I5S 



NA rURE 



[Dec. 13, 1883 



!•'. liramwell.SirF. Abel, tlienevvly-electeJ chairman of the Society 

 of Arts, and a largenumber of gentlemen iiiteresteJ in promoting 

 leclmical education, tlie hall being filled with students. The 

 prizes were delivered by Prof. Huxley, whj afterwards gave an 

 addi-ess. After speaking of the progress in technical education 

 which had been made since 1877, and spealiing in high terms of 

 the system pursued at the Finsbury Technical College, Pr jf. 

 Huxley said that all his lifehehad been trying to persuade people 

 that if they wanted to teach physical science it was no use to 

 attempt to proceed by filling the minds of the students with 

 general propositions which they did not under.iland, from which 

 they^wereto deduce details which they comprehended still less. 

 If they went to the Exhibition Road, South Kensingt m, they 

 would fee a very splendid pile of buildings which had already 

 cost 75,000/., and which he sincerely trusted would cost a very 

 great deal more. That building was the mere bricks and stones 

 of the Central Institute, and the business upon which Sir 

 Frederick Bramwell, the Chairman of the Committee, he (Prof. 

 Huxley), and his colleagues had lately been so largely occupied 

 was making a soul for this body. It was an i"'mensely difficult 

 operation, as they were always in danger, like Frankenstein in the 

 story, of m.aking something which would eventu.ally devour them 

 instead of being useful to them. Their great anxiety had been to 

 make it good and useful, so that the great scheme of technical 

 education might be thoroughly carried into effect. He was per- 

 fectly sure tfcat ihey had in the system of technological examina- 

 tion, and in such institutions as Finsbury College, the Kennin^ton 

 School, and the Central Institution, something which would most 

 indubitably be the nucleus of a vastgrowth of similar organisations. 

 I le had not the smallest djubt that, before Ihisgeneration had passed 

 away, instead of 150 centres at which such examinations were 

 conducted, they would beciunted by hundreds, anl instead of 

 the two or three high-class places of technical instruction which 

 had been enumerated they would be counted in different parts of 

 this island by the score, and that they vvould have in the Central 

 Institute the great uniting point for the whole of this network 

 through which the information and the discipline which were 

 needful for carrying the industries of the country into operation 

 would be distributed into every locality in which such indastries 

 were carried on. He regarded it as even a more important 

 function of such organisations that they would be places to 

 which every young artisan of industry and ability could look to 

 gratify his legitimate ambition. His study of history had led 

 him to the conclusion that there never had been, and there never 

 was likely to be, any great cause of widespread social discon- 

 tent excrpt hunger of some kind or other. There was phy.sical 

 hunger of the body, and there was intellectual hunger arising in 

 the minds of capable and energetic men who were prevented by 

 the accidents of life, or the organisation of society, from taking 

 the places for which they were fitted. Everything which spreads 

 a knowledge of technical processes among our industrial classes 

 tended to fit them to fight better that great battle of competition 

 in which they had hitherto maintained themselves victoriously in 

 virtue of the in.vard natural powers and capacity of the race, 

 but in which the struggle becimc more difficult, not only because 

 on the continent of Europe training and discipline were supple- 

 menting whatever might be lacking of energy and capacity, but 

 because on the other side of the Atlantic there was a people as 

 numerous as ourselves, of the same stock, blood, race, and 

 power, who would rnn us harder than any competitors had 

 hitherto done. If we were to hold our own in this great world 

 competition, it must be because the native force and intelligence 

 «ere supplemented by careful training and discipline, such as 

 were proposed to be given by the system of technical education. 



At the meeting last week in connection with the memorial to 

 the late Mr. Spottiswoode, a committee was formed for the pur- 

 pose of procuring a portrait or bust for presentation to the Royal 



Society, and also to consid- r the question of establishing a 

 further memorial of his connection with the Society. Prof. 

 Huxley, Mr. W. De La I- ue, Mr. Bowman, Dr. Evans, the 

 Astronomer-Royal, and Mr. F. Gallon, were appointed as mem- 

 bers of the committee. 



We have received from the publishers, Mei-srs. De la Rue 

 and Co., a sample of their pojket-books, dale cards, and pretty 

 Christmas cards, which each year seem to become more and 

 more attractive. The pocUet-Look, a sfkialiU which Messrs. 

 De la Rue have brought to great perfection, is imleed a mullum 

 in patvo. Not only does it contain the usual almanac, but also 

 much useful information. The mean ti.i.e of high water in all 

 |)arts of the world, the length of a degree of latitude and 

 longi:ude, a table of magnetic elements, which, as inferred 

 for next year, are declination 18° 12' W., inclination 67° 32', 

 horizontal force 3'92, vertical force 9 '50, total force lo'27, 

 a table of specific gravities, the vari ms tables of weights 

 and measures together with the French measures, the dates 

 of ecli|)se-, and the mean time of the snn's southing, &c., 

 all given with the usual exactness which has caned this 

 pocket-book to be looked to by many scientific men as a help in 

 their drily work. The date cards are in all shapes and sizes, 

 for hanging on an office wall or to stand on the writing table in 

 the s'.udy. The Christmas cards are now produced with such care 

 in drawing and colour as to have become veritable works of art, 

 and it is truly a difficult task to select from amongst the different 

 series before us iho e which maybe considered to carry off the 

 prize. Mention mu-t, however, be made of the beautiful etchings 

 on satin and the col ured drawings of child and bird-life, the 

 latter particularly .showing both artistic and scientific knowledge, 

 and it was a happy thought to produce these on such a material 

 as satin, which gives a wonderful softness and finish to the 

 pictures, and makes thent suitable for adorning screens, panels, 

 sachets, and the various dainty trifles which will be eagerly 

 sought for this Christmas. The hunting series is drawn with 

 great spirit, and many a child, both old and young, will be 

 charmed with the n jvcl idea of the introduction of the persist- 

 ence of vi-ion by building up a hunting scene by the hunters and 

 hare on one side and the hor.-es and dogs on the other of a rapidly 

 spun card. Other cards t )0 are arranged to in'roduce Wheat- 

 stone's principle of the wheel of life. The flower series, which is 

 drawn with the same delicacy that we noticed in the colouring of 

 the birds' plumage, is this year enriche I by some Alpine 

 favourites, which will carry many of us back to our summer 

 haunts, and cause us to thank Messrs. De la Rue for enabling us 

 to recall at this inclement season one of the many enjoyments of 

 our yearly holiday. 



The Times of Friday last contains an account of the results 

 obtained in the Dacca and Iiiternalional, wdiich \vere ^ent out to 

 take soundings in the Atlantic for the purpose of laying a cable 

 between Spain and the Canaries. Mr. Buchanan accompanied 

 the expedition, and his observations on the corals, which seem 

 to be creating a " coming Atlantis," are of much interer.t. The 

 precise information obtained about some of the banks which 

 stud this part of the Atlantic is a valuaMe addition to existing 

 knowledge on the subject. 



The naturalist Petit has returned to France from the Con^o 

 region, whei'e he has spent several years, especially between the 

 Gaboon and the Congo. He brings home large collections, 

 especially in ornithology. 



One necessary result of the scattered population of the United 

 States of America has been the co-education of the sexes. Other 

 countries have inquired as to the effect of the mixing together of 

 boys and girls not only in schools but also in classes, and this 

 has led the Bureau of Education to take the opinions of the 



