NA TURE 



[January 28, 1909 



'L'hc Synchronisation of Clocks. 



Atlcntion was directed in the public Press by Sir John 

 Coclvburn to the divergence in time shown by the publicly 

 ixposed clocks in London and other large centres, also 

 (lie inconvenience thus caused to the public. A suggestion 

 was received by the executive committee that a subcom- 

 nu'ttee should be appointed to deal with the subject. 



After careful consideration of evidence brought before it, 

 the committee drew up the report printed in Nature of 

 .August 13, 1908. This report was sent to the Lord Mavor, 

 J he London County Council, the General Post Office, His 

 .Majesty's Office of Works, the Local Government Board, 

 the British Horological Institute, and the various railway 

 companies. Most of the bodies referred to merely acknow- 

 ledged receipt of the communication, or else expressed dis- 

 inclination to act owing to administrative difficulties or to 

 the expense of synchronisation. The reply received from 

 the Public Health Department, Guildhall, City of London, 

 is of special interest, as it states " that the Corporation 

 on March 26, 1903, made it a condition of future consent 

 to the erection of clocks over public ways in the City that 

 they should be synchronised with Greenwich time." 



Naming of Streets. 



The executive council has considered the matter of 

 naming new streets, and the re-naming of streets, the 

 names of which it is intended to alter, after distinguished 

 men of science, now deceased. The members of the 

 executive committee were requested to send in names which 

 they considered it would be desirable to employ in this way. 

 A list containing a large number of names was thus draw-n 

 up, and was presented to the executive committee, who, 

 after careful consideration, reduced it to the following 

 thirty-one names : — Newton, Darwin, Harvey, Jenner, 

 Huxley, James Watt, Gilbert, Kelvin, Faraday, Joule, Clerk 

 Maxwell, Stokes, Tyndall, Captain Cook,' Livingstone, 

 Franklin, Ross, Bruce, Mungo Park, Cavendish, Dalton, 

 Priestley, Boyle, Andrews, Halley, Herschel, Horrocks, 

 Adams, Bradley, Howard, Piddington. This list was then 

 sent to the County Council with the following letter : — 



" I am directed' by the president, Mr. Haldane, to ask 

 you to be so good as to bring before the L.C.C. the 

 striking difference which exists between the street nomen- 

 clature in London and Paris. In the latter City there is 

 no illustrious French man of science whose name is not 

 connected with some street or square. It is hardly too 

 much to say that in London there is no case of which the 

 same can be said." 



" This matter has been inquired into bv the executive 

 I'ommittee of the British Science Guild, and I am directed 

 (o forward to you the accompanying list of thirty-one 

 names, which they have carefully considered, and think 

 I ould be properly used in this connection should the oppor- 

 I unity arise in the naming of new thoroughfares or the 

 I hange of name of old ones." 



" They are well aware that the present condition of 

 ihings has arisen in the past because there has been no 

 such body as the London County Council interested in the 

 nation's history and intellectual development; in its 

 absence, the builder and the owner of the land during the 

 last 300 years have been the chief people interested." 



New Patents and Designs Bill. 



Two years ago the Guild appointed a committee to 

 consider the question of the amendment of Patent Laws. 

 Sir John Cockburn was also appointed to confer with the 

 authorities of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, and 

 (o take part in a deputation to the President of the Board 

 of Trade. It is with pleasure that the Guild is able to 

 direct attention to the beneficial effect of the new Patent 

 Act of 1907, the results of which are now beginning to 

 be apparent. 



So far back as 1884, in his presidential address to the 

 Society of Chemical Industry, the late Sir William Perkin 

 -:aid that one of the causes of the loss of the coal-tar colour 

 mdustry to this country was the condition of our patent 

 laws. For more than tw'cnty years Mr. Levinstein and 

 others have been working to convince the Governments of 

 the need of reform in this direction. 



The consequences of the Act now in force are that, not 

 only are many wealthy foreign firms building new factories 



NO. 2048, VOL. 79] 



in this country, but that licences to work foreign patents 

 are being obtained by many purely British firms which, 

 before the passing of this Act, they were unable to secure. 

 .Messrs. Meister Lucius and Brunning, of Hochstam Main, 

 in Germany, have erected a factory at Port Ellesmere, on 

 the Mersey, and are now employing a large staff of worlc- 

 men in the preparation of anilin dyes, synthetic indigo, and 

 fine chemicals. The Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik 

 are also erecting large works on the Manchester Ship 

 Canal. The Gillette Razor Company, of America, have 

 works at Leicester. The German Pottery Co., of Alfred 

 Johnson and Co., are starting works in Kent, and many 

 other firms from abroad are setting up w^orks at Liver- 

 pool, Manchester, Warrington, Enfield, Tottenham, and 

 other localities. Altogether about twenty new works have 

 been erected by foreign patentees owing to the passing of 

 this new Act, and independent of these a large number of 

 licences have been granted to British firms. 



Formation of Sections in Australia atid Canada. 

 A committee has been formed in Sydney, New South 

 Wales, with the Hon. Sir H. Normand MacLaurin, Chan- 

 cellor of Sydney University, as chairman, and Dr. Walter 

 Spencer as secretary. .\ number of members have joined 

 the New South Wales branch of the British Science Guild. 

 In Montreal a strong committee has been brought together, 

 with Mr. George E. Drummond as president and Prof. 

 H. T. Barnes as secretary. It is intended to hold a meet- 

 ing at the end of the winter, either in Montreal or Toronto, 

 to inaugurate the Canadian branch of the Guild. The 

 formation of branches of the Guild in the colonies will add 

 strength to the parent society, and cannot fail to foster 

 goodwill between the colonies and the Mother Country, 

 thus helping to strengthen the fabric of the Empire. 



Presentation of Illuminated Address to President Fallieres. 

 The opportunity of the visit of the President of the 

 French Republic to England to inspect the Franco-British 

 Exhibition was taken advantage of to present him with an 

 illuminated address. The movement was originated by Sir 

 Norman Lockyer, and after consultation with the Royal 

 Society and the Royal Academy, the Guild was asked to 

 undertake the work. The address was presented on May 

 27, 1908, at St. James's Palace, and was received by M. 

 Fallieres in a most cordial manner. 



SYSTEM jlND SCIENCE IN EDUCATION. 

 Primary and Secondary Education. 

 A FTER taking into consideration the memorandum prc- 

 "^ pared by the chairman of the executive committer, 

 the education committee has adopted the following reso- 

 lutions which embody and extend those already submitted 

 to the executive committee : — ■ 



(i) No local authority or other body should be empowered 

 to grant total exemption from attendance at school lo 

 children under fourteen years of age. 



(2) Provision should be made for compulsory attendance 

 at day or evening (preferably day) continuation schools for 

 young persons above the age of fourteen years, who are 

 not attending craft or secondary schools, for two to four 

 hours a week during two years of forty weeks In each 

 year. Pupils attending evening continuation schools be- 

 tween these ages should not be permitted to commence 

 work before 8 a.m. on those days on which they attend 

 the schools. The number of hours during which pupils 

 attend part-time day or evening continuation schools should 

 be counted as " hours of employment " for the purpose of 

 the Acts dealing with the employment of young persons. 



(3) There should be established in all educational areas 

 a sufficient number of craft schools with a two-years' 

 course for boys and girls between the ages of about four- 

 teen and sixteen years. Due regard should be paid in 

 these schools to the continuance of the general education 

 of the pupils, but special provision should be made for 

 sound scientific and technical training in relation to the 

 industries or requirements of the district. The aim of 

 these schools should be to provide preparatory training in 



1 Reports of 1 

 annual general r 



