name incorrectly. He proves, in the second 
part of his article, a similar theorem for contiguous Riemann 
P-functions.—Herr Kantor contributes a short note, Ueber 
Collineations gruppen an Kummer’schen Flachen.—Two more 
notelets are : note on linear differential equations with constant 
coefficients, by F. Franklin; and on certain partial differential 
equations connected with the theory of surfaces, by T. Craig, 
the editor.—An excellent portrait of Prof. L. Fuchs faces the 
title-page. 
American Journal of Science, January.—The worship of 
meteorites, by H. A. Newton. (This lecture, delivered 
by the late Prof. Newton in 1889, has not hitherto been 
published. We hope to be able to refer to it fully 
in a later number.)—The spectra of argon, by J. 
Trowbridge and T. W. Richards. The two characteristic 
spectra of argon were studied by means of a high-tension accu- 
mulator of 5000 cells, which gives a more uniform discharge 
than either the induction coil or the influence machine. A tube 
15 cm. long was filled with the gas. The red glow of argon was 
readily obtained with a voltage of about 2000, At higher 
pressures a higher voltage is required ; but when the discharge 
has once set in, it may be continued with lower voltages. The 
introduction of a capacityin the circuit made no difference as 
long as the condenser was quiet ; but as soon as the condenser 
began to emit its peculiar humming sound, the beautiful blue 
glow so characteristic of argon immediately appeared. Examined _ 
by a revolving mirror, this glow was seen to consist of inter- 
mittent discharges. The blue glow was changed to red by 
introducing a small coil of about 8 ohms resistance and a self- 
induction of ‘or5 henry. The same conversion may be brought 
about by introducing a simple resistance or self-induction, or by 
increasing the pressure of the gas, and consequently its resistance. 
The blue glow may also be produced by sending an exceedingly 
strong current through the tube for very short intervals. In this 
case it is probably the capacity of the battery itself which pro- 
duces the necessary oscillations. A tube containing argon at 
suitable pressure shows the blue colour at once on being brought 
near a Hertz oscillator giving 115 million oscillations per second. 
The tube may be used asa sensitive detector of electric waves, and 
the author proposes to give it the special name of talantoscope. 
—Some queries on rock differentiation, by G. F. Becker. The 
homogeneity of vast subterranean masses, called for by the 
hypothesis of differentiation, is unproved and improbable. The 
difference between well-defined rock types are more probably 
due to original and persistent heterogeneity in the composition 
of the globe. Hypogeal fusion and eruption tend rather to 
mingling than to segregation, and transitional rocks may be 
accidental mixtures of the diverse primitive masses composing 
the earth’s crust.—Igneous rocks from Smyrna and Pergamon, 
by H. S. Washington. Describes an augite-andesite rock from 
Mount Pagos, near Smyrna, and a biotite-dacite from Pergamon. 
—Revision of the genera of the Ledidee and Nuculidze of the 
Atlantic coast of the United States, by A. E. Verrill and K. J. 
Bush. Describes five new genera, chiefly belonging to the 
family of Ledidze, from the U.S. Fish Commission dredgings. 
The paper is accompanied by twenty-two diagrams.—An ex- 
periment with gold, by M. Carey Lea. Of a 10 per cent. 
sodium hypophosphite solution, 1§ cc. are placed in a beaker, 
and 1 ce. of a gold chloride solution containing 1 gr. of gold to 
10 cc. of solution is added, and then one drop of H,SO,y. As 
soon as the solution begins to darken, 30 cc. of water are added. 
The solution then assumes a deep green colour, due to very 
