qO& 



NATURE 



September 21, 191 1 



ivour to include in any extension that we may here- 

 after devise for our scheme of scholarships some provision 

 for encouraging the study of the fine arts on lines corre- 

 sponding to those which have proved so efficacious in 

 relation to science and its applications. In such assistance 

 as we may afford from time to time to the solution of 

 problems affecting the industrial welfare of the nation, we 

 shall have regard principally to schemes which from their 

 nature require support from other than ordinary soun 



The firsl part o( the Board of Education statistics of 

 public education in England and Wales for the school year 

 1909-10, dealing with educational statistics, has been pub- 

 lished (Cd. 5843). In his preface Sir Robert Morant points 

 out that the Board has not for the year under review been 

 able to make any substantial change in the statistics of 

 technical institutions, evening schools, and allied classes. 

 It is hoped, however, that when the proposed new regula- 

 tions have come into operation, it will be possible to 

 provfde a series of tables relating to " further education," 

 in which the various types of schools will be more clearly 

 differentiated than is at present possible. As regards 

 technical institutions — that is to say, institutions giving an 

 organised course of instruction in day classes, including 

 advanced instruction in science, or in science and in art, 

 and provided with a staff and equipment adequate for the 

 purpose and fulfilling other requirements laid down by the 

 Board — there were 35 recognised during the year ; and they 

 provided 124 courses in which 736 teachers were employed. 

 The number of students who attended at any time during 

 the year was 2946, and on 2584 of these grants were paid 

 by the Board. Of these 2946 students, 190 were under 

 16 years of age, 735 under 18 but over 16, 1284 over 18 

 but under 21 years of age, and 737 were over 21. In 

 addition to these students of technical institutions there 

 are many other students studying science and technology 

 in day technical classes. In a series of tables the Board 

 provides information of 230 courses held in ioq institutions 

 in which day technical classes were recognised, but points 

 out that " the ' day technical classes ' to which the 

 following tables relate constitute merely a small fraction 

 of the whole number of day technical classes in existence 

 in England." In the 230 courses mentioned there were 

 10,924 students taught by 983 teachers. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, September 4. — M. Armand Gautier 

 in the chair. — Kr. Birkeland : The electrical constitution 

 of the sun. A development of views put forward in two 

 earlier communications. The photosphere is regarded as a 

 sea of electric arcs. The bearing of these views on 

 Laplace's nebular hypothesis is discussed, since, if matter 

 is radiated under the action of electrical forces, it is not 

 necessary to assume that at one time the nebula extended 

 to the rirl.il of Neptune, and this reduces the force of 

 Moulton's objections to Laplace's theory. — M. Merlin : 

 Some theorems of arithmetic and an enunciation which 

 contains them. Henri Villat : A mixed problem of the 

 theory of harmonic ' functions in an annular area. — Ed. 

 Griffon : A singular case of variation by budding in the 

 peach tree. A description of the appearance of shoots of 

 d, bearing blossom, on a peach tree. — Marcel 

 Baudouin : Human post-mortem actions on the human 

 in the bone caves of the polished stone period. — 

 Stanilas Meunier; An Egyptian meteorite recently pre- 



1 to the museum. This meteorite appears to ! 

 to a new lithological type, and will be desciii 

 in a later communication. 



September 11. — M. Armand Gautier in the chair. — 

 Emile Picard : An addition to a theorem relating to 

 integral equations of the third species. — Armand Gautier : 

 The mechanism of the variation of race, and the mole- 

 cular transformations which accompany these variations. 

 — A. Korn : An important class of asymmetrical nuclei in 

 the theory of integral equations. — Tr. Lalesco : Theorem 

 on characteristic values. — L. E. J. Brouwer : The theorem 

 of M. Jordan in space of 11 dimensions. — A. Blondel : The 

 various methods of measuring orientation in wireless tele- 

 graphy. — C. Statescu : Solutions of heterogeneous mag- 

 NO. 2l86. VOL. 87] 



netic salts in a heterogeneous magnetic field. — P. Mahler 

 and E. Goutal : The use of combustion under pressure for 

 estimating carbon in steel. A modified calorimetric bomb, 

 not enamelled, and having a capacity of 1 litre, has been 

 used for the direct combustion of iron and steel in oxygen 

 under a pressure of 25 atmospheres. The carbon dioxide 

 produced is absorbed in a standard solution of baryta. 

 The method is shown to compare favourably, as regards 

 accuracy, with the usual methods, and has the advantages 

 of rapidity and ease of execution. — Paul Vuillemin : 

 Mutation of a hybrid transmitted to its descendants. — E. 

 Roubaud : The Chaeromyies, a new Diptera with larva; 

 sucking the blood of mammals. — H. de Dorlodot and 

 Ach. Salee : The synchronism of the Carboniferous lime- 

 stone of the Boulonnais with that of Belgium and 

 England. 



Gottingen. 



Royal Societv of Sciences. —The Nachrichten (physifO: 

 mathematical section), part ii. for 191 1, contains the 

 following memoirs communicated to the society : — 



January 14. — C. Runge : The radio-activity of air from 

 the open sea. 



February 25. — H. Weyl : The asymptotic distribution of 

 particular solutions in integral equations. — G. Angren- 

 heister and C. Rohloff : Meteorological observations ,,. 

 the South Seas, from the Samoa Observatory. 



March n. — R. Cans: The electron theory of fe«-ro- 

 magnetism, ii. — G. Tammann : The alterations in the 

 properties of metals due to mechanical treatment. 



The Business Communications of the society, part i. 

 for 1911, contain the ninth report on the publication of 

 Gauss's works, and the tenth report of the Samoa 

 Observatory for 1910-11. 



CONTENTS. page 



The Progress of Physics. By Sir Oliver Lodge, 



F.R.S 375 



Chemical Structure and Physiological Action . . . 378 



Mechanism in Cruciferous Flowers 378 



Fact and Fancy in Dietetics. By W. D. H 379 



Our Book Shelf 380 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Ocze of the Thames— Rev. Hilderic Friend . 381 



Ancient Forests in Scotland — George Turner . . 3S1 

 "The Polynesian Wanderings "-William Churchill ; 



Sidney H. Ray . . . 381 



Habits of Hogs — Robert Venables ; R. Hooper 



Pearson . . 382 



A Gilbert White Manuscript— Wilfred Mark Webb 382 



Miniature Rainbows — A. L. Leach 382 



Argentina and the Andes. (Illustrated.) 383 



The Eruption of Etna. By Dr. C. Davison .... 384 

 The Centenary Celebration of the University of 



Christiania. By Sir G. H. Darwin, K.C.B., F.R.S. 3S4 

 Celebration of the Five-Hundredth Anniversary of 

 the Foundation of the University of St Andrews. 



By W. C. M. . . 385 



Edward Whymper. By Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S. j8jj 



Notes . . 38S 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



The Expected Return of Comet 1905 II. (Borrelly) . 392 

 The Discovery of Eclipsing Variables : 6 Auriga: a 



Variable Siar . . 392 



Comelary Phenomena 393 



Observations and Catalogues of Nebula: 393 



A Xew Observatory in Africa 393 



Recent Soil Investigations . . . . 393 

 The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 



America. By Charles P. Butler . 394 



Coast-surveying. By H. G. L. . 394 



Work of a London Natural History Society . . . 394 



Transmission of Trypanosomes 395 



The British Association at Portsmouth: — 



Section K. — Botany. — Opening Address by Prof. 



F. E. Weiss, D.Sc, President of the Section 395 

 Sub-section K. — Agriculture. — Opening Address by 

 w. Bateson, M.A., F.R.S., Chairman of the 



Sub-section 401 



University and Educational Intelligence 406 



Societies and Academies 40S 



