NA TURE 



[November 19, ioo>< 



present such women cannot be obtained. Referring to 

 students undergoing training with the view of teaching 

 home arts scientifically, lie said the main difficulties the 

 instruccors of these students have to contend with are 

 that, even at this late date, a number of the students have 

 not had any previous scientific training at the secondary 

 school. Many of the students ■will keep their minds in 

 water-tight compartments. To them, the science work is 

 one thing, the domestic subjects another, and between the 

 two they draw no connections ; and, greatest of all, to 

 develop the subject logically we have to work in the 

 laboratory from the simple to the complex. 



Lord Roseberv, Chancellor of the University of London, 

 in opening University College Hall, Ealing, on Tuesday, 

 made some remarks upon the functions of a university. 

 The hall provides a place of residence for students at the 

 college. In declaring the building open, Lord Roseberv 

 said it marked another milestone on that path of university 

 development which seemed to open broader and with more 

 promise at every step. First, the University of London 

 was a purely examining university, then it developed into 

 a teaching university, and now it is a university with 

 some of the o'.d collegiate aspects as well. The University 

 is no longer, if it ever was, a purely London university ; 

 it is more and more developing into an imperial uni- 

 versity. Each day sees it summoning from every part of 

 Great Britain and of the British Empire students anxious 

 to obtain the advantages of its constituent schools. A 

 university should comprehend everything that is whole- 

 some and valuable for the development of brain and of 

 character. The hall now opened is one of the many 

 symptoms of the growth of corporate life in the University. 

 University associations of various kinds are growing up, 

 and it is obviously a very thin-blooded, one-sided university 

 that only provides for the intellect of its students. Human 

 sympathy, human contact, all the valuable human elements 

 that go to build up character are required, for a university 

 which produces nothing but brain and neglects the forma- 

 tion of character is no university at all. The function 

 of a university is not merely to pump knowledge into 

 units by teaching and to extract it afterwards by examina- 

 tion, but to produce living men, who are going to take 

 a part in the vast fabric of society within these islands. 



Through the generosity of Mr. Edric Bayley, who gave 

 a sum of 5000/. to the building extensions, and by a large 

 supplementary sum given by the County Council, a con- 

 siderable extension has been made at the Borough Poly- 

 technic Institute. It consists, in the first place, of a large 

 examination hall, which can also be used for entertain- 

 ments and public meetings, and below this hall new 

 laboratories and class-rooms have been built. A very 

 complete laboratory for oil and colour work is one of the 

 most striking of the additions. This has accommodation 

 for forty students, besides the lecture theatre, balance 

 room, and laboratory ; there is also a portion set apart for 

 colour mixing and for grinding of colours, so that, besides 

 working on the test-tube scale in the laboratory, the 

 students can work on a semi-commercial scale. There is 

 also an extension to the bakery department and a new 

 book-binding workshop. The opening ceremony took place 

 on Friday evening, November 13, w'hen Lord Carrington, 

 in a short speech, declared the' buildings open. He re- 

 ferred to the fact that when he was at school, although 

 Ihe fees were high, they learnt very little except Latin and 

 Gieek. Science and laboratory equipment were absolutely 

 unknown, and now in London, and also in the provinces, 

 the highest scientific training can be obtained almost for 

 the asking. He thought that the nation owed a very 

 ffieat debt of gratitude to public supporting men like Mr. 

 I?rivley, who made it possible for education to be placed 

 withm the reach of even the poorest. The chairman, Mr. 

 Spuer. in his onening remarks said that the governing 

 bodv will be well repaid for anv trouble thev have taken 

 by the stimulus given to the work of the institute hy the 

 erection of these new buildings. Sir Philip Magnus, 

 chairman of the education committee of the institute, said 

 that the governors have always resisted the temptation to 

 use the institute as a place for obtaining degrees, as it 

 was founded to give education to the artisan classes, and 

 they have always kept this object in view^ in any nltera- 

 NO. 2038, VOL. 79] 



tions or e.xtensions. The trade classes are particularly 

 fostered in the institute. Mr. Robinson, chairman of the 

 London County Council, expressed his pleasure at being 

 present, and said that the County Council, before it gives 

 money, always wishes to know whether it gets value for 

 money, and there is no doubt that in giving to an institute 

 of this kind value is obtained. 



There has been in recent years a serious decline in the 

 number of pupils studying German in the secondary 

 schools throughout the country. It is true that many 

 subjects clamour for increased attention and others for 

 recognition in the curriculum of these schools, while the 

 number of hours available for instruction is limited. 

 Headmasters find it difficult nicely to adjudicate between 

 the conflicting claims ; but from the point of view of the 

 man of science and of the needs of great commercial 

 houses the claims of German to generous recognition seem 

 very strong. We are glad, therefore, to notice that a 

 letter on the subject, signed by representatives of the 

 Modern Language Association, the London Chamber of 

 Commerce Education Committee, the Society of University 

 Teachers of German, the Teachers' Guild, and the British 

 Science Guild has been sent to the President of the Board 

 of Education urging the paramount importance of 

 encouraging the study of German in secondary schools. 

 The letter points out that there is much to do if the un- 

 fortunate decay of German teaching is to be checlced, and 

 it proceeds : — " We therefore venture to suggest that your 

 Board should consider the desirability of calling the 

 attention of educational authorities, governing bodies, and 

 the principals of secondary schools to the steady decline 

 in the study of German, and should, by means of a 

 circular, as in the case of Latin, or such other method 

 as may be thought fit, submit to those authorities and 

 to the public generally the many weighty and urgent 

 reasons for regarding an acquaintance with German as 

 being of the first importance to great numbers of young 

 men and women, and a widespread knowledge of the 

 language a national necessity. We would urge, moreover, 

 that the Board should encourage and foster schools of the 

 type of the German Realschule and Oberrealschule, in 

 which two modern languages, but not Latin, are taught. 

 The latter of these in Prussia ranks in standing with the 

 Gymnasium, and its leaving certificate confers the same 

 rights. Of schools devoting special attention to modern, 

 as against classical, languages, there are at present in this 

 country very few. Lastly, we would suggest that it should, 

 as a general rule, be required that schools should make 

 provision for the teaching of German to those pupils who 

 wish to learn it, as it is now required that provision should 

 be made for the teaching of Latin." 



I 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Royal Society, Mav 28. — " Transparent Silver and Other 

 Metallic Films." By Prof. Thomas Turner. 



In a Bakerian lecture, delivered fifty-one years ago, 

 Faraday showed that thin sheets of gold or silver, if 

 mounted on glass and heated, became transparent. Beilby 

 has also studied the annealing of gold-leaf and wire. 

 The present research deals with a study of the conditions 

 under which gold and silver become transparent, and 

 extends the inquiry to copper and to certain other metals. 

 It is shown that gold when about i /300,000th of an inch 

 in thickness becomes transparent if heated to 550° C. for 

 a few moments. The effect is the same whether the 

 atmosphere be oxidising or reducing, and if the support- 

 ing medium be changed. Transparency is due to the gold 

 aggregating, and permitting white light to pass through 

 the intermediate spaces. 



In the case of silver the effect is quite different. No 

 transparency is obtained with sheets about i/i20,oooth 

 of an inch in thickness so long as the atmosphere is a 

 reducing one, such as hydrogen or coal gas. In air, 

 however, transparency begins at about 240°, and is com- 

 plete in a few moments at 390°. White light is now 

 transmitted, and the transparency is remarkably complete. 

 Transparent silver does not become opaque if heated in a 

 reducing atmosphere, but it can be converted into the 



