February 20, 19 13] 



NATURE 



087 



mum magnetisation is determined by the stoichio- 

 metric composition, especially where several com- 

 pounds of the same components exist. Manganese, 

 for example, has a maximum in the trivalent condi- 

 tion with such elements as can themselves be trivalent. 

 Several papers deal with the Heusler alloys. Dr. 

 Ross describes a series of magnetic investigations 

 from which it is concluded that the magnetism of 

 these allovs is associated with the occurrence of solid 

 solutions 'liaving the intermetallic compound Cuj.-M 

 as one constituent, and probably Mn,Al as the other. 

 The theory is supported by evidence gathered from 

 examination of tiie microstructure and from cooling 

 carves. Drs. Knowlton and Clifford, in tlieir paper, 

 also appear to favour the hvpothesis of a series of 

 solid solutions as best suiting their magnetic results, 

 but Drs. Heusler and Take still adhere to their belief 

 in a series of ternarv magnetic compounds of the 

 general formula Cii^\In,Al,, where x and y can have 

 anv of the values i, 2, . . ., and *-l-y = 3c. It seems 

 now to be certain that these Heusler alloys— despite 

 their very small hysteresis loss under certain conditions 

 of therrnal treatment, &-c.— do not give promise of 

 practical applications in electrical measuring instru- 

 ments. Their extreme variability, their hardness, and 

 their brittleness are strongly against all commercial 

 applications. 



THE ASSOCIATION OF TECHNICAL 

 INSTITUTIONS. 



THE twentieth annual general meeting of the asso- 

 ciation was held in Birmingham on January 31, 

 when Mr. J. H. Reynolds, of Mancliester, the new 

 president, delivered his presidential address, in the 

 course of which he discussed the progress of elemen- 

 tary education since the Act of 1870, and contrasted 

 the abundant provision of the present day wdth the 

 meagreness which prevailed anterior to the Act. He 

 detailed the causes which operated to prevent the 

 realisation of the full fruits of the great Imperial and 

 local expenditure incurred in the establishment and 

 maintenance of elementary education with special 

 reference to the early age' of leaving scliool, and to 

 the absence of proper measures for securing the con- 

 tinued attendance of the children upon suitably de- 

 signed courses of instruction and training in evening 

 schools during the years of adolescence. He urged the 

 abolition of half-time and the extension of the school 

 age until fourteen, unconditionally throughout the 

 urban and rural areas of the kingdom, and discussed 

 the demand made that the curriculum of the elemen- 

 tary school should be confined to "the three R's," 

 maintaining that there should be made the fullest 

 possible provision for the education and training of 

 the worker's child for his future life as a producer 

 and as a citizen. He further directed attention to 

 the poor physical condition of many thousands of 

 children in the public elementary schools, and ap- 

 pealed for smaller classes and better trained teachers. 

 He dwelt upon the importance of this question of 

 elementarv education, since until it is well considered 

 and effectiiallv provided, secondary education cannot be 

 adequately established, and any technical education 

 and training of real value directly concerned witli a 

 livelihood and based upon scientific principles are im- 

 possible. 



Education is one, and indivisible, and if there is 

 to be a satisfactory superstructure the foundations 

 must be carefully laid, and the whole scheme made 

 organically complete from the elementary school to 

 the university. 



Out of a child population between the ages of 

 thirteen and seventeen amounting to upwards of 

 NO. 2260, VOL. QO^l 



1,800,000, there were only 325,117 enrolled in evening 

 schools. Measures should be enacted requiring all 

 employers to give facilities for the continued educa- 

 tion of their employees betw'een the ages of fourteen 

 and seventeen ; until that age was reached the child 

 should remain the ward of the schoolmaster. 



The Act of 1902 unified under one responsible 

 authority all forms of education, and for the first 

 time in the history of English education gave the 

 means for the provision of a properly organised system 

 of secondary education. The operations of the Tech- 

 nical Instruction Act of 18S9 had awakened a new 

 and serious interest in education, derived from the 

 fact that the ill-prepared educational condition of the 

 students made it impossible to impart successfully 

 any satisfactory training in science or technology. 



Under the provisions of the Education Act of 1902 

 numerous old endowed schools all over the country 

 which had become effete for want of effective public 

 control, and of the means to meet the demands of 

 modern requirements, have been revivified, and large 

 numbers of new secondary schools, well staffed and 

 equipped, have been provided. The great drawback 

 to their efficiencv is to be found in the short school 

 life, extending to not more than two years and nine 

 months, contrasting unfavourably with the school life 

 of the German gymnasium and the Ober-Real-Schulc, 

 extending to nine years, and ending in a leaving 

 examination, admitting without further test to any 

 technical high school or university in Germany. 

 Measures should be taken to ensure a satisfactory 

 length of school life in English secondary schools, 

 concluding with a school-leaving e.xamination giving 

 admission at once to any institution for higher learn- 

 ing. 



We have further so to systematise our secondary 

 education that in going from one large urban or other 

 centre to another the scholar will be sure to find a 

 school of similar standing to that he has left. It is 

 to the improvement of the product of the elementary 

 school and in the extension of the school age until 

 fourteen, to a large increase in the number of second- 

 ary schools and in the extension of the length of the 

 school life therein, so as to approximate to that of the 

 German and Swiss secondary schools, that we must 

 look for the future growth and efficiency of technical 

 institutions. 



Having regard to English conditions these institu- 

 tions have done an immense service in the past in 

 providing the means of continued education andtrain- 

 ing for the great mass of the youths engaged in our 

 trades and " industries, and English manufacturing 

 industrv owes much of its pre-eminence, especially 

 the engineering industries, to the work and influence 

 of these evening schools. In this connection the work 

 of the Department of Science and Art and of the City 

 and Guilds of London Institute has been of high im- 

 portance and value. 



The opportunity of further instruction and traimng 

 of this character in day classes is much to be desired. 



It is satisfactory to' note that many of the more 

 important firms, 'especially in the engineering and 

 chemical industries, are encouraging the admission of 

 a much better type of educated and trained man into 

 their works, and are offering facilities and induce- 

 ments based on training age and attainments. As 

 industries grow in respect of the number and varied 

 equipment of the men employed, and in the extent 

 and complexity of the production, a higher type 

 of man is required, characterised by a better general 

 education, more expert knowledge and practical 

 ability. It is realised that "the day of the trained 

 man has come; that of the untrained man is past." 



.\ new science has come into being, namely "the 



