SEPTEMBER 4, 1913] 
On entering the student is asked to state whether 
he wishes to be trained as a mechanical or electrical 
engineer, or as a consulting or industrial chemist. 
In any of these cases he will find mapped out for him 
a complete course of study, involving laboratory in- 
struction, tutorial work, attendance at lectures, exer- 
cises in mathematics, geometrical, mechanical, and 
architectural drawing, and instruction in the. work- 
shops. 
pure and applied science have been arranged at very 
moderate fees, and in their anxiety that no properly 
qualified person should be debarred from attending 
classes through inability to pay fees, the governors 
have arranged that apprentices, learners, and im- 
provers, under the age of twenty-one years, may be 
admitted to all classes and courses at half-fees, on 
production of their employer’s certificate. 
Tue prospectus of the Belfast Municipal Technical 
Institute for next session has been received. The 
object of the institute is to provide instruction in the 
principles of those arts and sciences which bear upon 
the industries of Belfast, and to show by experiment 
how these principles may be applied to their advance- 
ment. A day technical course has been established to 
give instruction in mechanical engineering, electrical 
engineering, the textile industries, and pure and 
applied chemistry. The course provides a sound 
training for youths who aim at filling positions of 
responsibility in various industries. A trade prepara- 
tory school, which constitutes a junior section of the 
day technical department, provides a_ specialised 
training for boys who are intended for industrial 
occupations. The evening classes are suitable for per- 
sons engaged during the day who desire to supplement 
the knowledge and experience gained in the workshop 
or warehouse. The needs of women are catered for 
in the same complete manner as those for men. It 
is not possible here to enumerate all the interesting 
ways in which the technical instruction committee 
has endeavoured to assist local industries, but mention 
may be made of the public textile testing and condi- 
tioning house which has been opened in the institute. 
It undertakes the examination of textile materials with 
the view of ascertaining their true weight, length, 
strength, and so on; and it carries out such other 
investigations as manufacturers and others may 
desire. . 
PAMPHLETs giving full particulars in connection with 
the faculty of medical sciences and with the faculty of 
engineering for the coming session have been pub- 
lished by University College, London. The college 
faculty of medical sciences comprises the departments 
of physics, chemistry, botany, and zoology (the pre- 
liminary medical sciences), also the departments of 
anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology (the inter- 
mediate medical sciences), and the departments of 
hygiene and public health, and of pathological chem- 
istry (post-graduate study). Full preliminary and 
intermediate courses of study are provided for students 
desirous of obtaining the medical degrees of the Uni- 
versity of London, as well as for students seeking 
the qualifications of other universities and licensing 
bodies. Each of the departments is also equipped 
for more advanced work, and provides facilities for 
research. The faculty of engineering, including the 
departments of mechanical, heating and ventilating, 
electrical, civil and municipal engineering, is intended 
to provide for students wishing to devote themselves 
to engineering a systematic training in the application 
of scientific principles to industrial purposes. The 
courses are also suited to the requirements of students 
who intend to enter for appointments in the Indian 
Public Works Department, Engineering Department 
of the General Post Office, Department of the Direc- 
NO. 2288, VOL. 92] 
Evening courses in almost every branch of. 
NATURE 25 
tor of Engineering and Architectural Works in the 
Admiralty, Patent Office, and other similar services, 
or of those who intend to become patent agents, tech- 
nical teachers, and chemical engineers. The engineer- 
ing departments have been recognised by the Board 
of Trade as providing suitable technical training for 
marine engineers. Facilities are provided for post- 
graduate and research work in all the subjects. 
Tue Yorkshire Summer School of Geography, 
organised this year by the University of Leeds, com- 
pleted a successful inaugural session on August 23. 
More than a hundred students were in residence for 
three weeks at and near Whitby, the headquarters 
being in the new buildings of the County School, 
which were kindly lent for the purpose by the gover- 
nors. Systematic instruction in the methods of 
modern geographical study was aimed at by choosing 
Yorkshire as a representative area, and studying as 
exhaustively as possible all the factors and relationships 
connected with its structure and location. A course 
of five lectures on the physical geography an@ special 
geological features of the district was given by Prof. 
P. F. Kendall, together with lectures on the North 
Sea, and on meteorology by Mr. A. Gilligan. This 
led to the study of special topics of industrial or his- 
torical character, including plant distribution and 
agriculture (Dr. W. G. Smith), metalliferous and coal 
mining (Mr. A. Gilligan), the textile and metallurgical 
industries, ports, fisheries and communications (Mr. 
Ll. Rodwell Jones), prehistoric Yorkshire (Prof. P. F. 
Kendall), the Roman occupation (Mr. P. W. Dodd), 
Saxon and Danish Yorkshire (Mr. W. G. Colling- 
wood), medieval Yorkshire (Mr. H. B. McCall), archi- 
tecture (Mr. S. D. Kitson), place-names and language 
(Prof. Moorman), Old Whitby as a port (Mr. E. H. 
Chapman), and river development (Prof. Kendall). The 
course concluded with two lectures on the teaching of 
geography by Mr. W. P. Welpton. The practical 
work included the reading and enlargement of topo- 
graphical maps, the examination of typical rocks, the 
making of models and microscope sections, field 
surveys, and the reading and construction of meteoro- 
logical charts. Frequent excursions were made to 
places of geological and industrial interest in the 
neighbourhood, and an afternoon was devoted to the 
study of a typical Yorkshire farm, with large-scale 
plans showing the rotation of crops on each field for 
the past four years. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
CaLcurra. 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, August 
Nor’-westers and monsoon prediction. Nor’-westers 
have hitherto received little scientific attention. The 
entire literature is covered by a monograph by Sir 
John Eliot in 1876 and certain observations in a paper 
of his in 1910 on the anemographic records of Saugor 
Island. His observations and deductions are sum- 
marised. The structure of a typical nor’-wester is 
analysed. Its form and motion appear to show it is 
not a cyclonic eddy but a rectilinear splitting of. the 
still-air layer between the lower southerly and upper 
northerly wind, which takes place transversely to the 
direction of motion of the storm mass. The absence 
of hail and the rapidity of the motion support this 
theory. A typically complete nor’-wester indicates a 
strong northerly upper current, and therefore the 
probability that the advance of the monsoon will be 
delayed. Weak or ill-formed nor’-westers indicate a 
weak upper current and little opposition to the mon- 
soon. The factors that require study are briefly 
enumerated and divided into those which can be noted 
by individual observers and those which require co- 
6.—E. Digby. 
: ordinated effort. 
