544 
NATURE 
[SEPTEMBER 25,-1902 
The Sir John Cass Technical Institute at Aldgate is just entering 
upon its first full session. Intending students will find that 
complete chemical, metallurgical and physical courses of instruc- 
tion have been provided, as well as classes in commercial and 
domestic subjects. Considerable attention appears to have been 
given to the preparation of candidates for examinations in con- 
nection with the University of London. 
THE Report for the year 1901 on the museums, colleges and 
institutions under the administration of the Board of Education 
has been issued. Among other interesting items, it may be 
mentioned that the year was marked by a large falling off in 
the number of visitors to the western galleries of the Victoria 
and Albert Museum who received special assistance or facilities 
for the examination of the collections for scientific instruction 
and research. There was also a diminution in the total number 
of visitors to the Museum, the total in 1901 being 836,848 as 
"compared with 1,017,314 in 1897, since which year there has 
been a steady decrease. The most important events in the 
history of the Royal College of Science during the year reported 
upon were the retirement of Sir Norman Lockyer after forty-four 
years’ total service, and of Sir Arthur Riicker after fifteen years’ 
service. Similarly the report of the Geological Survey is excep- 
tional, since it records the retirement of Sir Archibald Geikie 
after a service cf more than forty-five years. The Solar Physics 
Observatory was very busy during the fifteen months with which 
its report deals, viz. from October, 1900, to December, 1go1. 
Bad weather entirely prevented observations of sun spots on 127 
days throughout this period, and 171 nights durirg the same 
time were wholly bad for observing purposes, leaving 201 nights 
available, on which occasions the observers attended. 
THE Report of the Board of Education for the year 1901-2 
contains much interesting information concerning the amount 
and quality of the science teaching in schools working under the 
regulations of the South Kensington authorities. During the 
session 1900-1, the total number of students receiving instruction 
in science and art in such schools was 332,329, and the total 
number of such schools or institutions was 2288. The grants 
paid in respect of the instruction given, or of the examinations 
held at its close, amounted to 286,251/., of which it is interest- 
ing to note 26877. only was paid on the results of the annual 
examinations, by far the greater part being awarded upon 
attendances or in the form of capitation grants in ‘‘ schools of 
science.” The new regulations, under which fees became 
payable by candidates for examination in the elementary stage 
of science subjects, appear to have had a beneficial effect. The 
percentage of these papers which reached the first class rose 
from 27 in 1900 to 31 in 1901 under the new regulations, and 
of those which reached the second class from 32 to 37, the 
percentage of failures thus falling from 41 to 32. Up to the 
end of 1901, 78 schools in England and 65 in Wales applied for 
recognition under the new regulations, which offer grants to 
secondary day schools taking an approved scheme of instruction 
for a three or four years’ course in science. Of the English 
schools, 58 were endowed schools, 6 were county or municipal 
schools, 9 were established by articles of association and 5 by 
religious bodies. As these regulations only came into force in 
August, 1g01, none of the schools had, at the time of drawing 
up the report, completed the first year’s course, so that no 
account of the way in which the new arrangements work is yet 
available. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
PaRIs. 
Academy of Sciences, September 15.—M. Bouquet de la 
Grye in the chair,—The cultivation of the yellow lupin (Zupznus 
luteus), by MM. P. P. Dehérain and E. Demoussy. The poor 
yield of this plant on calcareous soil appears to be due to the 
effect of the lime in preventing the assimilation of phosphoric 
acid, since if considerable quantities of phosphate are added, 
the plant will grow in soils containing a fair proportion of lime. 
The tubercles containing bacteria capable of fixing atmospheric 
nitrogen do not, however, appear under these conditions, not 
even when the yellow lupins are inoculated from the tubercles 
of white lupins. The growth is best in non-calcareous soils.— 
On the principal focal surface of the objective of the photo- 
graphic equatorial of the Observatory of Toulouse, by 
NO. 1717, VOL. 66] 
MM. B. Baillaud and Montangerand.—On the rocks thrown 
out by the actual eruption of Mont Pelee, by M. A. 
Lacroix. From the external appearances, three classes of 
rocks can be distinguished, compact vitreous blocks of 
a greyish-black colour, rocks of a clearer colour than 
these, and angular blocks of white pumice, sometimes 
as large as a cubic metre. All these have proved to be of 
the same petrographical type; they consist of hypersthene 
andesites rich in phenocrystals, the latter consisting of plagio- 
clases of the andesine and bytownite series. The principal 
coloured element is hypersthene, accompanied by titanomagnetite 
and small quantities of augite, hornblende and olivine. The 
products of the eruption have the same general character as the 
rock mass of Mont Pelée formed in the course of previous 
eruptions.—On the differences of contact potential, by M. 
Pierre Boley. A study of the electromotive forces of the cell 
constructed of the saturated amalgams of two metals, with two 
electrolytes. —On the electrical resistance of slightly conducting 
bodies at very low temperatures, by M. Edmond van 
Aubel. The electrical resistance of iron pyrites was measured 
for a temperature range of from 60° C. to —181° C. The re- 
sistance increases considerably as the temperature is lowered, 
but there is still an appreciable conductivity at the temperature 
of liquid air. The curve showing the variation of the electrical 
2 5 é AR 
resistance. of iron pyrites with temperature shows that “al 
increases as the temperature approaches the absolute zero. Ex- 
periments on other metallic sulphides are being carried out.— 
On a note of M. Th. Tommasina, on the mode of formation 
of kathode and Rontgen rays, by M. Jules Semenov.—On the 
formation of liquid drops and the laws of Tate, by MM. Ph. A. 
Guye and F. Louis Perrot. With other conditions fixed, the 
weight of a drop falling from the end of a tube is a function 
of the time of formation of the drop. It follows that any 
attempt to verify Tate’s law, in which the time of formation is 
not taken into account, is wanting in precision. It is essential 
that the conditions of experiment should be so arranged that the 
weight of the drop should be independent of the time of 
formation. In view of these facts, the authors consider that 
the experiments of MM. Leduc and Sacerdote do not furnish 
even an approximate proof of the law in question.—On the 
production of india-rubber in the forests of the French Congo, 
by M. Aug. Chevalier. Observations on Landolphia Klainii, 
the chief india-rubber-producing tree in the French Congo. 
CONTENTS. 
By wR Coie 
PAGE 
Legends of Palestine and Arabia. 517 
Our Book Shelf :— 
Young: ‘The Elementary Principles of Chemistry.” 
—A.S. SMe! cao Ou oo - Sra 
Hinton: ‘*P.O0.P. (The Use of Silver Printing-out 
Papers).”” oi ser cath Leslee ste ls) MenTali te) AS re > aa a re 
Letters to the Editor :— 
Symbol for Partial Differentiation.—Dr. Thomas 
Muir, C.M.G., F.R.S.; Prof. John Perry, 
BRS. 2 2. SURE ee rr 
Prof. John James Hummel. ByA.S. . 520 
The British Association at Belfast seth 521 
Section D.—Zoology.—Opening Address by Prof, 
G. B. Howes, D.Sc., LL.D., F.R.S., President 
of the Section Ge Crh Gee Oaiceaiies 2. 
Section G.—Engineering.—Opening Address by Prof. 
John Perry, M.E., DiSc., EL.D., 'F-RiS;; 
President of the Section re oy ina axed eae 
Notes se 538 
Our Astronomical Column :— 
Astronomical Occurrences in October : 541 
Report of the Melbourne Observatory for 1901 541 
New Minor Planets!) seen wdTS io) hae ee 
The Return of the Arctic Expeditions suet 6 eee 
Convention of Weather Bureau Officials. (JZ//us- 
trated.) PSPS Geo has © Sim icla ais feo 
University and Educational Intelligence 543 
Societies and Academies ............ 544 
