4io 



NA TURE 



{August 28, 1884 



After our article of June 26 (p. 189) it is needless to go 

 much further into detail, but it may be pointed out that 

 hitherto certain subjects, of which Science is one, have 

 had 2000 marks each, whilst three others have had 3000, 

 and free choice of four subjects among these has been 

 allowed. Owing to the great influence which marks have 

 naturally exercised upon the choice of candidates and to 

 other circumstances, the position of Science has been 

 modest enough. In future, however, it will have (to put 

 it numerically) about one-fourth of its previous chance, 

 since, instead of the candidates being free to select four 

 subjects, they will now only be free to select one. In 

 short the final arrangements, though undoubtedly improve- 

 ments upon those announced a few months since, and in 

 one particular considerable improvements, are in their 

 main features retrograde and unsound. They will hamper 

 those of our schools which make it their aim to widen the 

 basis of education in this country by the introduction of 

 science into their regular work, and they will further dis- 

 courage those who have hitherto hesitated from following 

 their example. They will be a check on freedom and 

 progress in education. The new regulations no doubt 

 will encourage the study of modern languages. They do 

 this, however, at too great a cost to other subjects of at least 

 equal importance. We regret very much that the War Office 

 authorities have not adopted some plan by which, whilst 

 securing a knowledge of those subjects which they regard 

 as professionally essential, they would have left a fairer field 

 to such studies as Higher Mathematics, Natural Science, 

 Greek, &c. Whilst we regret so much the blow to science 

 teaching in our schools which is given by the final adoption 

 of the scheme before us, and that young men of scientific 

 capacity should stand so poor a chance of employment 

 in our military services, we must acknowledge that in 

 their revised regulations the War Office authorities have 

 effected a distinct improvement by the new grouping of 

 the experimental sciences and the addition of a practical 

 examination to each group ; although, from the greatly 

 inferior position which science will hold in future, we fear 

 that the practical advantage in the Sandhurst examina- 

 tions will be very small. If, however, such a grouping of 

 the natural sciences could be extended to the Woolwich 

 examination also, it would be a great gain. The allotment 

 of marks at present in force in the Woolwich competi- 

 tions deals very fairly with the various subjects. Mathe- 

 matics and Drawing, which are of special importance, are 

 duly encouraged, whilst a fair liberty of choice among 

 other subjects is left to the candidates. It has, however, 

 been a complaint that, owing to the unequal difficulties 

 presented by the present groups, some science subjects 

 are unduly encouraged at the cost of others. This com- 

 plaint ought practically to cease under such a classifica- 

 tion as is now introduced into the Sandhurst scheme, for 

 it ought no longer to be difficult for the examiners to set 

 papers of fairly equal difficulty and range. We hope this 

 change of detail may be extended to the science of the 

 Woolwich examinations. We believe it would be wel- 

 comed by all those who have the interests of science 

 teaching at heart. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



THE fifty-fourth annual meeting of the British Asso- 

 ciation commenced yesterday at Montreal. About 

 800 members have arrived in Montreal from England, 

 and the interest taken in the meeting both in Canada 

 and the United States is evidenced by the great 

 number of visitors which it has attracted to that city. 

 The reception accorded to the Association both by the 

 city and the Dominion is all that could be wished. Mon- 

 treal itself has raised a fund of 40,000 dollars for expenses, 

 and over 300 members have been received as guests into 

 private houses. McGill College, where the Association 

 meets, has been specially prepared for the purpose, and 



there is every probability that the meeting will be a 

 success in all respects. 



The proceedings began last night with the address of 

 the President, Lord Rayleigh, who was to be introduced 

 by Sir William Thomson. To-day the Sectional proceed- 

 ings began, and it will be seen from what follows that the 

 addresses are quite up to the average. To-morrow 

 evening Prof. Lodge delivers his lecture on " Dust" ; on 

 Saturday Prof. R. S. Ball gives the popular lecture, his 

 subject being "Comets"; and on Monday evening Dr. 

 Dallinger gives a richly illustrated account of the lowest 

 forms of life. 



Extensive arrangements have been made for excur- 

 sions of the members to Quebec, Ottawa, and other places 

 of interest in the Dominion and the United States, with 

 garden parties, soirees, and receptions, in the intervals of 

 the meetings. The citizens of Quebec are arranging to 

 entertain 600 members on Saturday. 



Inaugural Address by the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, 

 M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., Professor 

 of Experimental Physics in the University of 

 Cambridge, President 



It is no ordinary meeting of the British Associalion which I 

 have now the honour of addressing. For more than fifty years 

 the Association has held its autumn gathering in various towns 

 of the United Kingdom, and within those limits there is, I sup- 

 pose, no place of importance which we have not visited. And 

 now, not satisfied with past successes, we are seeking new worlds 

 to conquer. When it was first proposed to visit Canada, there 

 were some who viewed the project with hesitation. For my 

 own part, I never quite understood the grounds of their appre- 

 hension. Perhaps they feared the thin end of the wedge. 

 When once the principle was admitted, there was no knowing 

 to what it might lead. So rapid is the development of the 

 British Empire, that the time might come when a visit to such 

 out-of-the-way places as London or Manchester could no longer 

 be claimed as a right, but only asked for as a concession to the 

 susceptibilities of the English. But seriously, whatever objec- 

 tions may have at first been felt soon were outweighed by the 

 consideration of the magnificent opportunities which your hos- 

 pitality affords of extending the sphere of our influence and of 

 becoming acquainted with a part of the Queen's dominion 

 which, associated with splendid memories of the past, is ad- 

 vancing daily by leaps and bounds to a position of importance 

 such as not long ago was scarcely dreamed of. For myself, I 

 am not a stranger to your shores. I remember well the impres- 

 sion made upon me, seventeen years ago, by the wild rapids of 

 the St. Lawrence, and the gloomy grandeur of the Saguenay. 

 If anything impressed me more, it was the kindness with which 

 I was received by yourselves, and which I doubt not will be 

 again extended not merely to myself but to all the English mem- 

 bers of the Association. I am confident that those who have 

 made up their minds to cross the ocean will not repent their 

 decision, and that, apart altogether from scientific interests, great 

 advantage may be expected from this visit. We Englishmen 

 ought to know more than we do of matters relating to the Colo- 

 nies, and anything which tends to bring the various parts of the 

 Empire into closer contact can hardly be over-valued. It is 

 pleasant to think that this Association is the means of furthering 

 an object which should be dear to the hearts of all of us ; and 

 I venture to say that a large proportion of the visitors to this 

 country will be astonished by what they see, and will carry home 

 an impression which time will not readily efface. 



To be connected with this meeting is to me a great honour, 

 but also a great responsibility. In one respect, especially, I feel 

 that the Association might have done well to choose another Pre- 

 sident. My own tastes have led me to study mathematics ami 

 physics rather than geology and biology, to which naturally more 

 attention turns in a new country, presenting as it does a fresh 

 field for investigation. A chronicle of achievements in these 

 departments by workers from among yourselves would have been 

 suitable to the occasion, but could not come from me. If you 

 would have preferred a different subject for this address, I hope 

 at least that you will not hold me entirely responsible. 



At annual gatherings like ours the pleasure with which friends 

 meet friends again is sadly marred by the absence of those who 

 can never more take their part in our proceedings. Last year 

 my predecessor in this office had to lament the untimely loss of 



