292 



NATURE 



[September i, 19 10 



The governing body of the Battersea Polytechnic is 

 arranging considerable developments for next session in 

 the work of the Domestic Economy Department of the 

 Battersea Polytechnic. An entirely new third-year course 

 will be introduced. This course will carry forward greatly 

 the application of science to housecraft. It will consist, in 

 the main, of much more elaborate work both on the 

 theoretical and practical sides in the subjects of physiology, 

 hygiene, chemistry, physics, and biology. It is intended 

 that special attention shall be given to the carrying for- 

 ward on the scientific side of the processes which underHe 

 the arts of cookery, laundrywork, and housewifery. It is 

 intended, too, that students shall spend some of their time 

 in practical research work upon the various biological and 

 chemical processes in which so much of their work will 

 be done. 



The report of the Hebdomadal Council of Oxford Uni- 

 versity, entitled " Principles and Methods of University 

 Reform," has been published by the Clarendon Press. 

 Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Chancellor of the University, 

 contributes an introduction on behalf of the council. We 

 hope later to deal with the important proposals contained 

 in the report, but attention may here be directed to the 

 question of compulsory Greek and the suggested entrance 

 examination. The council proposes that Greek shall be 

 no longer a compulsory subject, but that every candidate 

 must, in order to pass Responsions, satisfy the masters 

 of the schools in Latin and in elementary mathematics, 

 and also either in (a) Greek or in (b) two other subjects, 

 one, and only one, of which must be a modern language. 

 The optional subjects include, besides modern languages, 

 English history, elementary politics, elementary trigono- 

 metry, statics and dynamics, elementary physics and 

 chemistry, and the general principles of geography and 

 the geography of the British Isles and Empire. The pro- 

 posal to make Greek an optional subject is, says Lord 

 Curzon in his introduction, based " mainly on the fact that 

 the non-Greek curriculum is now firmly established, not 

 only in the secondary schools receiving grants from 

 Government, but also, as an alternative course laken by 

 many boys, in the older public schools, which supply a 

 large proportion of the students of the University." The 

 question of compulsory Greek has been purposely separated 

 from that of an entrance examination. The scheme for 

 an entrance examination framed by the council is as 

 follows : — There will be, in substitution for Responsions, 

 an entrance examination, conducted on behalf of the 

 University by the Delegates for the Inspection and 

 Examination of Schools. This examination will include 

 three necessary subjects and optional subjects. In order 

 to pass, a candidate must qualify in the three necessary 

 subjects at one and the same time, and must also pass 

 in two of the optional subjects, either when he passes in 

 the necessary subjects or at some other time. The neces- 

 sary subjects will be English, to be tested by an essay 

 or a composition on materials supplied, e.g. prfeis or 

 reproduction of a passage read aloud ; Latin or Greek ; 

 elementary mathematics ; two papers, (<i) arithmetic and 

 algebra, (fc) geometry. The optional subjects will be 

 practically the same as those suggested for Responsions. 

 Referring to the entrance examination, Lord Curzon points 

 out that, in adopting the view that school studies should 

 be excluded from the curriculum of the University, and 

 that all matriculated students should be required to have 

 received a minimum standard of general education, the 

 council believes the University will be acting in its best 

 interests by helping to maintain a proper standard in the 

 schools which prepare for it. 



SOCIETIES .4ND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 22. — M. Emile Picard 

 in the chair. — The president announced the death of 

 M. Eugene Rouch^. — Paul Sabatier and .\. Maiihe : 

 The catalytic preparation of the phenolic oxides and the 

 diphenylenic oxides. The authors have applied the cata- 

 lytic properties of thoria to the preparation of phenyl 

 ether and its homologues. The thoria is maintained at a 

 temperature of between 390° C. and 450° C, and the 

 vapour of the phenol passed over it. The yield is good ; 



NO. 2 13 1, VOL. 84] 



but if the temperature is raised another reaction, charac- 

 terised by the elimination of hydrogen, takes place, the 

 oxide of diphenylene being formed. The reaction applies 

 to the cresols and .xylenols. — J. Guillaume : Observations 

 of the sun made at the Observatory of Lyons during the 

 second quarter of 1910. Observations were possible on 

 fifty-four days, and the results are recorded in tables 

 showing the number of spots, the distribution of the spots 

 in latitude, and the distribution of the faculae in latitude. 

 — M. Schaumasse : Observations of the Metcalf comet 

 made at the Observatory of Nice with the bent equatorial 

 of 40-cm. aperture. The comet appears as a nebulosity 

 of the tenth magnitude, with a well-marked condensation. 

 — Michel Fekete : A theorem of M. Landau. — C. 

 Maltezos : The real image of Purkinje. — L. Fondard 

 and F. Gauthie : The composition of carnations with 

 flexible stems and rigid stems. Three American varieties 

 of carnation with rigid stems, and one French variety with 

 flexible stems, have been analysed, and the differences in 

 the stilTness of the stems found to be accompanied with 

 distinct differences in composition. — Ed. Hesse : Trypano- 

 plasma vaginalis, a new species found as a parasite in 

 the vagina of the leech. — E. Roubaud : A Bombex prey- 

 ing on the Glossina of Dahomey. This wasp is one of 

 the very small number of species known to capture the 

 mosquito. 



Calcutta. 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, Aiigu^t -(. — Manindra Nath 

 Banerjee : .A system of Indian scientific vocabulary. 

 This paper attempts to give Sanskrit equivalents for a 

 number of European scientific terms, mostly on the basis 

 of phonetic resemblance. With the help of dictionaries and 

 grammars, the Sanskrit words are made to yield the mean- 

 ings warranted by their European originals. — Panchanan 

 Ncogi and Birendra Bhusan Adhikary : The preparation 

 of phenyl-nitro-methane bv the interaction of mercurous 

 nitrite and benzyl chloride. The present work is in con- 

 tinuation of RAy and Neogi's work on the preparation of 

 aliphatic nitro-compounds by the interaction of mercurous 

 nitrite and alkyliodides. The authors have prepared phenyl 

 nitrite and alkyliodides. — D. Hooper : Materia Medica 

 Animalium Indica. .\ classified list of substances of the 

 animal kingdom used in Indian medicine, with notes on 

 their origin, history, uses, and chemical composition. The 

 list is compiled from several works on Indian materia 

 medica, with original observations of the author. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Colour-vision 263 



A History of Biological Theories 263 



Science in School 264 



Classic Wall-painting. By A. H. C 265 



Our Book Shelf . 265 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Separating Power of a Telescope. J. W. Scholes ; 



T. Lewis 266 



Colour-vision. — R. M. Deeley 267 



Lake Edward, Ruwenzori, and the Uganda-Congo 



Frontier. By E. H. H 267 



William James 268 



Dr. Louis Olivier 269 



Notes 269 



Our Astronomical Column : — 



Astronomical Occurrences in September 272 



The Paris Observatory 272 



Observations of Comet 1910a 272 



The Sun's Velocity through Space 272 



Parallax of Fourth-type Stars 273 



The Maximum of Mira in 1909 273 



The Study of Double Stars for .\mateurs 273 



Metcalf's Comet, igio* 273 



The Royal Photographic Society's Exhibition . . 273 



The British Association at Sheffield 274 



Inaugural Address by the Rev. Prof. T. G. Bonney, 

 Sc.D., LL.D., F.R.S., President of the 



Association 274 



Section A. — Mathematical and Physical Science. — 

 Opening Address by Prof. E. W. Hobson, 



Sc.D., F.R.S., President of the Section . . . 2S4 



University and Educational Intelligence 291 



Societies and Academies 292 



