.352 



NA TURE 



yFeb. 12, 1885 



nectcd with a system of jointing corresponding to the general 

 direction of the coast ; that therefore the observed connection 

 between volcanoes and coast-lines would hold good to a certain 

 extent as regards these and earthquake action, so intimately 

 related to volcanic action ; that, as has been lately remarked by 

 Mr. Win, White in Nature (December 25, p. 172), Lancashire 

 is apparently a centre of frequent action, and that there may be 

 a further relation to be found between coal-fields and earthquakes 

 than that recognised up to the present. 



It is certainly interesting to note that many of the localities 

 affected by the earthquake of 1884 in t lie south-east of England 

 lie on or quite near a great circle, which Prof. O'Reilly desig- 

 nates " the west coast of Morocco great circle " (that is a great 

 circle of which the starting-point or part is a portion of that 

 coast lying between Cape Blanco and Cape Juby), traced a 

 priori, and which was shown on the Earthquake Map of 

 Europe submitted by him at the Swansea meeting of the 

 British Association in 1881. It will be interesting to note to 

 what extent the complete report on that earthquake, which may 

 soon be looked for, will correspond with his theoretical lines. 



As a first attempt to graphically represent the earthquakes of a 

 country relatively to their frequency, Prof. O'Reilly's map has 

 much to recommend it, and, more fully developed and more 

 completely worked out, such maps may yet be considered (to 

 use his own words) as "the necessary pendants of geological 

 maps." 



JAPANESE LEARNED SOCIETIES 



VyilEN the Japanese Government decided to participate in 

 the Health Exhibition last year, and to idevote special 

 attention to the educational portion of their section, they issued 

 a small pamphlet relating to modern Japanese education. This 

 explained in full the national system organised and put in 

 working order in the last ten years ; it dealt with the various 

 classes of schools, from Kindergartens to the University, the 

 technical schools, libraries, and educational museums, the 

 history of ancient Japanese education, &c. The pamphlet 

 showed that the Government of Japan was doing its duty so far 

 as education is concerned ; but the reader was left to collect for 

 himself how far the people were following in the wal;e of their 

 rulers. Since the close of the Exhibition the Japanese Com- 

 missioner has re-issued the report, with the addition of a 

 statement of the various learned societies formed for purposes 

 connected with science, literature, and education in that country 

 in recent years. These are purely private associations ; some 

 of them are confined to localities removed from the large towns, 

 and bespeak a wide and general interest in these subjects 

 amongst the mass of the people themselves. The work of 

 organising these, when the spirit once existed, cannot have been 

 great, for the Japanese have had for ages their associations of 

 men possessing common tastes, or a common love for a particu- 

 lar subject, whether literature, education, fencing, chess, the 

 study of medicine or of Chinese. These organisations are quite 

 familiar to them, and the work of running the new metal into 

 the old moulds was d mbtle-s not a very difficult one. Accord- 

 ingly, Mr. Tcgima's list is a full one, and here and there it might 

 be suggested that two, or even three, of the separate societies 

 could amalgamate with benefit. Amongst these noted we find the 

 educational society of Japan, which has for its object the study, 

 improvement, and advancement of education ; various local 

 societies also intended for the improvement of educational 

 methods in their respective districts ; the Seismological Society, 

 perhaps the best known of all in Europe. There are two 

 branches of this, the foreign and the native, the former being 

 the parent society. The " Society of Specialities," which has 

 in view the study " of various special branches of science." The 

 Physical Society, devoted exclusively to the study of the higher 

 phy.-ics ; there appears to be a second Society of Physics, "com- 

 posed of professional scholars for the purpose of inquiring into 

 the principles [of physics ?] and of interchanging knowledge 

 among the members " ; the Mathematical Society for the study 

 of the higher mathematics, and also to translate and compile 

 works on that subject. Among the associations for more general 

 objects we find one of French scholars, foreign and native, for the 

 -study of that language, and the general interchange of knowledge, 

 one for the study of the moral sciences, another devoted to Euro- 

 pean and Asiatic philosophy. The French scholars are not allowed 

 to have it all their own way, for a rival devotes its energies to 

 the study of the German language and laws ; Hindoo philosophy 



alsohas itsown special votaries who have formed themselves into an 

 association for the investigation of this misty subject. The 

 Biological Society of the University of Tokio (founded by Prof. 

 Morse) is among the most energetic of young Japanese socie- 

 ties ; the Association for the Translation of the Technical Terms 

 of Physics is a most necessary one, and has a difficult and re- 

 sponsible duty under the present system of translating to fulfil. 

 Sooner or later Japanese and Chinese students will have to 

 adopt most of the technical terms of all departments of 

 science employed in the West ; the present plan of seeking to 

 translate them in a rough and fanciful way, and thus forcing the 

 student to learn a new language before he can learn a science, 

 is too clumsy and unsatisfactory to last. Why, for example, 

 oxygen should not be called oxygen by the Japanese student, 

 instead of by some Japanese compound term which is not in the 

 least more explanatory to him, is not quite clear. Meantime a 

 society which will exercise a supervision over the translation of 

 technical terms, and thereby secure uniformity, cannot fail to be 

 useful. The Chemical Society, besides devotion to the science of 

 chemistry, has also for one of its objects the establishment of a 

 regular terminology. The Engineering, Law, Agricultural, Fine 

 Arts, Medical, and Pharmaceutical societies speak for them- 

 selves. A second medical society seeks to secure the propaga- 

 tion of sound notions of elementary medicine amongst the com- 

 mon people ; in this it is assisted by the members of the Society 

 of Hygiene, who diffuse a general knowledge of sanitary mat- 

 ters. It is pleasant to see that old Japan is not forgotten in 

 this crowd of young associations. The members of a Society 

 of Letters study all branches of Chinese and Japanese litera- 

 ture, while the " Society of Japanese Literature " devotes itself 

 wholly to the study of the etymology and syntax of the Japanese 

 language and to the more general employment of the ancient 

 syllabaries, in place of Chinese characters, in writing. A third 

 literary society has for its object "the interpretation of the 

 moral principles. It aims also to encourage good customs, to 

 promote literature, to educate youth, to diffuse knowledge, and 

 to cultivate moral nature" — a tolerably comprehensive pro- 

 gramme. Finally, the recent Fisheries Exhibition has given 

 rise to a Japanese Marine Product Society. 



Mr. Tegima's statement is an incomplete one. It deals 

 mainly with associations existing in the capital, and makes 

 little reference to any in other large towns in the Empire, such 

 as Osaka, Nagoya, Niigata, Nagasaki, &c. And -even as a list 

 of the Tokio societies it is incomplete. No mention, for ex- 

 ample, is made of the most numerous, wealthy, and influential 

 of all — the Geographical Society of Japan ; nor is the Dendro- 

 logical Association mentioned ; nor is reference made to the 

 new and interesting society called the Roma-ji-Kwai, which has 

 for its object the substitution of Roman letters in Japan for the 

 Chinese characters and the native syllabaries. This Spelling 

 Reform Association has set before itself a huge and radical 

 reform, in comparison with which that of our own Spelling 

 Reform Society is trifling and superficial. Its objects, however, 

 appear hardly practicable, if one may venture to use that expres- 

 sion, of any reform in Japan. Bat enough has been said to 

 show that the seed sown with such care by the Government is 

 producing a rich harvest among the people of Japan, 



THE PROPOSED TEACHING UNIVERSITY 

 FOR LONDON 



A LARGELY-ATTENDED and influential meeting of the 

 •*"*■ Association for Promoting a Teaching University for 

 London was held last Thursday at the rooms of the Society of 

 Arts, John Street, Adelphi, under the chairmanship of Lord 

 Reay, the President of the Association, whose objects are — 

 (I) the organisation of University leaching in and for London in 

 the form of a Teaching University, with faculties of arts, 

 sciences, medicine, and laws ; (2) the association of University 

 examination with University teaching, and direction of both by 

 the same authorities ; (3) the conferring of a substantive voice 

 in the government of the University upon those engaged in the 

 woik of University teaching and examination ; (4) existing in- 

 stitutions in London of University rank not to be abolished or 

 ignored, but to be taken as the bases or component parts of 

 the University, and either panially or completely incorporated, 

 with the minimum of internal change ; (5) an alliance to be 

 established between the University and the professional cor- 

 porations, the Council of Legal Education as representing the 



