NOVEMDER 4, I909J 



NA TURE 



15 



At the opening meeting of the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers on November 11, a marble bust, by Hamo 

 Thornycroft, of the late Dr. John Hopkinson, F.R.S., 

 who was president in 1890 and in 1896, will be presented 

 to the institution by Prof. Bertram Hopkinson on behalf 

 of his mother, Mrs. John Hopkinson. 



\ DEPARTMENTAL Committee has been appointed by the 

 Home Secretary to inquire into the working of the exist- 

 ing special rules for the use of electricity in mines, and 

 to consider whether any, and, if so, what, amendments 

 are required. The members of the committee are : — Mr. 

 R. .■\. S. Redmayne (chairman), Mr. C. H. Merz, and Mr. 

 R. Nelson. Correspondence may be addressed to 

 Mr. Nelson at the Home Office. 



Preliminary particulars have been sent to us of the 

 I'nited Provinces -Agricultural and Industrial E.xhibition 

 which is to be held in Allahabad in December, 1910. An 

 agricultural court will form one of the main features of 

 the exhibition, and will be arranged on a scale more 

 extensive than anything previously attempted in India. 

 The Agriculture Department of the United Provinces has 

 assumed responsibility for tlie agricultural court, and 

 inquiries regarding it should be directed to the Deputy 

 Director of Agriculture, Cawnpore. It is hoped that this 

 court will contain an economic collection of agricultural 

 exhibits of interest, not only to the producer, but also to 

 the consumer and to the manufacturer of finished articles 

 from raw products. 



Science in the daily Press usually consists of snippets 

 of sensational information which if true is not new, and 

 if new is not true. Any attempt to represent the true 

 position of scientific w^ork and thought, the progress of 

 research, and the best aims of higher education for the 

 enlightenment of the general public is worthy of encourage- 

 ment. We are glad to see, therefore, that the Standard 

 has decided to pursue the policy of presenting its readers 

 with systematic surveys of scientific research and progress 

 by means of special articles, reports of the proceedings of 

 learned societies, and in other ways. An article upon the 

 place of research in education was contributed by Prin- 

 cipal Miers, F.R.S., to Monday's issue (November i), and 

 .Sir Joseph Thomson will discuss the research degree and 

 its working at Cambridge in an article which will appear 

 on the first Monday in December. Particular attention is 

 to be given to research facilities and results, and the 

 intention of the scheme is to make the public realise what 

 the scientific spirit signifies and what is being done by it 

 for the advancement of natural knowledge. Such efforts 

 to direct public attention to the aims, methods, and con- 

 clusions of science should lead to increased recognition of 

 the national value of research and higher education. We 

 shall watch the experiment with interest, and in the hope 

 that it will meet with unqualified success. 



October was a wet month in nearly all parts of the 

 British Isles, but the excess of rain was due to the remark- 

 able falls which occurred during the closing week, when 

 the south and east of England, especially, came under the 

 influence of a cyclonic disturbance which, for a time, re- 

 mained fairly stationary over the entrance of the English 

 Channel. The weather report for the week ending 

 October 30, just published by the Meteorological Office, 

 shows that at Broadstairs the total for the period was 

 603 inches, and in three days the rain yielded 5.79 inches: 

 at Margate the total for the week was 5-68 inches, and 

 at Brighton 5-15 inches. On one day in the middle of the 

 week the rainfall at Brighton measured 332 inches, at 

 NO, 2088, VOL. 82] 



Broadstairs 2-93 inches, at Margate 273 inches, and at 

 Shoeburyness 2-50 inches. Some remarkable falls have 

 undoubtedly occurred, but it is rather too early for an 

 exact statement of facts. The aggregate rainfall for the 

 month is reported as 9-82 inches at Shanklin, 940 inches 

 at Southampton, and more than 8 inches at Brighton and 

 Bournemouth. At Valencia the total rainfall for October 

 is 806 inches, and rain fell every day with three excep- 

 tions ; at Jersey the total was 7-14 inches. At Greenwich 

 the aggregate measurement for the month is 4-07 inches, 

 whilst the average for Octobei during the last half-century 

 is 2'78 inches, and rain fell on twenty-two days. In 1880 

 the October rainfall at Greenwich was double the measure- 

 ment for last month. .At several places in Scotland and 

 in the north of England the rainfall for October was 

 slightly less than the average. The month was unusually 

 mild, and the duration of bright sunshine varied consider- 

 ably in different parts of the country. 



In his presidential address to the Institution of Civil 

 Engineers on Tuesday, November 2, Mr. J. C. Inglis did 

 not deal with any particular engineering subject, but rather 

 commented upon the recent activities of the institution, 

 the professional status of the engineer, and the position 

 he occupies in relation to certain economic questions of the 

 day. Referring to the new by-laws and regulations drawn 

 up with the object of securing a higher and more efficient 

 standard of training than has hitherto been required, Mr. 

 Inglis pointed out that there still appears to linger a certain 

 popular confusion of ideas regarding knowledge which can 

 be tested by question and answer in ordinary examination 

 papers, and ability to apply such knowledge intelligently 

 to the practical problems of every-day professional life. 

 The Institution of Civil Engineers, differing perhaps in 

 degree, though not, it is thought, in principle, from the 

 views sometimes entertained by other bodies on this sub- 

 ject, has persevered throughout in the belief that for 

 success in the application of the great powers of nature 

 to the use and convenience of man, there can be, as a rule, 

 no efficient substitute for regular training under those who 

 are practising that art ; albeit, the foundation of intelligent 

 work in this direction lies in the possession of sound 

 education and appropriate scientific knowledge. The 

 successful engineer of the future must possess in an in- 

 creasing degree a thorough knowledge of the principles of 

 design, of the materials to be used, and their behaviour 

 when in use (keeping in view the facility and cost of 

 repairs), and of the actual working conditions affecting 

 the life of the structure or plant or machine designed. 

 The engineer should not only know how to design his 

 works, but be familiar with the conditions under w^hich 

 they are to be used. The practical engineer of the early 

 part of the nineteenth century built up his theory from 

 his personal experience, and applied his self-taught theories 

 according to his judgment. The practical engineer of the 

 twentieth century is he who, knowing the theoretical prin- 

 ciples of his profession, employs as data the facts gathered 

 from his experience, and whose generalisations from such 

 experience merely consolidate his knowledge of principles. 



Naturen for October contains an appreciative memoir 

 by Mr. P. R. Sollied, accompanied by a portrait, of Emil 

 Christian Hansen (1842-1909), with an account of his 

 bacteriological researches. 



We have received a specimen copy of the first part of 

 " Coleopterum Catalogus," edited by Mr. S. Schenkling, 

 and published by W. Junk, of Berlin, this part being the 

 work of Mr. R. Gestro, and dealing with the family 

 Rhysodidae. Full synonymy of the families, genera, and 



