September 13, 1906] 



NA TURE 



503 



The native speech centre is a special hindrance, and the 

 translation habit, although the path of least discomfort, is 

 really a bar to progress. The rate of progress depends upon 

 the intensity of the learner's absorption during the early 

 stage. Inquiry into cases of aphasia among bilingual 

 people may be expected to throw some light upon the 

 nature of brain centres for foreign speech. The attempt 

 to establish two foreign languages at the same time should 

 not be made ; each tends to inhibit the other. Latin, how- 

 ever, taken on a translation method does not appreciably 

 interfere. Progress is hindered by the incapacity of some 

 scholars to perceive new sounds. 



The discussion on the Examinalioii and Inspection o) 

 Schools was started by Prof. Armstrong, who asserted the 

 need for freedom to develop individuality. The ideal 

 .■system would be for the schools to examine themselves 

 with the aid occasionally of competent assessors. Mr. 

 VV. M. Heller spoke on the constructive work of an in- 

 spector of schools. The transition from payment by results 

 to inspection was accompanied for some years by a diminu- 

 tion in the proficiency of pupils. An inspector should 

 possess successful teaching experience in both primary and 

 secondary schools, if possible with the wider outlook of a 

 headmaster. It takes time to know a largo number of 

 <;chools and teachers, and first impressions are sometimes 

 wrong ; hence an inspector should be left for several years 

 in the same district. An inspector has a magnificent field 

 for scientific research ; he can watch, foster, and institute 

 •educational experiments of all kinds. The Rev. E. C. 

 Owen doubted whether the inferior teacher well inspected 

 was an improvement on the good teacher uninspected. 

 Training would never eliminate mediocrity. If practical 

 •experience in teaching were made a sine qua non for 

 administrative posts, this would attract good men to 

 educational work. 



A joint meeting was held with Sections A and G to 

 discuss the Teaching of Mechanics by Experiment. Mr. 

 C. E. .Ashford spoke of the results obtained at Dartmouth 

 by the cooperation of schoolmaster and engineer, and the 

 use of real machinery instead of scientific toys. The science 

 master who plays with laboratory toys is apt to be too 

 .icademic, and the technical schools are too rule-of-thumb, 

 lacking the rigorous mathematician and trained educa- 

 tionist ; but the finest of laboratory toys were the delightful 

 trolleys and vibrating springs shown by the lecturer and 

 used by his pupils for measuring velocity, acceleration, and 

 momentum. 



Those who attended Section L greatly enjoyed Prof. 

 Sadler's chairmanship, " serious and sunny." His summing 

 up at the close of each day's discussion pointed through 

 primitive chaos to the spirit of search, the growing desire 

 for educational unity, and the fading away of narrow aims. 

 Hugh Richardson. 



INTERNA r/ONAL TESTING CONGRESS. 

 \ \ N.^TURE of September 6 (p. 471) brief reference was 

 made to the opening of the International Testing 

 Congress at Brussels on September 3. The work of the 

 sections began on September 4, and was continued on 

 September 5 and 6. The amount of work to be dealt 

 with was so considerable that three sections were formed, 

 A dealing with metals, B with building stone and cement, 

 and C with other materials. Altogether there were twenty- 

 seven reports of committees and forty-five original papers, 

 the greater portion of which were submitted to the section 

 on metals. Mr. J. Magery (Namur) presided over this 

 section, and he was supported by honorary presidents re- 

 presenting the various nationalities present, and including 

 Messrs. Wedding (Berlin), Brough (London), -Saladin 

 (France), Hackstroh (Holland), Chernoff (Russia), Brinell 

 (Sweden), Popper (.Austria), and Tonello (Spain). The 

 following are brief notes on the various reports presented : — 

 Mr. A. Rieppel (Nuremberg) reported on the introduc- 

 tion of standard specifications in various countries ; Mr. 

 W. Ast (Vienna) reported on methods for inspecting and 

 testing in order to ensure uniformity in iron and steel ; 

 Mr. R. Krohn (Danzig) reported that it was not feasible 

 to establish standard welding tests. Prof. E. Hcyn 

 (Berlin), reporting on the value of etching malleable iron 



NO. 1924, VOL. 74] 



for the investigation of structure, showed that examination 

 by the unaided eye gave valuable information as to the 

 character of quenched high-carbon steel. Prof. N. 

 Belelubsky (St. Petersburg) reported on the unification of 

 methods of testing, and submitted a series of proposals. 

 Prof. H. M. Howe and Mr. A. Sauveur submitted pro- 

 posals for the uniform nomenclature of iron and steel. Dr. 

 R. Moldenke (New York) reported on the establishment of 

 standard methods of testing cast-iron and finished cast- 

 ings. He noted that the American and German specifi- 

 cations differ but slightly, and could easily be made 

 identical. 



Mr. E. Sauvage (Paris) submitted a report on impact 

 tests on notched bars, and there was an animated dis- 

 cussion as to the value of this method of testing, opinions 

 being equally divided as to the desirability or not of 

 recommending it in specifications. The Brinell hardness 

 test, which was reported on by Mr. J. A. Brinell and 

 Mr. G. Dillner (Stockholm), was also keenly discussed, 

 the general opinion being that, with the view of placing 

 information on record, tensile tests of metals should, when 

 possible, be supplemented by tests by the Brinell method. 

 Mr. W. Ast (Vienna) submitted a report on international 

 researches in the macroscopic examination of iron. The 

 etching test is recommended for preliminary examination. 

 Lastly, Mr. F. Osmond and Mr. G. Cartaud (Paris) sub- 

 mitted an interesting report on the progress of metallo- 

 graphy since the Budapest congress of 1901. 



The second section, dealing with cements, was under 

 the presidency of Mr. Levie (Charleroi). The subjects dis- 

 cussed included the determination of the adhesive force of 

 hydraulic cement, the determination of the weight of a 

 litre of cement, and the behaviour of cement in sea-water. 

 It was decided to appoint a committee to inquire into re- 

 inforced concrete. 



The third section, under the presidency of Mr. E. 

 Roussel (Malines), devoted attention to tests of paints, 

 linseed oil, wood, bitumen, asphalt, and india-rubber. The 

 congress concluded with a lecture by Prof. H. Le Chatelier 

 (Paris) on the practical applications of metallography. An 

 interesting feature of the congress was a small laboratory 

 installed to illustrate modern methods of testing, under 

 the direction of Prof. Le Chatelier, Mr. Guillet (Paris), 

 and Prince Gagarine (St. Petersburg). It was decided that 

 the next congress should be held in 1909 in Copenhagen 

 under the presidency of Mr. A. Foss, president of the 

 Society of Danish Engineers. 



THE ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS CAMP.ilGN. 

 T^HE Hague, preparing to receive the great Peace Con- 

 -*■ gress of 1907, which is to discuss questions of peace 

 and disarmament, recently entertained delegates from 

 the chief European and American States to the fifth Inter- 

 national Conference on Tuberculosis. At this conference 

 questions of increased armaments were discussed, with the 

 view of waging a more effective war against this great 

 evil. The great interest taken all over the world in the 

 proceedings of the conference testifies to the awakening of 

 mankind to the necessity of making further and greater 

 efforts in order to reduce the ravages of tubercular infec- 

 tion to a minimum. 



At the present time the campaign against tuberculosis 

 is being carried on with greater energy than at any 

 previous period in medical history. Since Koch's dis- 

 covery of the tubercle bacillus in 1882, and the publi- 

 cation of his exhaustive researches arising therefrom, it 

 has been known to medical men that tuberculosis is as 

 much a preventable disease as plague or cholera. Never- 

 theless, the public in England have remained until very 

 recently apathetic and apparently indifferent to the fact 

 that untold misery and sixty thousand actual deaths occur 

 annually from a disease which can and ought to be 

 eradicated. At last we are waking from our lethargy. 

 This change has been gradually induced by the insjsterit 

 pressure of medical opinion, aided largely by the King's 

 active sympathy and interest. More lately Prof. Wright's 

 great work on " opsonins " has given fresh hope and 

 energy to many who were becoming jaded in an apparently 

 hopeless conflict. 



