NATURE 
341 
“Proposed Special Scientific Collections 
Although we think it desirable that Scientific Museums 
and Collections should be maintained in the Universities 
to an extent which would render them available for 
original research, as well as for the purposes of education, 
_ we do not attach the same importance to this point as to 
the preceding, because museums and collections have 
been formed and will be formed in other places than in 
Universities, whereas laboratories adapted for the instruc- 
tion of students in the methods of scientific investigation 
are not likely to be founded except in connection with 
educational institutions; and although it is a disad- 
vantage to a scientific man not to have all the collections 
“that he desires immediately at his hand, yet, considering 
the proximity of the Universities to London, it cannot be 
said that this disadvantage amounts to more than an in- 
convenience. 
“We also are of opinion that it is very desirable that 
such more extensive collections as may be formed in the 
Universities should, as far as possible, be kept separate 
from the more limited collections intended for educa- 
tional purposes. A Museum may be very easily made 
too large for these purposes, and instead of giving the 
student clearer ideas, may serve to confuse him, 
“ Proposed Doctorate in Science 
“We have already referred to the possibility of institut- 
ing Higher Degrees, to be conferred upon students, not 
in accordance with the results of an examination, but 
upon their giving proof of capacity for original research. 
The evidence of Dr. Frankland and of Sir William 
Thomson, which we have already quoted, and to which 
we might add that of the late Prof. Rankine, appears to 
us conclusive upon the point that there is a real danger 
in the examination system; and in our opinion this 
danger might be guarded against by instituting a higher 
degree in Science, the obtaining of which should be re- 
garded as a great honour, and which should not be 
awarded except with reference to original work. The 
plan of requiring from a candidate forgthe Doctorate in 
Science a dissertation embodying an account of some 
original research of his own is strongly approved by 
such competent witnesses as Dr, Siemens, Dr. Carpenter, 
and Prof. Frankland. This plan has been adopted in 
several of the German Universities, and has now become 
the established rule in France,” 
METEOROLOGICAL CONFERENCE AT LEIP- 
SIG DURING AUGUST 1872* 
F the Congresses which have recently been held, 
none were more urgently called for than an Inter- 
national Congress of Meteorologists, Doubtless even 
under the diverse systems of observation which have been 
in use at national observatories and among meteorolo- 
gists of different countries, large and valuable contribu- 
tions have been made to Climatology and other depart- 
ments of Meteorology. We need only refer to the various 
charts which have been published, showing the geogra- 
phical distribution of atmospheric and oceanic tempera- 
* Report of the Proceedings of the Meteorological Conference at Leip- 
sig. Protocols and Appendices Translated from the Official Report, 
Append)x to Vol. vii, of the “Zeitschrift fiir Meteoroiogie.” Published by 
the authority of the Meteorological Committee, London, 1873. 
ture, of atmospheric pressure, of humidity, of prevailing 
winds, and of rainfall, and to the enormous amount of 
materials now being amassed, illustrative of the nature 
and course of storms, to show the important results which 
have been obtained. It must, however, be confessed that, 
as respects nearly the whole of this information, it can be 
regarded as valuable only in the sense of its being suffi- 
ciently approximate so as to meet the requirements of 
some of the more pressing practical questions of the 
science, and not because it is precise. 
It is when we attempt inquiries into such questions as 
the-diurnal and annual march of the different meteorolo- 
gical elements, and the relations of these elements zzfer 
sé, and of weather on a large scale, that the general 
unsatisfactoriness of the systems by which observations 
are made in different countries comes to be forcibly felt, 
owing to their want of precision and uniformity. The 
want of uniformity is most conspicuous as respects tem- 
perature, humidity, and wind—or just those fundamental 
facts which must be scientifically observed and discussed 
before we can hope to solve the problem of weather 
changes. 
In order to bring about a greater uniformity of proce- 
dure in different countries, it was proposed to hold a 
Meteorological Congress at Vienna in 1874. In June 
last, Bruhns of Leipsig, Wild of St. Petersburg, and 
Jelinek of Vienna, issued an invitation to meteorologists to 
attend a preliminary conference to be held at Leipsig in 
August, for the purpose of preparing the programme for 
the Vienna Congress, to instigate preparatory experiments 
on some of the more important questions, and thereby 
render it possible for the Congress to arrive at immediate 
conclusions on many points. The Conference was thus 
only consultative. Accompanying the invitation were a 
series of twenty-six questions, which it was proposed to 
submit to the consideration of the Conference. 
Upwards of fifty persons attended the meetings of the 
Conference, which lasted three days. The opinions of 
the different speakers on the points raised by the 26 
questions are detailed in the pamphlet before us, which 
contains also the written opinions of 14 meteorologists 
who were unable to be present, including the well-known 
names of Dove, Ribenson, Mohn, Miihry, and Wolf, as 
well as the results of the deliberations of the French 
meteorologists at Bordeaux in September. The subjects 
treated of may be conveniently classed under the heads 
of instruments, their position, the methods of discussing, 
publishing, and utilising the observations. 
Barometers.—To those who have attempted to discuss 
weather, it is well known that nothing exact or satisfac- 
tory need be looked for in the result, unless observations 
from numerous barometers well distributed be available. 
It is thus desirable that barometers be procurable at a 
moderate price for stations of the second order. Are 
Board of Trade barometers—barometers fitted with a 
float—or aneroids, suited for such stations ; or is there 
any other cheap form of barometer that would serve the 
purpose? After a lengthened discussion it was referred 
to Dr. Hann of Vienna to prepare a report for the Vienna 
Congress. The most diverse opinions were expressed 
regarding the aneroid, arising probably from the experi- 
ence of the different writers and speakers—some aneroids 
going well for years with no permanent alterations occur- 
