April I, 1884] 



NATURE 



535 



Saville Kent's reputation as a marine zoologist, and the expe- 

 rience he has already gained as naturalist to various of the large 

 public aquaria of this country, peculiarly qualifies him for 

 the conduct of original investigation in this new field, which 

 could not fail to yield important re.-ults for both the interests of 

 science and the fishing industiies of Tasmania. 



The Institution of Naval Architects is meeting this week. 

 The session was opened yesterday under the presidency of the 

 Earl of Ravensworth. The papers down for yesterday were : — 

 On the Riachuelo, by J. D'A. Samuda ; description of the elec- 

 trical launch built la't year, by A. F. Yarrow ; on the vibration 

 of steam vessels, by Otto Schlick. To-day the following papers 

 will be read : — On cross curves of stability, their uses, and a 

 method of constructing them, obviating the necessity for the usual 

 correction of the differences of the wedges of immersion and 

 emersion, by William Denny, F.R.S.E. ; the use of stability 

 calculations in regulating the loading of steamers, by F. Elgar, 

 Professor of Naval Architecture, Univers'ty of Glasgow; on a 

 new meth' d for calculating, and some new curves for measuring 

 the stability of ships at all angles of inclination, by M. Day- 

 mard ; on some points of interest in connection with the con- 

 struction of metacentric diagrams, and the initial stability of 

 ve.-sels, by P. Jenkins ; on the combustion of fuel in furnaces of 

 steam boilers by natural draught and by air supplied under pres- 

 sure, by J. Howden ; on the application of hydraulic machinery 

 to the loading, discharging, steering, and working of steamships, 

 by A. B. Brown ; cast steel as a material for crank shafts, &c., 

 by J. F. Hall ; repairs to steamship machinery, by Andrew K. 

 Hamilton. To-morrow the following are set down for reading : — 

 Contributions to the solution of the problem of stability, by L. 

 Benjamin ; on the uses of Amsler's integrator in naval architec- 

 ture, by Dr. A. Amsler; on the comparative safely of well- 

 decked vessels, by Thomas Phillips ; the graphic calcula'ion of 

 the data depending on the form of ships required for determining 

 their stability, by J. C. Spence ; description of Alexander Tay- 

 lor's stability indicator, for showing the initial stability and 

 stowage of ships at any displacement, by A. Taylor ; some con- 

 sidera'ions relating to the riveting of iron ships, by H. H. 

 West ; on the ventilation of merchant steamers, by J. Webb ; 

 on water brakes, by Capt. F. J. Heathorn, R.A. ; on improve- 

 ments in apparatus and means for indicating the position of a 

 ship's helm, by J. E. Liardet. 



The Geographical Society of Bremen publi-hes in vol. vii. 

 part I of its Daitschi do^raphische Blatter an interesting paper, 

 by Dr. A. H. Post, on the development of family life among 

 mankind from an original " matriarchal " condition. He brings 

 forward some new evidence collected by Dr. C. A. Wilken in 

 the Dutch East Indies, showing the existence of Malay families 

 consisting of mothers and their children, to which the fathers do 

 not belong as members at all, being in fact only visitors. Dr. 

 Post, tracing the stages of progressive change under the influence 

 of landholding and the union of individuals in states, which in 

 the course of ages converted matriarchal into patriarchal society, 

 expounds with much clearness the theory which has arisen in the 

 last few years out of the works of Bachofen and McLennan. 

 Some of this clearness arises no doubt from ignoring difficulties, 

 but a sketch of this kind does not involve the responsibilities of 

 a full-grown treatise. 



The International Health Exhibition will be opened by the 

 President, the Prince of Wales, on Thursday, May S, at 3 p.m. 



The death is announced of Dr. George Engelmann, the well- 

 known botanist, who died at St. Louis on March 3, aged 

 seventy-five. Also of Dr. Siegfried Aronhold, formerly Pro- 

 fessor of Natural History at the Berlin Technische llochschule, 

 who died at Berlin on March 13. 



News from the Austrian traveller, Eduard Glaser, who had 

 fallen dangerously ill, states that he has recovered, and left for 

 Haschid on February 6, a part of Arabia hitherto unexplored by 

 Europeans. 



M. Gabriel de Mortillet, Conservateur of the Museum of 

 National Antiquities at St. Germain, has begun to issue a new 

 monthly journal, L' Homme, entirely devoted to anthropology. 



M. Fremy, Director of the Museum of Paris, has published 

 a pamphlet defending the establishment against the Central Ad- 

 ministration, which is desirous of appointing a director. Up to 

 the present time the director has been nominated by his fellow 

 professors. This liberal mode of nomination was established by 

 the National Convention in 1793. It is probable that an effort 

 will be made in the present session to extend this privilege to 

 other establishments, as the Observatory and the Conservatoire 

 des Arts et Metiers. 



M. Fremy is desirous of establishing on the coast a marine 

 laboratory in connection with the Museum of Paris. It is 

 thought the money may be granted for establishing one in 

 Algeria. 



The motion proposed by Admiral Moachez to sell the Paris 

 Observatory ground, has been defeated before the Academy of 

 Sciences by a large majority. Only two members, MM- 

 d'Abbadie and Faye, voted with the Admiral. 



A correspondent referred last week to the changes which 

 have been introduced into the examinations for admission into the 

 Royal Military College, and the subject was brought up in the 

 House of Lords last Thursday by Lord Salisbury. " The 

 change with respect to natural science," he said, "was much to 

 be regretted, because there was no body of men to whom a 

 knowledge of science could be more useful, and conduce more to 

 their happiness, especially when it was considered that they had 

 to pass their time in various parts of the world, often with no 

 adequate employment for their spare hours." The Earl of 

 Morley in reply said that "by the new scheme greater import- 

 ance was given to modern languages and mathematics, less 

 importance to science, and the English paper had been excluded 

 from Class I. The object of these changes was to improve the 

 examinations, and to encourage the subjects which must be 

 taught. In drawing up this scheme the War Office had been in 

 constant communication with the Civil Service Commissioners, 

 and with many gentlemen interested in education. The main 

 purpose of these examinations was to test the results of general 

 education, and for that purpose the subjects themselves had, as 

 far as possible, to be of a general nature. That constituted one 

 of the evils of the present system. He did not think it was 

 necessary, or even desirable, in framing a scheme of tliis kind to 

 confine themselves to the curriculum of the public schools. It 

 was, no doubt, a matter of regret that during the last five years 

 the number of successful candidates who came direct from the 

 public institutions to the Royal MUitary College had diminished 

 rather than increased. He did not wish to speak harslily of the 

 race of private tutors. Some of them were extremely able and 

 ingenious, but as a rule their whole object was mark-making. 

 These tutors did not require their pupils to read the books on 

 which they were examined, but by an ingenious process of 

 analysing their contents all the questions that could be put to 

 them could almost be exhausted. But cram did not last, and it 

 was no substitute for education." The Duke of Cambridge said 

 that " the great object of the examination was to put forward such 

 a syllabus that all young persons educated at the public schools 

 of the country should be able to enter Woolwich or Sandhurst 

 direct without going through the hands of the crammer. What 

 was wanted to bring about this result was a general education 

 which they could say every young gentleman ought to have to fit 



