212 
seedlings were selected in each case from the same Petri-dish 
cultures, we must assume that the difference in rate of develop- 
ment was due to the difference of ventilation, and perhaps con- 
clude that this interferes with the success of the parasite, as 
measured by the somewhat longer incubation period. It is re- 
markable how dwarfed the continuously aérated plants are, 
compared with those in closed tubes, owing to the elongation 
of the leaves of the latter. 
It is clear, therefore, that pure cultures of Uredospores can 
be obtained by this method, and it is equally clear that we can 
also obtain pure cultures of the host-plants, and since we can do 
this, there is no reason why the infection of Uredineze should 
not be conducted as rigorously and exactly as that of bacteria. 
As a matter of fact, Prof. Ward has suc- 
ceeded in proving that it can,’ though of 
course the length of time occupied in a 
large series of cultures and infections will 
prove troublesome, and it remains to be 
seen whether we can get such plants to 
flower (see Fig. 2). 
A number of isolated tube-cultures were 
made with spores from &. sterzlis, B. 
mollis and B. secalinus, and arranged 
similarly, and confirmatory results ob- 
tained. Moreover, Prof. Ward was able 
in several cases to transfer successfully 
spores from these pure tube-cultures to 
other tubes of pure cultures of seedlings, 
and to prove that the spores raised under 
strictly antiseptic conditions are capable of 
germination and infection. 
At the same time, it was noteworthy 
that in several cases the antiseptically 
raised spores were not always successful 
in infecting the seedlings, and it remains 
for further investigation to determine 
whether this was due to the conditions of 
culture of the fungus or the host, or both. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCA- 
TIONAL INTELLIGENCE. 
A DISCUSSION upon the clause of the 
Education Bill referring to the provision 
to be made for secondary education took 
place in the House of Commons on Mon- 
day. An amendment was moved to make 
the clause compulsory instead of optional, 
the contention being that many local 
authorities will do nothing for secondary 
education if the decision as to the needs 
of their localities is left to them. After 
discussion, Mr. Balfour consented, as a 
compromise, to introduce words which, 
while not making the clause mandatory 
or throwing upon the Education Department 
the task of declaring what educational 
provision should be made in each county, 
emphasised the fact that the education 
authorities were expected to supply higher 
education. The words to which heagreed 
were :—‘‘ The local authorities shall con- 
sider the needs of education, and take such steps as may 
seem desirable, after consultation with the Board of Education, 
to aid or supply education other than elementary.” 
Tue following teachers have been appointed by the Senate of 
the University of London, in connection with the grant of 
10,000/, a year recently voted to the University by the London 
County Council in aid of the work of the faculties of arts, science, 
engineering and economics : —Prof. Ramsay, F.R.S., teacher of 
chemistry, at University College; Prof. Capper, teacher of 
mechanical engineering, at King’s College ;_ Prof. Unwin, 
F.R.S., teacher of civil and mechanical engineering, at the 
Central Technical Cullege. 
AN anatomical museum, endowed in memory of the late Prof. 
A. Hughes, was formally opened at the South Wales and Mon- 
mouthshire University College on Saturday. Prof. Hughes, 
1 /.e., of course so far as fungi are concerned 5 the antiseptic treatment 
adopted does not always exclude harmless bacteria. 
NO. 1704, VOL. 66] 
Fic. 2—Pure cul- 
ture of Puccinia dis- 
persa on Bromus 
velutinus, The 
“Seed of the grass, 
antiseptically _ steril- 
ised as regards fun- 
gus spores by heating 
to 65° C., was ger- 
minated in the sterile 
tube and infected on 
the first leaf with 
spores developed on 
Bromus mollis. The 
infection was success- 
ful, and pustules of 
spores have appeared 
only on the area 
inoculated. 
NATURE 
[JUNE 26, 1902 
who died of enteric fever contracted in South Africa, was the 
first occupant of the chair of anatomy at the College, and when 
he left to take a similar position at King’s College, London, he 
gave 350/. with which to purchase the nucleus of the anatomical 
museum. ‘To his memory and in recognition of his special ser- 
vices to medical education in Wales, it was decided to endow 
the museum permanently, and a fund was opened, towards 
which 1775/. has been subscribed. Of this amount 120/, has 
been set apart for the foundation of an Alfred Hughes medal, to 
be awarded annually in the subject of anatomy. 
A veERY creditable display of pieces of simple scientific 
apparatus was to be seen in connection with the annual exhibi- 
tion, at the Examination Hall on the Thames Embankment, of 
specimens of work by the pupils and teachers in the schools of 
the London School Board, which was opened on June 18 by 
Lord Reay, chairman of the Board. Compared with the exhibi- 
tion of November last, which was reported in Nature (No. 
1671), a marked improvement has to be recorded. There were 
three times the number of exhibits, and the general standard of 
excellence was much higher. Many of the defects of the last 
exhibition were remedied in that of this year. More attention 
was given to the different branches of physics, and in place of 
the three more or less unsatisfactory models representing the 
teaching of physiography, which were all that we could find 
last time, ten times as many better pieces of apparatus were in- 
cluded, among which a good model of Foucault’s pendulum, an 
astronomical telescope and a relief map of Sydenham—the last- . 
named by a couple of boys of eleven and thirteen years of age 
-—deserve special mention. The chemical section provided 
abundant evidence of the influence of Prof. Armstrong on the 
teachers of this subject. It was clear from the exhibits in this 
department that every effort is being made to develop the child’s 
intelligence by encouraging him to discover facts for himself. 
Though more attention was given to nature-study than was the 
case last year, there is still plenty of room for development in 
this direction. The undesirable plan of mixing up the work of 
teachers and taught was followed again, but it is to be hoped 
that the committee of management may be persuaded, before 
holding another exhibition, of the difficulty experienced by the 
visitor in knowing, without consulting a bulky catalogue, when 
an exhibit is the work ofa pupil and when that of the instructor. 
It is impossible in this place to describe the exhibits in detail, 
but a good Wimshurst machine constructed by a boy of fourteen 
was an excellent instance of the trouble a youngster will take 
when once he has been interested in the subject of study. 
SCIENTIFIC SERIALS. 
American Journal of Sctence, June.—Fossil faunas and their 
use in correlating geological formations, by Henry S. Williams. 
It is shown that the plan usually followed of classifying geo- 
logical formations in time by means of a comparison of one pre- 
dominant fossil is wanting inaccuracy. Very many single species, 
the range of which has been established by thorough study of 
the successive formations in which they occur, range through a 
third, and often a half, of one of the standard geological 
systems. A second reason for not resting implicit confidence 
on this method of correlation is the frequently observed fact that 
parts of the geological column of different sections, which upon 
satisfactory stratigraphic grounds are known to be stati- 
graphically equivalent, contain different fossils.—Studies of the 
Eocene mammalia in the Marsh collection, Peabody Museum, 
by J. L. Wortman. The present instalment of this series con- 
tains detailed descriptions of S¢vopa rapax and Sinopa agilis. 
—The transmission of sound through solid walls, by F. L. 
Tufts. The rigidity of the material was found to be the main 
factor in determining the intensity of the sound transmitted 
from the air on one side to the air on the other, the only other 
factor possessing any influence being the mass.—A new gauge 
for the measurement of small pressures, by E. W. Morley and 
C. F. Brush. A description of a form of differential mercury 
pressure gauge resembling in principle that recently described 
by Lord Rayleigh. Two modes of reading are given; in the 
second method a reading can be taken in ten seconds. With 
suitably mounted instruments pressures may be read with a mean 
error of not more than a ten-thousandth of a millimetre.—On a 
hitherto untried form of mounting either equatorial or azimuth, 
for a telescope of exceptional size, either reflector or refractor, in 
which telescope, observing floor and dome are combined in one, 
