July 10, 1SS4J 



NA TURE 



■51 



ance of this plant, which often grows to an enormous size, 

 would be sufficient to suggest its employment in art. 

 According to measurements of Dr. Julius Schmidt, who 

 is not long since dead, and was the director of the Ob- 

 servatory at Athens, a number of these plants grow in the 

 Valley of Cephisus, and attain a height of as much as 

 two metres, the spathe alone measuring nearly one metre. 

 [The lecturer here exhibited a drawing (natural size) of 

 this species, drawn to the measurements above referred 

 to.] 



Dr. Sintenis, the botanist, who last year travelled 

 through Asia Minor and Greece, tells me that he saw 

 beautiful specimens of the plant in many places, e.g. in 

 Assus, in the neighbourhood of the Dardanelles, under 

 the cvpresses of the Turkish cemeteries. 



The inflorescence corresponds almost exactly to the 

 ornament, but the multipartite leaf has also had a par- 

 ticular influence upon its development and upon that of 

 several collateral forms which I cannot now discuss. The 

 shape of the leaf accounts for several as yet unexplained 

 extraordinary forms in the ancient plane-ornament, and 

 in the Renaissance forms that have been thence deve- 

 loped. It first suggested the idea to me of studying the 

 plant attentively after having had the opportunity five 

 years ago of seeing the leaves in the Botanic Gardens at 

 Pisa. It was only afterwards that I succeeded in growing 

 some flowers which fully confirmed the expectations that 

 I had of them (Figs. 10 and 11). 



{To be continued?) 



NOTES 

 The International Conference on Education in connection 

 with the International Health Exhibition will be opened on 

 Monday, August 4, at 11 a.m., and will continue throughout the 

 week. The arrangements as yet are not quite complete, but it 

 is announced that the following papers, among others, will be 

 read : — (1) Conditions of Healthy Education : — On the structure, 

 fitting, and equipments of a school, by the Rev. Canon Holland, 

 Canterbury, and Rev. E. F. M. MacCarthy, King Edward's 

 School, Birmingham ; on gymnastics and other physical exer- 

 cises, by Captain Burney, R.N., Royal Hospital School, Green- 

 wich, and H. J. Wilson, J. P., Sheffield ; on the right apportion- 

 ment of time to different subjects of instruction in schools of 

 various classes, by H. W. Eve, University College School, 

 London. (2) Infant Training and Teaching : — What Frobel did 

 for young children, by Miss Manning ; on the relations of the 

 Kindergarten to the various industries of a country, by Fraulein 

 E. Heerwart ; on the main work to be accomplished by Kinder- 

 gartens for the people, and on the methods of training teachers 

 in Mich institutions, by Madame Schrader, Berlin. (3) Technical 

 Teaching — {a) Science, [/>) Art, (c) Handicrafts, {d) Agriculture, 

 (?) Domestic Economy : — On the methods of teaching the different 

 branches of physical and of natural science, by Henry E. Arm- 

 strong, Ph.D., F.R.S. ; the teaching of science in public ele- 

 mentary schools, by W. J. Harrison, Birmingham ; science 

 teaching in training colleges, by H. A. Reatchlous, Westminster 

 Training College ; on the teaching of drawing and colouring as 

 a preparation for designing and decorative work, by John 

 Sparkes, Science and Art Department, A. F. Brophy, Finsbury 

 Technical College, and T. R. Ablett, London School Board ; 

 on technical teaching, by Prof. Garnett, University College, 

 Nottingham, and E. M. Dixon, Allen Glen Institute, Glasgow ; 

 on technical teaching in Board schools, by J. F. Moss, Sheffield 

 School Board ; on manual training schools, by Prof. Woodward, 

 St. Louis, U.S. ; ((/) the teaching of agricultural science in 

 elementary, in intermediate, and higher schools, in evening 

 science classes, in special colleges, and in the Universities, 

 methods of teaching, &c, by the Rev. J. M'CIellan, Royal 

 Agricultural College, Cirencester, J. Wrightson, Wiltshire Agri- 



cultural College, and others ; on school farms and farm schools, 

 by H. M. Jenkins, Royal Agricultural Society ; on methods of 

 teaching cookery in schools, by Miss Fanny Calder, Hon. 

 Sec. Northern Union of Schools of Cookery. (4) Teach- 

 ing of Music in Schools. (5) Museums, Libraries, and 

 other Subsidiary Aids to Instruction in Connection with 

 Schools : — On school museums, by Dr. Jex Blake, Rugby. 

 (6) Training of Teachers :— By G. B. Davis, Birmingham, and C. 

 Mansford, Wesleyan Training College, Westminster ; on some 

 of the differences which exist between the training, position, and 

 duties of elementary teachers in Great Britain and on the Con- 

 tinent, by the Rev. Canon Cromwell, St. Mark's College, Chel- 

 sea ; Universities and their relations to the training of teachers, 

 by the Rev. R. H. Quick, Sedbergh ; professorships and lecture- 

 ships on education, by Prof. S. Laurie, University of Edin- 

 burgh, and Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn, St. Andrew's University ; 

 on diplomas and certificates and the registration of teachers, by 



F. Storr ; on training colleges in Scotland, by the Rev. J. 

 Morrison, D.D., Glasgow. (7) Inspection and Examina'ion of 

 Schools : — [a) By the State, by W. Kennedy, Glasgow ; (/>) by the 

 Universities — on the University local examinations, by the Rev. 



G. F. Browne, B.D. ; on the University extension movement, by 

 Albert J. Grey, M.P., and E. T. Cook ; by other public bodies, 

 by the Rev. H. L. Thompson, Iron Acton. (8) Organi-ation of 

 Elementary Education : — By Sir U. Kay Shuttleworth, Bart., and 

 T. E. Heller ; on the English system of elementary education- 

 its growth and present condition, by the Rev. H. F. Roe, 

 Sherborne. (9) Organisation of Intermediate and Higher Edu- 

 cation : — On the requirements of a truly national system of higher 

 education and the proper relation of the old Universities to such 

 a system, by R. D. Roberts, Clare College, Cambridge ; on the 

 comparative advantages and disadvantages of arranging the 

 course of study in the various school classes on lines of subjects 

 appointed for local University or other general examinations, by 

 the Rev. R. B. Poole, Bedford Modern School ; on the advan- 

 tages and disadvantages of providing for intermediate and higher 

 education by means of a rate, as is done in the case of elementary 

 education, by the Rev. Canon Daniel, and Hon. E. Lyulph 

 Stanley, M.P. ; on the organisation of higher education for 

 girls, by Miss Beale, Cheltenham ; on the curriculum of a girls' 

 high school, by Mrs. Bryant, B.Sc. (10) Organisation of Uni- 

 versity Education : — On the proper relation between the teaching 

 and examining bodies in a University, by Sir George Young, 

 Bart. ; on scientific teaching in a University, by Prof. Fleeming 

 Jenkin ; on the University education of women, by Mrs. H. 

 Sidgwick ; on the relation of a University to the colleges, by 

 G. W. Hemming; on the relation of provincial colleges to a 

 University, by E. Johnson, Nottingham ; on the duties of the 

 Universities to our Indian Empire, by Prof. Monier Williams. 



Her Majesty has been pleased to confer a baronetcy upon 

 Mr. Bernhard Samuelson, M.P., and a knighthood upon Prof. 

 Roscoe, in consideration of the services rendered by them in con- 

 nection with the Technical Education Commission. Sir Bernhard 

 Samuelson well deserves the honour which has been conferred 

 upon him ; the services which he has rendered to science and to 

 scientific education both in and out of Parliament, by his insisting 

 for so many years on the importance of science to our national 

 industries, is well known to all our readers. 



"A Naturalist," in a letter to the Times of yesterday, 

 again draws attention to the scheme for a Marine Biological 

 Laboratory, showing the practical utility of such an institution by 

 quoting the report of Prof. Brooks on the researches on oysters 

 carried out in the Marine Biological Laboratory founded by the 

 Johns Hopkins University. In a leading article the Tims very 

 heartily supports the appeal of " A Naturalist "for subscriptions 

 to the Marine Biological Association, an appeal which we hope 

 will be liberally responded to. 



