October 5, 191 1] 



NATURE 



473 



i course of study in naval architecture at one of the 

 ollowing institutions : — the Royal Naval College, Green- 

 wich ; University of Glasgow; Armstrong College, New- 

 :astle-upon-Tyne (Durham University) ; or University of 

 Liverpool. The value of the scholarship is to be 200/. 

 >er annum, and it may be tenable in ordinary circum- 

 1 stances for two years. The holder will be required to 

 :ngage in research work at some approved institution at 

 iome or abroad where special facilities are available for 

 advanced study in naval architecture, and/or to investigate 

 :he development of the shipbuilding industry by attaching 

 limself to some recognised firm or establishment at home 

 3r abroad. The results of research carried on by the 

 scholar will be published in the Transactions of the Institu- 

 :ion of Naval Architects if the council of the institution 

 ieem advisable. 



It is announced in The Pioneer Mail that the Secretary 

 jf State for India has recently sanctioned the modified 

 scheme proposed by the local government authorities for 

 • :he establishment of a technological institute at Cawnpore. 

 The original scheme, which was put forward in 1907, on 

 ' che recommendations of the Naini Tal Industrial Con- 

 ' ference, proposed the formation of an institute with a staff 

 of four technological chemists, and four assistant pro- 

 fessors, with large laboratories. Financial considerations 

 rendered its immediate introduction impossible, and it 

 became evident that a more modest beginning must be 

 made. The proposals, however, have been framed so as 

 to admit of future expansion, and the new institute will 

 be such that it can be adapted to form part of any more 

 extensive organisation that may be required subsequently. 

 For the present it is proposed to employ a chemist with 

 four assistants to carry on research and to train students. 

 Close to the institute will be a scientific library, which will 

 be shared with the Agricultural Department. One of the 

 main causes which operate against the success of scientific 

 and technical research in India will thus be removed, and 

 the staff of the new institute will be provided with facilities 

 which in India are too rare. The sanction is conditional 

 on funds being available from provincial revenues, but it 

 is to be hoped that no difficulty will be experienced in 

 finding such funds. 



The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruc- 

 tion for Ireland has issued in the form of a pamphlet an 

 article which appeared in its Journal (vol. xi., No. 4) on 

 "Technical Education in Clonmel," by Mr. Cecil Webb, 

 principal of the Technical and Day Trades Preparatory 

 Schools, Clonmel. Mr. Webb points out that in the towns 

 of the south of Ireland technical education often finds a 

 difficult task, namely, to arrest decay and rekindle hope 

 in a declining and disheartened population. Clonmel pre- 

 sents this problem. After reviewing the history of the 

 attempts in Clonmel to develop a system of technical 

 education, Mr. Webb directs attention to a special feature 

 of the present scheme of instruction in the town. This 

 has been the endeavour to make the work of the school a 

 means of reviving the road carriage-building industry 

 which, when the technical school was started, still existed 

 in Clonmel in a precarious way. A class in coach-building 

 was formed under a well-qualified local carriage-builder. 

 The effect upon the local industry has been very gratify- 

 ing. The design and construction of cars have greatly 

 improved. At show after show through the country 

 Clonmel cars have carried off the prizes. Their repute has 

 spread, and summer and winter the coachbuilders in 

 Clonmel are now kept busy. Such an effect could only be 

 attained by the technological training which the school 

 provided, being backed by enterprise and perseverance on 

 the part of those engaged in the trade. 

 _ In the recently published " Statistics of Public Educa- 

 tion in England and Wales, Part i.," some interesting 

 numbers are given referring to the further education or 

 occupation of pupils above twelve years of age who left 

 secondary schools on the grant list of the Board of Educa- 

 tion during the year ending July 31, 1909. The table in 

 which the information is contained is based on data 

 collected by the schools and recorded for each pupil in the 

 admission registers. The total number of such boys and 

 girls was 38,200, and of these 6790, or 178 per cent., 

 went to a place of further education ; 6048, or 15.8 per 

 NO. 2l88, VOL. 87] 



cent., became teachers (including pupil-teachers) in 

 elementary schools, or entered training colleges for 

 elementary-school teachers; 11,136, or 292 per cent., 

 entered upon some professional, commercial, or clerical 

 occupation ; 3356, or 8-8 per cent., entered upon some 

 industrial or manual avocation; 1001, or 26 per cent., 

 took up agriculture or some rural pursuit ; and of the 

 residue — 9869, or 25-8 per cent. — 12-8 per cent, remained 

 at home, 2-4 per cent, went abroad, 12 per cent, left 

 owing to illness or died, and in the case of 9-4 per cent, 

 the occupation was unknown or unclassified. Another 

 table shows that on January 31, 1910, there were in the 

 secondary schools on the grant list 141,149 pupils, of whom 

 106,248 were twelve years of age or over. Of these, 

 2 3'5 P er cent, were twelve and under thirteen ; 26 per cent, 

 were thirteen and under fourteen ; 23 per cent, were four- 

 teen and under fifteen ; 157 per cent, were fifteen and 

 under sixteen ; 8-i per cent, were sixteen and under seven- 

 teen ; 2-6 per cent, were seventeen and under eighteen ; 

 08 per cent, were eighteen and under nineteen ; and 02 

 per cent, were nineteen and over. 



The Borough Polytechnic Institute authorities have 

 issued a calendar under the title " Higher Education in 

 Central South London," which takes the form of a joint 

 prospectus of the Borough Polytechnic, Morley College, 

 and affiliated evening-school centres. The varied pro- 

 gramme of courses of study shows that the wants of 

 every class of worker in the area served by the institute 

 have been considered by the authorities, and met in a 

 very thorough manner. Among other noteworthy depart- 

 ments of the institute may be mentioned the " national " 

 school of bakery and confectionery, which forms a special 

 department. It is managed — subject to the approval of 

 the governing body of the polytechnic — by the Education 

 Committee of the National Association of Master Bakers 

 and Confectioners, which body contributes an annual sum 

 not exceeding 500!. Any individual, society, or firm con- 

 tributing not less than 25!. a year may appoint a repre- 

 sentative upon the education committee. The London 

 Master Bakers' Protection Society has contributed 50I. 

 annually for some years past. A technical day school for 

 boys has been founded for the purpose of affording oppor- 

 tunities for sound preparatory trade training, which will 

 give London boys better chances of becoming skilled 

 workers than they have hitherto had. The governors of 

 the institute feel that the adequate training of bright boys 

 who would be successful in various trades has been almost 

 entirely neglected. They are of opinion that, owing to 

 modern methods of manufacture, there is great need for 

 the preparation of boys for trades on a broad basis, which 

 will enable them to adapt themselves to changing con- 

 ditions of employment and compete successfully in the 

 industrial world. Boys are trained not to work mechanic- 

 ally, but to think for themselves. A similar trade school 

 for girls has also been provided. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, September 25. — M Armand Gautier 

 in the chair. — Paul Appell : The 8 functions of higher 

 degrees. — F. Quenisset and F. Baldet : The discovery 

 of a comet at the Flammarion Observatory of Juvisy. 

 The comet was noticed in the constellation Ursa 

 Minor on September 23 as a slightly oval nebulosity, 

 about 4' in diameter, with a central nucleus. (For 

 further particulars see Our Astronomical Column.) — 

 A. Demoulin : The R and Cl surfaces. — A. Blondel : 

 The influences of deadening the waves in orienta- 

 tion in wireless telegraphy. — M. Reutter : The analysis of 

 a resin from an Egyptian sarcophagus. Besides mineral 

 substances, there could be identified fragments of cypress 

 or cedar wood, cedar resin, resins arising from styrax, 

 mastic, Aleppo pine, and asphalte. — Jules Cardot : The 

 mosses collected by the Antarctic expedition of the 

 Pourquoi-Pas? The collection comprised thirty-four species, 

 and enriched three genera of eleven species (seven of which 

 are new), and two varieties (one new). The flora of the 

 Antarctic region is poor compared with that of the Arctic 

 region. — Paul Marchal : The obliteration of sexual repro- 

 duction in Chermes piceae. — E. A. Mattel : The construi - 



