442 



NA JURE 



\_Ma)'cli lo, li 



is, and growing as is tlie need for economy. . . . The 

 University Colleges during fifteen years have proved 

 their value ; and also, hke every other educational in- 

 stitution, they have proved that they cannot live without 

 external help. The only help that is likely to be per- 

 manent and that will enable them to feel secure is help 

 from the State ; and, in a moderate degree, it will be 

 \vorth the .State's while to give it." 



The opinions of men of science on the subject were 

 expressed in a letter from Sir Henry Roscoe, which 

 appeared in the Tiiirs on Saturday last. "It is un- 

 necessary now,'' he wrote, " to enlarge on the important 

 national work in which these colleges are engaged. That 

 the higher scientific and technical training which these 

 colleges are now giving to the best of their power is a 

 necessity, indorsed as this opinion has been by two Royal 

 Commissions, is now, I am glad to think, generally 

 admitted. It is, however, perfectly clear that if the;^e 

 colleges are to do the work which the country demands 

 they must receive pecuniary assistance. They cannot 

 from their very nature be made self-supporting. Their 

 object is to afford a thorough but also a cheap education, 

 and the localities have in almost all cases now practically 

 exhausted the power of raising funds from private sources. 

 How, then, are the necessary means to be found? They 

 must come either from Imperial or from municipal sources. 

 As the Master has pointed out, the remedy must be a 

 speedy one. We cannot aftbrd to wait until public opinion 

 has reached the point at which ratepayers generally are 

 convinced that it is to their advantage to support 

 such colleges. The only alternative, therefore, is that 

 the nation as a whole shall, through the Govern- 

 ment, acknowledge its obligation to supply the necessary 

 mnds, the amount required being comparatively small 

 .ind not one likely largely to increase. It is satis- 

 factory to know that the whole subje;t of the furtherance 

 of scientific and technical education in the country is at 

 the present moment under the serious consideration of 

 Members of Parliament of all political parties, and I 

 have good reason to hope that our efforts to bring this 

 question, vital as it is to the industrial and commercial 

 supremacy of the country, to a satisfactory issue may, 

 even this Session, be crowned by some measure of suc- 

 cess. .Among the several important matters engaging 

 our attention, I need scarcely say that this particular one, 

 afiecting as it does the higher technical education of 

 those who are hereafter to take positions as leaders in 

 our commerce and industries, is by no means the least 

 important." 



We trust that the new impetus now given to this 

 question may lead to beneficial results. It is to be hoped, 

 however, that we shall hear less of the word ^^ fcchiiica/'' 

 in connection with these colleges, for if they are technical 

 only, we may be better without them. 



THE EARTHQUAKE IN SWITZERLAND 



PROF. FOREL, the meteorologist, of Morges, on the 

 Lake of Geneva, has just issued a report on the 

 earthquake of February 23. He classifies the shocks under 

 three heads — namely, preparatory shocks, strong shocks, 

 and consecutive shocks. It is difficult, in the absence of 

 trustworthy data, to indicate the precise locality of the first- 

 named, but .Switzerland was undoubtedly the region of the 

 second ; but it was to the third — that is, the consecutive 

 shocks — that all the mischief was due. The professor 

 traces the course of the phenomenon in Switzerland over 

 a radius of at least four hundred square miles. Its force 

 was greater in the southern parts of the country than in 

 the north, though the shocks were felt throughout Geneva, 

 Berne, Neuchatel, Fribourg, V^aud, V'alais, and Tessin ; 

 and observations go to prove that these shocks travelled 

 almost due north and south, although the direction of the 

 oscillations does not coincide with this course. The 



oscillations in Switzerland were characterised by their 

 number and repetitions. In some localities they were 

 longitudinal ; that is, running parallel to the meridian ; 

 in others they were transverse, running or flowing from 

 east to west. The vertical movements were marked by 

 their feebleness where indicated, but in the greater 

 part of the territory affected vertical oscillations were 

 entirely absent. One of the peculiarities of the oscilla- 

 tions generally was the length of duration, which is set 

 down as varying from 10 to 30 seconds But the collected 

 reports prove that the mean of these figures more nearly 

 represents the prevailing dui'ation. The intensity of the 

 shocks was greater in the central and southern areas of 

 the disturbance, and it would seem as if the shocks only 

 just failed to attain the necessary strength which would 

 have produced disastrous eft'ects. As it was, church 

 bells were rung, in some places violently ; windows were 

 rattled, doors thrown open, ceilings slightly cracked, and 

 morsels of plaster were brought down, and here and 

 there stacks of wood were thrown over. Ctne of the most 

 striking features of the phenomenon was the extraordinarily 

 large number of clocks that were instantly stopped, and 

 this fact has afforded the best possible means of deter- 

 mining with something like perfect accuracy the time of 

 the shocks, which varies from three to four minutes past 

 six in the morning, Berne time. The large astronomical 

 clock of the Observatory at Basle stopped exactly at 

 6h. 4m. 7s. This, taken as representing Berne tune, 

 corresponds with jh. 43m. 35s. of Paris, 5h. 55m. 43s. of 

 Marseilles, 6h. 3m. 2s. of Nice, and 6h. 24m. 3s. of 

 Rome. 



The consecutive shocks, which were responsible for all 

 the loss of life and damage to property, were centralised 

 in the region of the Riviera. The greatest damage was 

 done by the two first shocks, which occurred with an 

 interval of fifteen minutes between them. The reports 

 from the Swiss observatories also show that a series of 

 feebler shocks were experienced in Switzerland later on 

 in the same day, and also on several succeeding days. 



NOTES 

 Severai, schools of science and art in the colonies and 

 dependencies of the United Kingdom have expressed a 

 wish to be allied with the Department of Science and 

 Art and to have the advantage of its examinations. It 

 has therefore been decided that upon the application of the 

 Colonial Government or Educational Depaitment, or other 

 public authority of the colony, the Department of Science and 

 Art will arrange for the examination of their schools, on tlie 

 results of which examination certificates and returns of awards 

 will be issued. The entire cost of the examination of the papers 

 and works, and of their carriage, clearing in London, and con- 

 veyance to and from .South Kensington, will, of course, have to 

 be defrayed by the local authority concerned. The personal 

 examinations, the subjects of which are stated in the Science 

 and Art Directory, must be held in the colonies and depend- 

 encies upon the earliest date possible after the receipt of the 

 examination papers, and these examinations must be conducted 

 by quaUfied and responsible persons not immerli.ately interested 

 in the results of the examinations, who should on the conclusion 

 of each ex.iminatiou furnish a certificate that the examination 

 has been fairly CDnducted. The examination of works is held at 

 .South Kensington, and works to bs examined must be forwarded 

 to reach South Kensington not later than the end of April in each 

 year. The Department will send upon application copies of 

 lists of examples and prizes, and will, as far as possible, advise the 

 local authorities in reference to the conduct of science and art 

 schools or classes. The Department will also present specimen 

 examination papers or works — when there are such in stock 

 disposable — with the view of indicating the style of drawings 



