'23, iSS 5 j 



NA TURE 





enable the directors to place the Observatory in efficient working 

 order. The work at the Scotti- mtinues to 



ated with energy and success. The Council 

 commended that the grant from the Fishery Fund of the Society 

 for the year ending November next be increased from 250/. to 

 300/. In November, 1S84, an application on the part of the 

 Salmon Commissioners was made to the Council for 

 advice and as-istance in investig 



ase, and questions 

 generally Imon fisl ' imissioners 



were now carrying out a scheme of observations recommended 

 by the I 



a report on thi 

 stating that there is every reason 



is receiving and with the work don 

 [3*. id. has up to the present time been re 

 uis from the genera! public, to which is to be added 

 the donation of 1000/. which led directly to the foundation of the 

 Station. The Scottish Meteorolo 



annual contribution of 300/. for three- ; lie present 



year the British Association has voted a grant of too/. The 

 iety of London and the Government Grant Committee 

 have sanctioned grants to the amount of 520/. to assi- . 

 men who will carry on their researches chiefly by means of the 

 appliances and conveniences offered by the Station. The total 

 expenditure up to the present time for the equipment and main- 

 tenance of the Station amounts to 2751/. Ss. id. The comple- 

 tion of the additions now in progress, and the maintenance of 

 the station till November 1, 1SS5, will cost a further sum of 

 the request of a number of naturalists it is proposed 

 . porary laborati I rt, on the Clyde, 



Scient accommodation for 



oi this year. The yacht Medusa will be in 

 atte,. dance to carry on dredging or assist in making 

 in the estuary of the Clyde or any of th 

 it. It is hoped that a permanent branch of the Sta 

 ultimate!; bed at Millport. 



Mr. H. R. Mill, B.Sc, submitted a detailed repo 

 meteorological pi 



in which it was mentioned that plans of a new chemical I 



\ number of observations had 



attire and salinity of the water at the 



ad the surface, and to find out the penetrability of light. 



It was found that a piece of photographic printing paper was 



blackened by exposing it to 109 hours of daylight at 



a depth of 30 feet, while at fifteen feet it was blackened by 42 



tposure. As to the temperature, the general la 

 to be that the range between summer and winter was nearly 

 four times Alloa and twice 



; le of May; and that in summer th 

 eadily from Alloa to 

 winter ro. 5 e with equal uniformity. The variations i 

 were very slight from Inchkeith to the mouth of the Forth, 

 while from Inchgarvie to Alloa they were very great both be- 

 tween high an 1 low tide, bottom and surface, at the same place 

 :s on the Forth short distance- 

 A paper on anemometrical observations at Dun /as read 



by Mr. Cunningham, C.E., showing the diurnal velocity of 

 during the seasons and during cyclones and anti- 

 The daily maximum velocity occurred a Ii 

 2 p.m.. and the minimum from midnight to 6 a.m. During 

 anticyclones the velocity of the wind was less daring the night 

 in summer than during winter, but stronger during the day. 

 Mr. Cunningham also showed ar. elaborate diagram he had 

 prepared for facilitating hygrometric calculations. A paper by 

 Mr. Om<>! , in the formation of snow-crystals from 



fog on Hen Nevis (NATURE, vol. xxxi. p. 532), and a paper by 

 Mr. Buchan, on the meteorology of Ben Nevis to I 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 

 Cambridge. — The Report of the Examiners at the last 

 Cambridge Local Examinations speaks very 

 Euclid an Trigon I W 



d sne bad: itres, hut 



did well ii the m answered 



•ical Chemistry a larger proportion of juniors than 



last year gained high marks, and the percentage of failures was 

 considerably less than in the theoretical paper. A few seniors 

 sent in very good answers, but the greater number wrote 

 answers to which it was difficult to attach a definite meaning. 

 mena and principles of Chemistry were evidently 

 quite unreal to most of the senior candidates. 



In Ileal the juniors did rather worse than last year; book- 

 fairly done, but the simpler laws and principles were 

 often converted into utter nonsense. The seniors as a whole 

 answered badly ; many were quite unfamiliar with most ele- 

 mentary facts and every-day occurrences, and had no notion of 

 scientific methods or accurate reasoning. 



In Statics, Hydrostatics, &c, the work was moderately well 

 done ; but the questions on Dynamics and Friction were very 

 unsatisfactorily answered by the seniors. 



Electricity and Magnetism showed a slight improvement. 



Biology showed a large percentage of failures, owing to in- 

 adequate practical study. 



Botany was ill done by most juniors ; inaccurate descriptions 

 and incorrect use of terminology were prominent. Many seniors 

 showed fair knowdedge of at least some part of the subject. 

 Morphology and Classification of Flowering Plants, with de- 

 scriptions of specimens, were the weakest parts of the 

 examination. 



In Zoology many of the junior candidates were quite unfit to 

 enter for the examination ; antiquated text-books and inefficient 

 teaching were answerable for this. The seniors did slightly 

 better, but had little practical knowledge of animals. 



In Physical Geography all but a few did inferior papers, 

 having learnt some facts and reasons by rote, without 

 ing to understand them. There was, in most cases, complete 

 ignorance of the meaning of sections and contour lines. 



University of New Zealand. — The annual meeting of the 

 Senate of this University was recently held at Auckland, and 

 extended over several days at the end of February and beginning 

 of March. In consequence of the death of the Chancellor, Mr. 

 Henry John Tancred, who had held office for twelve years, the 

 Vice-Chancellor, Dr. James Hector, F.R.S., C.M.G., &c, was 

 elected to the Chancellorship, and Rev. J. C. Andrew was 

 chosen Vice-Chancellor. Dr. Hector, as Chancellor-Elect, 

 announced, on the authority of Sir Julius Vogel, that the 

 Government contemplated the establishment of four scholarships 

 for the promotion of scientific and technical education, the 

 management and administration of which were to be ii 

 to the University. They would be teaable for eight years, and 

 would be open to pupils from an}- school in the colony, or to 

 competitors at any industrial exhibition, subject to an examina- 

 tion equal to the fourth standard of primary schools. Holders 

 of these scholarships would spend the first four years at a 

 secondary school, the next three in a University course, in pre- 

 paration for a science degree, and the last year in preparation 

 for taking honours in science. 



The report of the Vice-Chancellor dealt mainly with local 

 matters, but referred to the attendance of an ex- Vice-Chancellor 

 as a representative of the University at the tercentenary celebra- 

 tion of the University of Edinburgh, and to the election by the 

 Senate of new examiners during the previous year. It may not 

 be generally known to English readers that all the degree 

 examinations of this University are conducted entirely by papers 

 set and printed in England, and that the answers are revised by 

 the English examiners, who in all cases either are, or have been, 

 examiners for the Universities of London, Cambridge, or Ox- 

 ford. The standard maintained is, as nearly as possible, that of 

 the Univ.: I in. More than eighty candidates pre- 



sented themselves at the degree examinations last November 

 from a population not exceeding half a million. The agent for 

 the University in England is Mr. Wm. Lant Carpenter, B.A., 

 . llarlesden, London, N.YV. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 

 Journal of ike Franklin Institute, No. 711, March, 1SS5. — 

 seler, on tidal /theory and tidal predictions. — Prof. E. 

 1 national Electrical Exhibition, 

 So. VI. McDonough's telephonic inventions. This gives an 

 account of the instruments invented by McDonough 

 between the years 1867 and 1S76, the receiver of which antici- 

 pated in all its main features the form of receiver introduced by 

 Bell. — Prof. C. A. Young, physical c institution of the 



, illustrated 



