April 3, 191 3] 



NATURE 



meographic system, thence to characters expressing 

 sounds as well as ideas, and the beginning of syllaby, 

 the first step in the development of phonetic writing. 

 The Spanish priests made the last advance, in the 

 form of an alphabet, by selecting syllabic characters 

 to express initial sounds. 



The volume is rich in translations, and among these 

 may be mentioned an article by M. H. Marchand 

 from Cosmos, on the invention of the gyroscopic 

 compass and its practical utilisation on board ship ; 

 that by Dr. Jules Courmont, from the Revue gdnirale 

 des Sciences, on the sterilisation of drinking water by 

 ultra-violet radiations; that by Dr. M. Philippot, in 

 the "Annuaire Astronomique pour 1912," Belgium, 

 on the legal time in various countries ; that by Prof. 

 S. Pozzi, from the Revue scientifique, on the garden 

 of serpents, Butantan, Brazil ; the translation from 

 the German of Mr. W. Belck, in Zeitschrift filr 

 Ethnologie, under the title " The Discoveries of the 

 Art of Iron Manufacture"; that of Mr. A. Lissauer's 

 article, from the same German source, on the Kabyles 

 of North Africa; and of Dr. A. F. Legendre's article 

 in the Revue de VEcole d'Anthropologie, on the Lolos 

 of Kii ntchang, western China. 



Among the numerous reprints from English 

 journals and magazines a small selection only can be 

 given. We notice Sir David Prain's obituary notice 

 |f Sir Joseph Hooker, which appeared in Nature 

 for December 21, 1011. Numerous Royal Institution 

 discourses are included, such as Commendatore Mar- 

 coni's on radio-telegraphy ; Prof. Wood's on recent 

 experiments with invisible light; Prof. Richards 's 

 Faradav lecture on the fundamental properties of the 

 elements; and Prof. H. S. Hele-Shaw's on travelling 

 at high speeds on the surface of the earth and above 

 it. 



The addresses delivered at the meetings of the 

 British Association also have been drawn upon. Sir 

 William Ramsav's presidential address at the Ports- 

 mouth meeting being given a prominent place. 



As usual, the illustrations are numerous and excel- 

 lent. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Sir John Ramsden has sent a subscription of 1000Z. 

 to the fund which Mr. Austen Chamberlain is raising 

 for the extension of the London School of Tropical 

 Medicine. 



We learn from Science that by the death of Mr. 

 J. Lyman, Yale University will received 130,000/. He 

 held the life interest in that sum, which was willed 

 to the college by his brother, the late Mr. S. Lyman, 

 who died in 1910. From the same source we find 

 that both houses of the legislature of the State of 

 Washington recently adopted the biennal budget. 

 The University of Washington will receive a grant of 

 some 2oi,oooL The matter of the replacement of the 

 temporary university buildings by adequate modern 

 structures has been submitted to the legislature 

 separately. The recently adjourned legislature of 

 West Virginia, too, voted larger grants to the State 

 University than in any previous year. 



A COPY of the programme of the Irish Training 

 School of Domestic Economy for the session 1913-14 

 has been received from the Department of Agriculture 

 and Technical Instruction for Ireland. The school is 

 a residential institution, maintained by the Depart- 

 ment for the purpose of training teachers of domestic 

 economy, and also for providing a training in house- 

 hold management for girls who have already received 



NO. 2 266, VOL. 91] 



.1 satisfactory general education. The school is 



situated at St. Kevin's Park, Kilmacud, Stillorgan, 

 co. Dublin. The premises stand in grounds of about 

 three acres. The house provides ample accommoda- 

 tion for the staff and students, in addition to class and 

 recreation rooms. A large fruit and vegetable garden 

 is attached to the house. 



A new provincial technical college was opened at 

 Workington, Cumberland, on Friday, March 14, by 

 Sir John S. Randies, M.P., in the presence of a 

 distinguished company. The college provides a com- 

 plete course of day and evening training for students 

 in engineering and metallurgy, serving especially the 

 needs of the district. It is intended to commence day 

 apprentice classes in connection with the local iron 

 and steel works in September next. Inasmuch as 

 the premises are used in the daytime for the accom- 

 modation of a day secondary school and a trade pre- 

 paratory school, a complete scheme of education and 

 instruction is provided. The school buildings com- 

 prise a block of twelve class-rooms, many specially 

 fitted for the teaching of some specific subject, to- 

 gether with chemical, physical, mechanical, mining, 

 and metallurgical laboratories, art-rooms, dining-hall, 

 cookery-room, laundry, woodwork and metalwork 

 shops, and the usual administration rooms. A gym- 

 nasium is in course of erection, and it is proposed to 

 establish a hostel for boys and girls in order to over- 

 come the usual geographical disabilities suffered by 

 children in rural districts. The school generates its 

 own electric current for lighting and power purposes, 

 and a complete and elastic system of distribution has 

 been arranged. Each class-room is fitted with a small 

 table, with gas, water, and waste arranged, so that 

 illustrative work may be carried out in any room; 

 electric lanterns are also available in each class-room 

 and laboratory. The building has been erected at a 

 cost of nearly 30,0000/. It is situated at the railway 

 centre of west Cumberland, and already its accom- 

 modation is taxed to the utmost. There are well 

 above 300 scholars in the daytime, and more than 500 

 evening students at present in attendance. The col- 

 lege is the only technical college in Cumberland, and 

 it is financed out of county higher education funds. 

 The staff numbers twenty full-time members. In 

 opening the college, Sir John Randies (who had pre- 

 viously given a scholarship value 50/.) presented the 

 governors with the sum of 1000L, the interest upon 

 which was to be used in giving a student of the 

 metallurgical denartment a travelling scholarship for 

 the purpose of visiting metallurgical centres abroad. 



The International Kinematograph Exhibition and 

 Conference was held at Olympia' on March 22-29 

 inclusive, and aroused the keen attention of many 

 distinguished people in various branches of know- 

 ledge/ Though no advance in the general science of kine- 

 matography could be seen, there were many improve- 

 ments of detail on view in machines, in films, and in 

 pictures. Two kinematograph projector machines, 

 shown by Messrs. Pathe Freres (one suitable for the 

 class-room and the other for the theatre, both of 

 which could be worked by being attached to the elec- 

 tric lighting current), represented one of the finest 

 productions of mechanical art in every way. Their 

 uses for educational means are further enhanced by 

 the very great safety of using non-inflammable films 

 and bv the possibility of stopping the projector so as 

 to display a still picture in case the teacher wished 

 to describe or explain it. The pictures reflected great 

 credit on the enterprise of the firms exhibiting, but 

 except for one firm, already mentioned, no attempt 

 had been made to produce pictures of direct educa- 



