December 30, 1909] 



NA TURE 



269 



year, or, in the case of a new school, at its opening, but 

 this percentage may be reduced or varied by the Board on 

 sufficient grounds in the case of any particular school. A 

 return has just been issued showing the number and names 

 of the fee-charging secondary schools receiving the Board's 

 full grant in which the 25 per cent, of free places has been 

 reduced or varied on grounds deemed sufficient by the 

 Board of Education. The return shows there are 865 

 secondary schools receiving from the Board the full scale 

 of grant of %l. for each registered pupil between twelve 

 and eighteen years of age. At two of these schools no fees 

 are charged, 746 are required to offer 25 per cent, of free 

 places, and in the remaining 117 a lower percentage is re- 

 quired. The grounds for variation or reduction of the 

 normal percentage of free places fall roughly under three 

 heads, viz. financial circumstances, the fact that there is an 

 adequate provision of free places in neighbouring schools, 

 and the existence of a large percentage of boarders in the 

 school. In fifty-three cases the number of free places has 

 been reduced from 25 per cent, to 10 per cent., in twenty- 

 nine cases to 12-5 per cent., in thirteen cases to 15 per 

 cent., and in all other cases where a reduction has been 

 allowed to 20 per cent. 



The eighth annual report, which deals with the work 

 of the year igoft-9, of the executive committee of the 

 Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland has now 

 been issued. The committee states that reports of the 

 independent authorities who have examined the records of 

 the year's work under the research scheme of the trust 

 give evidence that its past success is being well maintained. 

 The committee acknowledges the assistance rendered by 

 the universities in providing the scheme with so many able 

 workers and in affording accommodation and supervision 

 in their various laboratories. We notice that applications 

 for fellowships, scholarships, and grants for iqio-ii must 

 be lodged on or before April i next with the secretary of 

 the trust, from whom application forms and regulations 

 can be obtained. The e.xpenditure for 1908-9 upon the 

 scheme of fellowships, scholarships, and grants, and upon 

 the laboratory, was respectively 6861/. and 1992^., towards 

 the latter of which the Royal College of Physicians and 

 the Royal College of Surgeons together contributed 1025?. 

 The second quinquennial scheme of distribution, which 

 opened with the year under review, besides making con- 

 tributions of 65,250/. to buildings and permanent equip- 

 ment, and 20,500!. to libraries, will at the close of the 

 period of five years have increased the resources of teach- 

 ing in the four university centres by permanent endow- 

 ments amounting to 87,500!., while it will at the same 

 time have afforded during the five years an annual income 

 of some 4150!. to meet ordinary expenditure. Statistics 

 of the payment of class fees for 1908-9 give the total 

 number of beneficiaries as 3553, the total amount of fees 

 paid as 47,071!., and the average amount of fees paid per 

 beneficiary as 13Z. 4s. n<J., an increase as compared with 

 the preceding academic year of 284 beneficiaries, of 3815Z. 

 in the total expenditure, and of threepence in the average 

 amount per beneficiary. During the year 257!. los. 6ff. 

 was refunded voluntarily on beh.ilf of eleven beneficiaries 

 for whom class fees had been paid by the trust. 



The recommendations, made jointly by several of its 

 subcommittees, to the London Education Committee for 

 the organisation of a system of central schools in London 

 have been adopted by the Education Committee, with the 

 exception of a few relating to certain points concerning 

 the teaching staff, and the consideration of these has been 

 deferred. A system of schools is to be established giving 

 an educational course not provided in existing elementary 

 or secondary schools, and the new schools, which will be 

 known as central schools, will have either an industrial 

 or a commercial bias, or both. These schools will take 

 the place of the existing higher elementary and higher 

 grade schools, and will be fed by contributions from 

 surrounding schools, as most of the higher grade schools 

 are at present. The curriculum will provide in all cases 

 for manual and practical work, and, in the case of girls, 

 for instruction in domestic subjects. The curriculum of 

 each school will be considered specially, and be determined 

 with the view of meeting the needs of the district. Pupils 

 will be selected between the ages of eleven and twelve, and 

 parents will be given the opportunity of choosing either 

 NO. 2096, VOL. 82] 



a secondary school or a central school for these children. 

 The schools will be organised on a four years' course, and 

 provision will be made for bursaries to be held by pupils 

 on their attaining the age of fourteen. These bursaries 

 will not exceed 500 in number, and will consist of main- 

 tenance grants from the age of fourteen at the rate of 

 10!. a year. The total annual cost of this arrangement is 

 estimated at 7500!. It is intended that the number of 

 central schools shall be fewer than the present higher 

 elementary and higher grade schools, and shall be carried 

 on under the ordinary regulations of the Board of Educa- 

 tion, and in this way be free from the restrictions imposed 

 by the higher elementary schools' regulations. In order 

 that the parents of candidates for admission may be given 

 an opportunity of realising the advantages afforded by the 

 new schools, it is intended to issue a short descriptive 

 pamphlet, and the parents are to be encouraged to seek 

 personal interviews with .the school managers and head 

 teachers. 



The eighth annual meeting of the North of England 

 Education Conference will be held at Leeds, in the Uni- 

 versity buildings, on January 6—8, under the presidency of 

 Sir Nathan Bodington, Vice-Chancellor of the University. 

 The general conference on Friday morning will be devoted 

 to a discussion on the relation of elementary schools to 

 technical schools (day and evening), which will be intro- 

 duced by papers by Prof. M. E. Sadler, of Manchester, 

 and Mr. James Baker. Mr. J. H. Reynolds and Mr. A. C. 

 Coffin will open the discussion. The subject for the general 

 conference on Saturday morning will be education abroad 

 and in England — a comparison, introduced by papers by 

 Mr. J. C. Medd and Mr. Otto Siepmann, head of the 

 modern languages department, Clifton College. Mr. 

 Cloudesley Brereton and Dr. R. M. Walmsley will open 

 the discussion. The sectional meetings on Friday after- 

 noon will be devoted to the following four topics : — 

 (i) independent study and self-help in schools ; (2) co- 

 operation between employers and education authorities ; 

 (3) colour-study in relation to general art and to trade, and 

 modern developments of applied art instruction ; and (4) 

 the teaching of geography and history in relation to one 

 another. The sectional meetings on Saturday afternoon 

 will be devoted to the four subjects : — (i) physical training 

 in schools, with special reference to the new scheme of 

 the Board of Education ; (2) do we teach too many sub- 

 jects in the primary schools? (3) modern ideas on general 

 art instruction ; and ^41 the relation of the State to the 

 training of teachers of domestic science, and their relation 

 to the universitv. The last subject will be introduced by 

 Prof. Smithells,' F.R.S., and Miss M. Atkinson. It wiil 

 be seen that the organising committee has selected a series 

 of topics of wide interest and importance. The principal 

 speakers are experts in their subjects. As a good attend- 

 ance is already guaranteed, the conference should be one 

 of particular interest and utility. The social side of the 

 conference will be promoted by a conversazione at the 

 Universitv on Thursdav evening, January 6, and by a 

 reception by the Lord Mayor in the City Art Gallery on 

 Fridav evening. Januarv 7. The usual publishers' 

 exhibition will be liberally accommodated in the large 

 physics laboratory at the University, and the comfort of 

 delegates has been carefully considered in the provision of 

 writing, smoking, and conversation rooms. The techno- 

 logical departments of the LIniversity will be open to dele- 

 gates throughout the conference. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 

 Zoological Society, December 14. — Mr. G. A. 

 Boulenger, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair. — Dr. 

 F. D, Welch : (i) Change of colour in a specimen of 

 Mellivora ratel living in the society's gardens; (2) a com- 

 parative examination of three living specimens of Felis 

 ti^ris sondaica, with notes on an old Javan male. — Dr. 

 W. E. Agar : The nesting habits of the tree-frog, PhyUo- 

 medusa sauvagii. This frog makes a nest suspended from 

 bushes overhanging a pool, into which the tadpoles drop 

 when they are hatched. The nest is constructed from a 

 number of leaves, the lower ends of which are drawn 



