B10 
WATURE 
[May 23, F912 
widespread inquiry will appear in a refined and 
systematic form. How far the demands of the public 
in this direction can be satisfied remains to be seen, 
but probably the committee will not consider itself 
responsible for supplying the requirements of its 
public. It will be a great matter if these require- 
ments are expressed articulately and stated in such a 
scientific form that the attention of inventors and 
manufacturers may be concentrated upon the lines of 
useful and necessary advance. 
The undertaking is one the development of which 
will be watched with considerable interest. If it 
should prove that the requirements of the professional 
man, with whom some optical instrument is part of 
his equipment, can in this way find useful exposition, 
the idea is one for which there may prove to be a 
great future, since it opens up a new line of coopera- 
tion between the scientific world and the world of 
industry, and one which, if it brings them together 
successfully, will bring them together on a very satis- 
factory footing. 
Among the attractions of the exhibition is one, we 
observe, which caters for the taste, so much developed 
in recent years, for the realistic representation of by- 
gone days. An ‘‘Isaac Newton” room is to be fitted 
up in which the leading experiments described by 
Newton in his ‘‘Opticks” will be reproduced by 
means of apparatus constructed in accordance with 
Newton’s description of the appliances which he him- 
self employed. An are lamp will make Newton’s 
successor independent of the sunshine, but in all other 
respects he will follow closely in Newton’s footsteps. 
Another room will, in like manner, be devoted to the 
demonstration of Fresnel’s crucial experiments. That 
these demonstrations will be among the most popular 
features of the exhibition cannot be doubted, but the 
popular appeal should be the smallest part of their 
merit. There is nothing more stimulating to the 
modern student than to realise with what slender 
resources and imperfect appliances some of the great 
scientific discoverers have accomplished their greatest 
work. 
THE USE OF PEDIGREES.* 
[ECR O about family history can be pre- 
sented most clearly by the use of tabulated pedi- 
grees. Until recently, genealogy has shown a 
tendency to lay principal stress on the single line of 
paternal descent, as is shown by early heraldic rolls 
and other records. Nevertheless, the heralds’ visita- 
tions were founded on the sound idea of a complete 
genealogical survey of one section of the nation. 
The hereditary descent of physical and mental quali- 
ties may often be traced in pedigrees prepared for 
general purposes, but is better shown in diagrams 
where the character to be traced is indicated in sym- 
bolic form. Instances may be given of the trans- 
mission of scientific, administrative, and legal ability, 
of good and bad character, of mental defect, or of 
special liability to tuberculosis. Almost any physical 
or mental character may be traced, and shown to be 
definitely hereditary. It is impossible to explain the 
facts by the influence of environment alone. 
In some cases, such as in eye colour and certain 
diseases and physical defects, the laws of inheritance 
have been shown to be definitely Mendelian in char- 
acter, and it then becomes possible to predict the 
average result of any given marriage. 
Regarding the nation from the point of view of its 
innate qualities, the question of selection becomes of 
supreme importance. In present conditions, what 
1 Abstract of a discourse delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday, 
May 3, by W. C. Dampier Whetham, F.R.S. 
NO. 2221, VOL. 89] 
qualities tend to be preserved and what tend to be 
bred out of the race? There is evidence to show 
that, on the average, in England the people of the 
towns are shorter and darker than country dwellers. 
This fact seems to suggest a gradual increase of the 
Mediterranean elements in our urban population at 
the expense of those of northern or Teutonic origin. 
Again, the modern phenomenon of the limitation of 
families is most marked among the careful and thrifty 
in all ranks of life; the careless and casual tend rela- 
tively to increase. “It seems probable that the nation 
may tend to become shorter, darker, more emotional, 
and less rational and self-controlled. Until lately, no 
attention has been paid to racial considerations; but 
a genealogical survey of the people is at least as im- 
portant as a geological survey of the land, for the 
character of the race is the greatest of national 
possessions, 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
CamBripce.—Dr. Shipley (Master of Christ’s 
College), Prof. Punnett, Mr. C. Warburton, and Mr. 
H. Scott have been nominated to represent the Uni- 
versity at an International Congress of Entomology 
to be held at Oxford in August next. 
Dr. JouHN SatrerRty has been appointed lecturer 
in physics at the University of Toronto. 
Mr. J. HENpricK, lecturer in chemistry at Aber- 
deen College of Agriculture, has been appointed pro- 
fessor of agriculture in the University of Aberdeen. 
Tue annual dinner of the Royal School of Mines 
Old Students will be held on Wednesday, June 12, 
at the Imperial College Union, South Kensington. 
Several distinguished guests have already accepted 
invitations to be present, including the Right Hon. 
A. H. D. Acland (chairman of the Education Com- 
mittee of the Imperial College), Sir Alfred Keogh 
(Rector of the Imperial College), Mr. F. G. Ogilvie 
(Board of Education), and Mr. Edward Hooper (presi- 
dent of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy). 
Mr. W. Frecheville, who has just been elected to the 
chair of mining in succession to Prof. Herbert Cox, 
will preside at the dinner. 
A CORRESPONDENT in The Electrical Review for 
May 3 directs attention to the serious inconvenience 
to students caused by the City and Guilds of London 
Institute examinations being held at the end of the 
Easter holidays, three or four weeks after the teach- 
ing has come to an end. The question whether there 
should be an interval between the teaching and the 
examination is an important one, and it would be 
well to have the opinions of the best students on the 
matter. Those who advocate an interval claim that 
it is in the interest of the student, who by its means 
has an opportunity of digesting the information he 
has received. The University of London, for ex- 
ample, ceases its courses for the degree examination 
at the end of Tune, although the examinations do not 
take place until October or November. 
Tue London County Council proposes 
Tuly next a certain number of free places at the 
Imperial College of Science and Technology, South 
Kensington, for the session beginning in the follow- 
ing October. The instruction will be of an advanced 
nature, suitable for students qualified to enter on the 
fourth year of the college course. There is no 
restriction as to income, but intending candidates 
must be ordinarily resident within the area of the 
administrative County of London, and must be 
to award in 
pene. 
i ieee 
