5^4 



NA TURE 



[January 13, 1910 



Study of literature and history should balance the work 

 in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Modern methods 

 of teaching mathematics in schools had produced a great 

 improvement. After school, the factory or office training 

 should extend over two or three j-ears. Should a year of 

 it be interposed between school and college, and the re- 

 mainder be completed after college? Or should the 

 summer of each year be spent in the factory and the 

 winter in college? Twenty years' experience had shown 

 him that the answer depended on the individual tempera- 

 ment of the student. The college course should lead to 

 a science degree, and the technical diploma should be 

 granted, not by the university, but by a professional body 

 qualified to judge technical training. This training must 

 be carried out on its " clinical " side on a commercial 

 scale and amid commorcial surroundings. With reference 

 to the London matriculation, he pleaded for a simplifi- 

 cation of the " English " paper and for the introduction 

 of trigonometry in the syllabus for elementary mathe- 

 matics. .^t whatever branch of engineering the students 

 were aiming, they should acquire some knowledge of 

 machinery and machine processes, and also some 

 familiarity with the applications of electricity — for engineer- 

 ing practice, not for passing an examination. Specialised 

 professional subjects, e.g. bridge building, should be 

 treated at the post-graduate stage. 



Domestic Economy. 

 Mr. J. Wilson (Battersea Polytechnic) delivered an 

 address on the correlation between the teaching of 

 domestic economy and experimental science. The prac- 

 tical problems are how to link the chemistry and physics 

 to the domestic subjects, and how to teach the latter, 

 so far as possible, as applied science. Should the experi- 

 mental science and the domestic subjects be fused together 

 into one subject? .After an experience of ten years at 

 Battersea, the lecturer gave it as his opinion that they 

 should remain two distinct but correlated branches of 

 s?udy. At present the proper teaching of the science sub- 

 jects on the one hand, and the domestic subjects on the 

 other, demands a specialist mistress for each group. 

 There must be frequent consultation between the two 

 teachers to ensure proper coordination. The principles to 

 be followed were illustrated by detailed discussion of the 

 following typical course for a girls' secondary school 

 (some nature-study should precede the course) : — 



First year. 

 Second year. 



Third year. 



Fourth ye; 



Physical measurement-. 

 Heat. Chemi-try of air. 

 W.^tcr and Solution. Acids, alka- 



Derivative> of ( 



al change ; 



outlii 



of 



Flame, washing soda, borax, sugar, 

 alcohol, vinegar, oils and fats, 

 soap. 



Classification of food-stuffs. 



Starch, flour and cereals. 



Milk, butler, cheese, eggs. 



Meat, meat extracts. 



Vegetable*:. Tea, coffee, cocoa. 



Digestion : dietetics, dietary scales. 



Heat valu 



Household Work 



Needlework. 

 Cleaning materials. 



Elementary princ 

 pies of cookery. 



Cookery ; potatoes, 

 rice, bread, cakes, 

 puddings. 



Soup; cookingmeat. 



Experin* 

 ery (; 



tal cook. 



adapta- 



n ot "' research 



household pro- 



Elementary bacteriology (air, wj 

 milk, dust). Preservation 



Laundry ; textile fibres ; bleaching ; > Laundry work 

 of soaps : dry clean- 



Generally speaking, the girls feel that the work is of 

 direct value to them, and the course proves to be as truly 

 educational as the older courses of systematic chemistry 

 and physics, although the problems studied are much 

 more complex. With the present regulations for matricula- 

 lation, girls who enter for this examination cannot take 

 the fourth or fifth year's course. Mr. Wilson suggested 

 that the London University and the Joint Scholarships 

 Board should add a suitable syllabus which would allow 

 candidates to follow such a course as the one outlined. 



Sir Lauder Brunton, who presided, and the Hon. Mrs. 

 NO. 2098, VOL. 82] 



Bertrand Russell, dealt with the social aspect of the sub- 

 ject, and it was pointed out that the comfort, health, ancl^ 

 sobriety of the nation depended to a great extent on 

 efficient and widespread teaching of domestic econom}'. 



Other Subjects. 



The initiated are aware that the teaching of number is 

 of far greater importance than is generally supposed, and 

 will learn without surprise that a whole session was 

 devoted to that topic. Mr. T. Raymont (Goldsmiths' 

 College) opened with an exposition of fundamental prin- 

 ciples. The fifth meeting was devoted to problems con- 

 nected with mentally defective children, and there was a 

 small exhibition of work accomplished, which served to 

 illustrate the methods of teaching in some of the council's 

 special schools. 



The final meeting was in many respects the most 

 important and encouraging of the series organised by Dr. 

 Kimmins. Under the title " Educational Experiments in 

 Schools " was given the clearest evidence of the abilities 

 of the teachers and of the opportunities afforded them to 

 develop their ideas. Mr. E. White, handicraft instructor 

 at Essendine Road, gave a lucid account of the manner 

 in which the work of his handicraft centre had been co- 

 ordinated with that of the schools connected therewith. 

 .\ sound start was made by bringing the class-teachers 

 into closer relation with the instructor. The council's 

 inspectors and H'.M. inspectors gave help, with the result 

 that arithmetic, nature-study, science, and in a lesser 

 degree composition, geography, and history, were all 

 benefited by the connection established between these sub- 

 jects and the manual work. Mr. J. S. Fowler showed 

 how to treat " weather study " so that its real import- 

 ance and interest were grasped by boys, and Mr. A. Beaver 

 dealt in a practical way with local history. Miss C. 

 von Wyss gave much-needed advice upon the care of 

 animals in schools. Teachers who wish to keep their 

 furred, feathered, or finned pets in good health should 

 read this paper in the coming report. Incidentally, they 

 will, it is to be hoped, both imbibe themselves and infuse 

 into their pupils that spirit which prompts " courtesy to tad- 

 poles." G. F. D. 



N 



ELECTRIC VALVES. 

 OW that the use of higher voltages for bulk supply 



is becoming more general in this country, the ques- 

 tion of protection of electrical plant against damage due 

 to resonance surges in underground lines and atmospheric 

 disturbances as well as in overhead lines — which for com- 

 mercial reasons are likely to become more common in the 

 near future — is one that electrical engineers should turn 

 their attention to at the present time. 



Where trouble has already occurred in central stations 

 it has generally been put down to faulty design or bad 

 insulation of the machines. There is no doubt, however, 

 that the damage is caused very often by the setting up — 

 owing to a short circuit or the sudden action of the auto- 

 matic fuse — of a serious rise of potential, which is 

 stored in the windings of the alternator, and can onlv 

 flow off through the capacity of the transformer or by 

 perforating the insulation. Such voltages rapidly deteriorate 

 th'/ insulation of sunk windings, and so it becomes neces- 

 sary to find some means of overcoming this difficulty. 

 Two such pieces of apparatus are now available, and may 

 be used in conjunction with each other or separately, 

 according to the conditions controlling the line, area of 

 distribution, capacity of plant, &'C., and are known as the 

 "electric valve" and " Moscicki condenser." 



The electric valve consists of a number of spark-gaps 

 arranged as follows. The first spark-gap is placed in 

 series with a sufficiently high resistance, so as to avoid' 

 high-frequency oscillations, and the remaining spark-gaps 

 are indirectly connected to earth through small condensers, 

 the last spark electrode being connected direct to earth. 

 The spark-gaps are formed between the edges of sharp 

 round discs of non-arcing metal insulated from each other 

 and from the earth connection. The capacity required is 

 obtained by these discs and a central rod which is con- 

 nected to earth, and also acts as a support for the discs 



