320 



NA TURE 



[Feb. 3, 1887 



that period I had drawn attention to what I pointed out as the 

 two principal earthquake great circles — one, the Japan and 

 Rocky Mountain system, with one of its poles in 170° W. long., 

 25° S. lat. ; the other, the Himalayic, with its north pole approxi- 

 mately in 45° N. lat. , 1 60° W. long. The former has been frequently 

 described, and Scrope (" Volcanoe-," p. 303) suggested a theory 

 to explain it occurrence. The latter is little less remarkable, and 

 is at the moment even more interesting, as, with the exception 

 of the Carolina earthquake, all the great earthquakes and 

 volcanic eruptions of the last five years may be referred to it. I 

 may instance the cases of Krakatab, Kashmir, the Caucasus, 

 Spain, Cotopaxi, New Zealand, and the recent Mediterranean 

 disturbance, all of which occurred within a few degrees of the 

 line or actually on it. Now it is remarkable that this line is 

 marked through a considerable portion of its course by the 

 presence of disturbed Miocene rocks, so much so that I have felt 

 justified in calling it the Miocene line. 



The paper referred to contained a theory too long to be 

 worked out in the compass of a let er, but founded on the 

 changes in form which must occur when a plastic body falls by 

 the action of gravity towards a primary. A little consideration 

 will show that, as the action of gravity is inversely proportionate 

 to the square of the distance, the forward portion of such a body 

 will be continually pulled away from the posterior, and an 

 original sphere will in its descent become deformed into a pro- 

 late spheroid. Now the result is, I believe, calculable for a 

 body like the earth, even under the present conditions of its 

 annual approach to the sun, in other words lis fall from aphelion 

 to perihelion. During periods of extreme eccentricity of the 

 orbit the fall and consequent deformation were much greater. The 

 main factors in the calculation are of course: (i) the distance 

 from the primary of the commencement of the fall ; (2) the 

 diameter of the falling body ; (3) the distance fallen ; and (4) 

 the comparative masses of the primary and the attracted body. 

 Beyond this, consideration has to be given to what we may term 

 the specific resistance to deformation of the particular body. 

 The latter, indeed, seems to be the principal factor in determining 

 the amplitude and periodicity of earthquakes. 



It is difficult for the geologist at this remote spot in the Far 

 East to keep in touch with the daily progress of geology at home, 

 but there is one probably counterbalancing advantage — in the 

 enlarged view he has to take of the mid-Tertiary epoch as a 

 factor in geologic change. Thomas W. Kingsmill 



Shanghai, November 30, 18S6 



THE CALENDAR AND GENERAL DIRECTOR Y 

 OF THE SCIENCE AND ART DEPARTMENT 



I ""HERE is a general impression on the Continent, and 

 even in England, that English teachers of science 

 carry on their work with little direct relation to one 

 another. Twenty-five years ago this impression was not 

 incorrect, but any one who will take the trouble to read 

 the " Calendar and General Directory of the Science and 

 Art Department for the year 1SS7," lately published, will 

 see that it is no longer true, and that very important steps 

 have been taken towards the establishment of an organised 

 and efficient system of scientific instruction. At South 

 Kensington we have now a School of Science, which 

 maintains the most intimate connection with a vast 

 number of science schools and classes in all parts 

 of the United Kingdom. Here v/e have at least 

 the germs of a proper system, and it depends upon 

 the country itself whether we are to remain content with 

 what has been achieved, or are to continue the work we 

 have begun until it can be pronounced completely adequate 

 to the needs of modern times. 



The movement which has led to these results may be 

 said to have begun in 1S53, when the Department of 

 Practical Art was expanded into the Department of Science 

 and Art. The immediate object of this change was to 

 secure that the advancement of practical science should 

 be directly encouraged, and it was decided that the end 

 could be most surely attained by " the creation in the 

 metropolis of a school of the highest class, capable of 

 affording the best instruction and the most perfect train- 



ing," and by help rendered to local institutions for 

 scientific education. For some time it seemed not im- 

 probable that the scheme would be, at least in part, a 

 failure. No general system of making grants applicable 

 to the whole country was devised until 1859. Experimental 

 schools were established by special Minutes, the arrange- 

 ment usually being that the teachers were to receive pay- 

 ments from the Department in the nature of certificate 

 allowances, and that their incomes, from fees, subscriptions, 

 and other sources, were to be guaranteed by the Depart- 

 ment for a certain number of years at amounts varying in 

 different places. In this way science schools were opened 

 at Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Barking, Leeds, New- 

 castle-on-Tyne, Poplar, Stoke-on-Trent, St. Thomas's 

 Charterhouse, Truro, Wigan, and Wandsworth. It was 

 found, however, that there were but few places where a 

 man could earn his living by teaching science alone ; and 

 in 1S59 the only science classes in operation under the 

 Department, irrespective of the Navigation Schools, were 

 those at Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, and Wigan, the 

 number of persons in attendance being 395. Then a 

 new plan was tried. In 1859, when the late Lord Salis- 

 bury was Lord President, the first General Science 

 Minute was passed, enabling any place to establish 

 science classes, and to obtain State aid according to 

 certain fixed rules. The effect of this measure surpassed 

 the hopes of those by whom it had been suggested. A 

 number of new schools and classes were rapidly formed, 

 so that, in May 1861, at the first general and simul- 

 taneous examination of classes, there were 38 classes 

 with 1330 pupils, not including some 800 pupils in classes 

 not under certificated teachers. Since that time there 

 has been constant progress, as the following table will 

 show : — 



1862 ... 70 schools with 2, 543 pupils in 140 classes 

 1872 ... 948 „ 36,783 „ 2803 „ 



1882 ... 1403 ,, 68,581 ,, 4881 



1S85 ... 1542 ,, 78,810 ,, 5649 ,, 



In some schools there are classes both for science and 

 for art, and in such cases it is interesting to note the 

 relative proportion of the number of pupils in the two 

 departments. At the School of Science and Art in 

 Reading, for instance, there are 200 art students, and 

 only 90 students of science. At the Central Board School, 

 Rochdale, on the other hand, while there are only 50 

 students of art, there are 190 science students. In some 

 instances the numbers are evenly, or almost evenly, 

 balanced. At a school in Deptford there are in each 

 department 160 students, and at another, in Bristol, art 

 has 360 students, science 350. 



The number of teachers varies, of course, very con- 

 siderably. The following tables, compiled from the 

 details presented in the " Calendar and General Direc- 

 tory," show the number of schools which have each 

 three or more teachers : — 



I. 



The progress of the central institution — the " school 

 of the highest class, capable of affordmg the best in- 

 struction " — has been in its own way not less remark- 

 able. The removal of some of the courses of the School 

 of Mines to South Kensington greatly increased the 



