2?6 



NATURE 



[August 17, 191 1 



where they may be quite broad, they have strongly sug- 

 gested the " dawn " or glow that precedes a bright raoon- 

 rise. I li.ii luminositj is uniformlj steady. 



The reason I refer to this matter as haze, and the 

 reason I think it is only ordinary haze made self-luminous, 

 is because on one occasion I watched a mass of it in the 

 north-western sky which was slowly drifting northerly in 

 the region of the great " dipper " of Ursa Major as day- 

 light came on. These hazy luminous strips had been 

 visible all the latter part of the night — new strips coming 

 and going slowly, sometimes several being seen at once. 

 \, daylighl killed them out I noticed, when the light had 

 increased sufficiently, that there were strips of ordinary haze 

 exactly the same in form and motion, and occupying the 

 sami region of the sky. I am sure they were the same 

 masses that had appeared luminous on the night sky. My 

 impression, therefore, is that these hazy luminous strips 

 were only the ordinary haze which had for some reason 

 become self-luminous. I am specially certain that these 

 masses are not luminous as a result "I anj great altitude 

 which might bring them within reach "I the miii's light, for 

 they were frequently seen in such positions that the sun's 

 rays could nevei reach them. The sun or moon, therefore, 

 had nothing to do with their illumination. It is also need- 

 less to say that they are not related to the pulsating 

 auroral clouds which 1 have previously mentioned. 



I have not noticed this luminous haze in former years, 

 though it may have been present ; and did it not seem un- 

 reasonable, one might suspect some relation between this 

 condition of the atmosphere and the possible passage of the 

 earth through a portion of the tail of Halley's comet on 

 May 19, 1910. 



It seems to me that these objects should he observed and 

 a record made of the times of their visibility and their 

 motion, &c. It would be valuable to have records of them 

 from different stations to see if their luminosity is due to 

 some general condition of the earth's atmosphere at the 

 time. It is not probable that this luminosity is in any way 

 due to local conditions. Jn the records here given, it is 

 possible that on one or two occasions an aurora was also 

 present, but I have tried to confine (he accounts to what I 

 have- called, and believe to be, self-luminous haze. They 

 were not seen previous to June 7, into. 



[Prof. Barnard then gave details of observations made 

 on various dates from June 7, mm, to March 2, 10 1 1 .] 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 



INTELLIGENCE. 

 An advanced course of instruction on " The Systematic 

 Design and Manufacture of Dynamo-electric Machinery " 

 will be given at the City and Guilds (Engineering) College, 

 South Kensington, during the forthcoming session, under 

 the general supervision of Prof. T. Mather, F.R.S., 

 professor of electrical engineering at the college. The 

 coursi is to prepare men to take up positions as designers 

 in electrical works. It will deal with present-day problems 

 in design, construction, and testing, in a thoroughly prac- 

 tical manner. An experienced designer and draughtsman, 



for the purpose, will devote his whole 

 time lo the drawing-office work in connection with the 

 1, inti iid. (1 for post-graduate and other 

 duly qualified students, the numbei of which will be strictly 

 limited. ^pDlication for admission to the whole course, or 

 parts thereof, mould hi made by letter to tin- Dean, City 

 and Guild (Engineering) College, Exhibition Road, London, 

 S.W. 



Thf President of the Hoard of Education has appointed 

 a departmental committee to inquire and report — (a) 

 Whether it would be inconsistent with due regard to educa- 

 tional and hygienic consideration! thai lie- minimum 

 standard of playground accommodation for new public 



elemei ribed in the Building Regulations 



of the Board of Education — viz. 30 feet per head of 

 accommodation — should be modified or adjusted according 

 to the size, design, or situation of schools, the proximity 

 of ation grounds or open spa ity of popula- 



tion, the cost of land, or otherwise. fM How far it is 



NO. 2 l8l, VOL. 87] 



possible or desirable to define more precisely the standard 

 of playground accommodation which the Board of Educa- 

 tion will require under the Code of Regulations for Public ! 

 h lenieiii 11 \ Schools in the case of existing schools or to 

 regulate the practice of the Hoard of Education in dealing 

 with cases in which the playground accommodation is con- 

 sidered to be insufficient. The committee will consist of 

 Mr. I.. A. Selby-Bigge, C.B., principal assistant-secretary 

 of the Elementary Education Branch of the Board of 

 Education (chairman) ; Sir George Newman, chief medical 

 officer of the Hoard of Education: Mr. J. C. lies, H.M.I., 

 divisional inspector for the North-western Division; Mr. 

 F. H. B. Dale, H.M.I., divisional inspector for the Metro- 

 politan Division: Mr. A. B. McLachlan, of the Local 

 Government Board; with Mr. L. J. Morison as secretary. 



The latest report of the U.S. Commissioner of Education 

 gives some inti resting statistics of the so-called land-grant 

 colleges, established under the provisions of the Act of 

 Congress of July 2. 1S62, and receiving aid from the 

 Federal Government from funds provided by Acts of 

 <s of iSno and 1007. Each State received from the 

 U.S. Treasury during the year ended June 30, 1010, the 

 sum of Rooo/. for the benefit of these land-grant colleges — 

 commonly called agricultural and mechanical colleges 

 making a total of 400,000?., exclusive of the sums paid for 

 experiment-station purposes, expended by the Federal 

 Government in aid of these colleges. There are sixty-eight 

 cf these institutions, sixteen of which are separate institu- 

 tions for the coloured race. These colleges are in a period 

 of rapid growth, shown by a marked increase in the 

 number of instructors and students and the valui of their 

 property and income. The total number of instructors 

 during the year in all departments of tie sixty-eight 

 colleges was 6665, of which 742 were women. The total 

 number of students enrolled for the year was So. 046, an 

 increase of q-6 per cent, over the preceding year. The 

 total value of the property held for the benefit of these 

 colleges amounts to 23,568,600/., an increase for the year 

 of qio.ooo/. The total income from all sources, excluding 

 the grants for experiment stations, was for lie year 

 about 4,180,000/., an increase of some 450,000/. dining the 

 year. 



Thh " Directory for Higher Education, 1011-12," issued 

 by the Education Committee of the Staffordshire County 

 Council, contains the regulations of the committee and 

 details of schemes in operation throughout the county. 

 Very complete provision is made for technological instruc- 

 tion, and among the subjects catered for the following 

 may be mentioned: — Instruction in mining is provided by 

 means of lecturers, whose whole time is devoted to the 

 work, and their assistants. For this purpose the county is 

 divided into two portions, comprising the North Stafford- 

 shire coalfields and the South Staffordshire coalfields 

 respectively. Theoretical and practical classes in metallurgy 

 and iron and steel manufacture are conducted in accordance 

 with the regulations of the Board of Education and the 

 City and Guilds of London Institute. Instruction is also 

 provided in pottery and porcelain manufacture, boot and 

 shoe manufacture, silk manufacture, and in wrought-iron 

 work. In order to enable teachers in elementary and 

 secondary schools to impart instruction in various branches 

 of technical and manual trainmg, the committee pr< 

 special classes at convenient centres. In localities where 

 suitable instruction is provided already, cla e pproved 



subjects are recognised by the committee, and with the 

 object of encouraging the attendance of teachers at such 



la :es, grants towards their railway fares are made The 

 work of the committee in rural districts falls under three 

 heads : instruction directly supplied in special subjects, viz. 

 agriculture, horticulture, hygiene, domestic subjects, and 



W 1 carving and drawing; evening schools taught by local 



teachers, and earning a grant from the Board of Education; 

 and experimental and demonstration plots. 



'fur Charitj Commission has given notice that it pro- 

 po 1 to make an ordei establishing .1 scheme for the 

 future regulation ol the People's Palace in East London 

 The schi hat wifh reference t" the adminis- 



tration of i1m East Londo 1 n onncction with 



