Augicst 3r, 1882] 



NATURE 



447 



several voyages in the Arctic regions, devoting himself especially 

 to a survey of the coasts of Novaya Zemlya. His narrative of 

 thee voyages still forms one of the richest sources of our know- 

 ledge of this part of the Polar Sea. In 1S23 Liitke was pro- 

 moted to the rank of Captain-Lieutenant, and in 1826-28, 

 commanded a Russian exploring expedition aronnd the world, 

 in which he was accompanied by a scientific staff. He explored 

 the Russian shores of Asia and America, and discovered several 

 island groups in the Pacific. Promoted in 1S29 to the rank of 

 Captain, he was in 1832 made Adjutant to the Emperor 

 Nicholas, and tutor of the Grand Duke Constantine, whose 

 curator he was from 1847101852. Having been promoted to 

 Adjutan'-General in 1S42, and Vice-Admiral in 1845, Lutke was 

 in 1S51-3 Military Governor of Revel and late of Kronstadt. He 

 was made Admiral in 1855. He was in 1845 founder of the 

 Russian Geographical Society, and since 1864 president of the 

 St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He was made a Count in 

 1866. In 1828 Lutke published the narrative of his Arctic expe- 

 ditions, and in 1834 the account of his voyage round the world. 



The July number of the Agricultural SttiJents' Gazette (Royal 

 Agricultural College, Cirencester) contains an article by Prof. E. 

 Kinch on the Soy bean (Soja hispida). This bean, of which 

 there are a dozen or more varieties known in the East, is very 

 largely used as an article of food in Japan and China, where it 

 is manufactured not only into soy, now exported in considerable 

 quantities to Europe, but also into bean cheese and other forms 

 of food. The soy bean in its proximate composition approaches 

 more nearly to animal food than any other known vegetable 

 production, being singularly rich in fat and in albuminoids, and 

 it i, therefore a valuable adjunct to the food of the almost vege- 

 tarian Japanese. Of late years, especially since the Vienna 

 International Exhibition, many efforts have been made to 

 acclimatise this bean in various parts of the European continent, 

 chiefly in Hungary and Germany. France and Italy have also 

 attempted it, and some of the experiments have been fairly suc- 

 cessful. We notice that Prof. Kinch is trying to grow some of 

 the varieties in the botanic garden at Cirencester, and though 

 our climate is probably too uncertain and the temperature often 

 too low for most of the varieties to attain perfection, still if any 

 of them could be acclimatised a valuable leguminous cross would 

 be added to our present list. The paper contains detailed 

 analyses of the bean as grown in different countries, of several of 

 the foods made from it, of its straw, which is a useful fodder, 

 and of the ash of the bean and straw. 



In the same number of the Gazette is a useful paper by Prof. 

 H. T. Little on " Rotations," and a short article by Miss 

 Ormerod on "Apple Weevil," as well as much purely college 

 news. The journal in its new form deserves success. 



The Report has been issued of the Technological Examina- 

 tion, 18S2, of the City and Guilds of London Institute. The 

 new regulation!", in accordance with which this examination was 

 conducted, differed in many particulars from those of the previous 

 year, but principally: (1) in the increased number of subjects of 

 examination ; (2) in the substitution of two for three grades ; 

 (3) in the permission accorded to candidates to be re-examined 

 in the same grade for a certificate of a higher class ; (4) in the 

 reversion to the rule which had previously been in force of exa- 

 mining candidates in one subject only. These differences have 

 to be considered in comparing the results of this year's examina- 

 tion with those of the previous or of any other year. At the 

 recent examination in technology, 1972 candidates presented 

 themselves. This number represents, however, a small propor- 

 tion only of the number of students who have obtained instruc- 

 tion, during the past year, under the direction of the Institute, 

 and in connection with these examinations. From the returns 

 received in November last, it appears that 3467 students were at 

 that time attending technical classes in different subjects, in 



accordance with the requirements of the programme ; and in 

 many cases the attendance was subsequently increased by 

 students entering the classes after the returns had been forwarded 

 to the central office. A satisfactory increase is shown in the 

 results of the recent examination as compared with that of any 

 preceding year. In 1881, 1563 candidates were examined at 

 115 centres in 28 different subjects, of whom 895 passed ; in 

 1882, 1972 candidates were examined at 147 centres in 37 sub- 

 jects, of whom 1222 passed. The provincial centres which, this 

 year, sent up the largest number of successful candidates were 

 Bolton with 124, Glasgow with 109, Manchester with 71, Brad- 

 ford with 62, and Oldham with 50. By reference to the occu- 

 pations of the candidates, it is found that in places where there 

 has been a large proportion of failures, many of the candidates 

 are not actually engaged in the industry in which they have been 

 examined. In 16 subjects there has been an increase in the 

 number of candidates. In " Mechanical Engineering," in which 

 the largest number of candidates presented themselves, there has 

 been an increase of 52 candidates. In " Cotton Manufacture " 

 the increase is 140 ; in " Mine-surveying " 44. Of the 1972 

 candidates who were this year examined, 506 have not been 

 educated in any of the classes in connection with the Institute, 

 the teachers of which receive payment on results. These 

 students have been prepared in various colleges, such as Uni- 

 versity College, London, the Technical College, Finsbury, the 

 Yorkshire College, Leeds, University College, Nottingham ; or 

 they have supplemented the information gained in the factory or 

 workshop by private study. Of the 1466 who have received 

 instruction in the registered classes of the Institute, 845 have 

 succeeded in passing. The percentage of failures this year, as 

 in former years, is less among the outside candidates, on the 

 results of whose examination no claim for payment is made by 

 any teacher. But, on the other hand, it is very satisfactory to 

 note that the percentage of failures in the registered classes of 

 the Institute has fallen from 506 in 1881 to 42-3 in 1882, whilst 

 the proportion of candidates taught in these classes has decidedly- 

 increased. 



The steamer A. E. Nordenskjold, belonging to M. Sibiriakoff, 

 left Tromsb on the 1 8th inst. for the Jenisei. The vessel has on 

 board a cargo of English merchandise, two steam launches, and 

 an engine for the Siberian gold works. The vessel will attempt 

 to save some of the cargo lost in the Oscar Dickson in Gydaviken, 

 and return next year with a full cargo of tea, which will be 

 brought from China across the Baikal sea to Kureika on the Jenisei. 



The two Swedish gunboats which conveyed the circumpjlar 

 observation party to Spitzbergen, have just returned to Tromsb. 

 Capt. Palander states that it was impossible to approach Mossel 

 Bay, he having made two attempts, on account of heavy pack- 

 ice, and that the party had therefore settled on Cape Thordsten 

 as their residence, where observations commenced on the 15th 

 inst. He further reports that all the Norwegian fishermen he 

 met co nplaincd of the unfavourable season and the enormous 

 quantity of ice this summer, no vessel having been able to get 

 higher than Amsterdam Island, from where no opening could 

 be seen by telescope in any direction. 



According to advice from the Geological expedition, which 

 the Swedish Government has despatched to Spitzbergen this 

 summer, the members were in Isefjord on the 6th inst. pursuing 

 their labours. 



At a meeting of the principal Swedish herring merchants 

 convened at Stromstad this month by Herr von Yhlen, Inspector 

 of the Fisheries of Sweden, this gentleman urged the necessity 

 of establishing a Board of Fisheries as existing in Scotland, and 

 the introduction of the " branding " system in use in the Scotch 

 herring trade, to which the excellent state of this industry in 

 Scotland, he stated, was entirely due. Herr v. Yhlen offered to 

 engage Scotch " coopers " to teach their method, a proposition 



