20 



NATURE 



[March 6, 191 3 



(mag. =4-3), hidden from ioh. 7m. to nh. 2m.; 

 Alcyone (>; Tauri, mag. =3-1), from ioh. 47m. to nh. 

 25m.; Atlas (mag. =38), from nh. 20m. to i2h. 9m. 

 (midnight); and Pleione (mag. =52), from nh. 26m. 

 to i2h. 7m. Asterope, Taygeta, and Maia will not be 

 occulted, and it will probably surprise many people to 

 observe how much larger the Pleiades group appar- 

 ently is than the moon; about one degree, or two 

 lunar diameters, separate Atlas from Taygeta or 

 Electra. Occultations of the Pleiades will also occur, 

 in daylight in Great Britain, on July 28 and October 

 18. 



Publications of the Vienna Observatory. — We 

 have received vols. xxi. and xxii. of the Annalen der 

 K.K. Universitats-Sternwarte in Wien, edited by Prof . 

 Hepperger. The former contains the results secured 

 with the 27-in. Grubb refractor during the period 

 1003-06, and deals with a great number of observa- 

 tions of planets, comets, and nebula?. The second 

 volume is divided into two parts, the first dealing 

 with planet and comet observations made with the 

 6-in. Fraunhofer refractor by Dr. J. Holetschek dur- 

 ing- 1903-10, and the second, by Dr. J. Rheden, 

 giving an account of the observing station, and the 

 observations made, at Sonnwendstein, from Novem- 

 ber, 1909, to 1910. The Sonnwendstein station is at 

 an altitude of 1523 m., and the daily notes concern- 

 ing- the atmospheric conditions and their influence on 

 the observations are of special interest. 



Astronomical Year-Books. — "The Observer's 

 Handbook for 1913," published by the Royal Astro- 

 nomical Society of Canada, is a very useful, though 

 small, volume, which contains a great deal of in- 

 formation set out in a form most useful to the amateur 

 astronomer. In addition to various ephemerides it 

 gives the astronomical phenomena for each month, 

 and a detailed summary of special stellar objects 

 which are available for observation month by month. 

 It also contains four verv useful and clear star charts, 

 covering the whole sky, and a brief account of 

 "Recent Progress in Astronomv," written by Mr. 

 W. E. Harper. 



The Annuario of the National Observatory of 

 Brazil contains the usual full complement of 

 ephemerides and astronomical and physical tables. 

 An interesting map is also included, 'showing the 

 central lines of all the total eclipses of the sun visible 

 in Brazil between the vears 1912 and 2162, as prepared 

 by Prof. D. Todd. 



THE EUGENICS EDUCATIOX 

 CONFERENCE. 



"PHIS conference was organised by the Eugenics 

 Education Society for the purpose of opening 

 up discussion on the possibility and advisability of 

 infusing the eugenic ideal into' the minds of school 

 children and on the best methods for so doing. More 

 than 400 headmasters and headmistresses "or their 

 representatives assembled in the large hall of London 

 University on March 1 to take part in the debate, 

 and it is in some ways to be regretted that with so 

 large and expert an audience the subject discussed 

 should have been rather sexual hygiene than eugenics. 

 The relation between the two subjects was so clearly 

 and admirably pointed out by Major Darwin in his 

 presidential address on the eugenic ideal, that it is 

 difficult to understand why so many subsequent 

 speakers should have appeared to regard them as 

 identical. 



The discussion at any rate had the merit of show- 

 NO. 2262, VOL. 91] 



ing how much the minds of the more earnest educa- 

 tionists are exercised in the question of instruction in 

 sexual hygiene. The objections to its introduction 

 into schools fall into three classes. In the first place 

 it is maintained that the growing mind should be 

 kept free from thoughts on sexual matters ; to which 

 it may be answered that practical experience shows 

 this to be impossible. In private schools, attended 

 by boys of nine to fourteen years of age, such subjects 

 are certainly discussed, and it cannot be supposed that 

 the pupils of corresponding ages in public elementary 

 schools, with their ampler experience of the seamy 

 side of life, are behindhand in this respect. 



Secondly, there are many who say that it is prac- 

 tically impossible to introduce the subject in a fitting 

 manner. These were answered by Mr. Badley, head- 

 master of Bedales, the well-known coeducational 

 school, and by Miss Bonwick, headmistress of the 

 Enfield Road Primary School, who each described 

 their own methods. Miss Bonwick's speech is worthy 

 of special mention, as her eloquence and enthusiasm 

 made a marked impression on the audience. Prof. 

 J. Arthur Thomson also dealt with this aspect of the 

 subject clearly and wisely. 



Thirdly, it is said that instruction as to sex should 

 be given by the parents, to which it may be answered 

 that in most cases the parents are quite unfit to give 

 it. 



Major Darwin, speaking in the name of the 

 Eugenics Education Society, did not attempt to teach 

 the teachers on these matters, but urged that in all 

 institutions where sex hygiene is taught it should be 

 taught in connection with the eugenic ideal. His 

 address, together with those of the headmaster of 

 Eton, the Principal of Bedford College, Prof. J. 

 Arthur Thomson, and Mr. Badley, and the reports 

 of other speeches, will be published in the April 

 number of The Eitgcnics Review, and have therefore 

 scarcely been touched on here. E. H. J. S. 



X A PIER TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION. 

 TN the year 1614 John Napier, Baron of Merchiston, 

 -I published his " Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis 

 Descriptio," a small quarto volume, the influence of 

 which upon the development of mathematics, especially 

 as an instrument of calculation, cannot be over- 

 estimated. The council of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh, mindful of the greatness of the boon conferred 

 on science by Napier's invention, convened a com- 

 mittee representative of some twenty societies, cor- 

 porations, and institutions to discuss the proposal to 

 hold a celebration in memory of the event. The 

 universities and colleges of Scotland, the Faculty of 

 Actuaries, the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, the 

 Institute of Bankers, and other like bodies, also the 

 Royal Society of London and the Royal Astronomical 

 Society, were represented by delegates to the first 

 meeting of the committee, which was held in the 

 Royal Society Rooms, 22 George Street, Edinburgh, on 

 Saturday, February 22. Mr. J. R. Findlay, one of the 

 representatives of the Edinburgh Merchant Company, 

 was voted to the chair. 



Dr. Knott (general secretary, Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh) and Dr. A. E. Sprague (Faculty of 

 Actuaries) were appointed honorary secretaries in con- 

 nection with the celebration, and Mr. Adam Tait, 

 Royal Bank of Scotland, was appointed honorary 

 treasurer. With these as officials, an executive com- 

 mittee was nominated to carry into effect the following 

 resolutions : — 



That a congress be held in the summer of 1914, to 

 be opened by a public reception and an address by an 



