440 



NATURE 



[August 22. 1907 



A programme of the courses of study in the departments 

 of pure and applied mathematics and astronomy of Uni- 

 versity College, London, has just been issued. In it are 

 to be'found full particulars as to the courses in the depart- 

 ments for students preparing for honours in the subjects 

 above referred to, also of the facilities for research in the 

 college. The programme may be obtained on application 

 to the secretary of the college. 



Oxford. — Owing to the great increase in the number of 

 students at Ruskin College, the stafT is being increased. 

 Prof. Lees Smith has retired from the position of vice- 

 principal, and has been elected director of studies and 

 chairman of the e.xecutive committee. He will for the 

 present combine this with his duties in the newly created 

 •chair of economics and public administration at University 

 College, Bristol, and with his work at the London School 

 of Economics. Mr. Charles S. Buxton, of Balliol College, 

 has been appointed vice-principal. Mr. H. S. Furniss, 

 of Hertford College, has been appointed lecturer in 

 economics. The plans for the new building are now under 

 •consideration. The building will be erected on the site 

 of the temporary buildings adjoining Worcester College, 

 and will accommodate loo students. For this purpose the 

 <:ollege will require about 20,oooi. 



A FURTHER 20ooi. has been given by Sir Donald Currie 

 towards the equipment fund of Queen's College, Belfast, 

 bringing up his contributions to the sum of 22,oooZ. 



The calendar of the Merchant Venturers' Technical 

 College, Bristol, has just been issued, and gives particulars 

 of the courses of instruction at the institution and much 

 other information. Although the main building of the 

 college was partially destroyed by fire, the work of the 

 Institution has not been crippled, owing to the Bristol 

 Education Committee having placed at the disposal of the 

 governors large buildings planned to accommodate more 

 than 1000 pupils. These buildings, temporarily known as 

 the Castle Branch of the Merchant Venturers' Technical 

 College, Castle Green, have been fitted with the necessary 

 lecture theatres, laboratories, and workshops. 



An amendment to the Education .Administrative Pro- 

 visions Bill, recommending that power should be given to 

 local authorities to make periodic anthropometric records 

 of children which would afford definite information as to 

 the physical condition and development of the children, 

 was moved last week in the House of Commons by Sir 

 Philip Magnus, who referred to the resolution upoii the 

 subject adopted at the joint meeting of the -Anthropo- 

 logical and Educational Sections of the British Association, 

 -and the report upon such measurements conducted by the 

 Glasgow School Board, which has just been issued by 

 the Scotch Education Department ; but upon the President 

 of the Board of Education saying that clause 13 of the 

 Bill as it stands gives the necessary powers the amend- 

 ment was not carried. It is well, perhaps, to emphasise 

 the fact that local authorities possess under the new Act 

 the necessary powers to institute a system of scientific 

 measurements. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 12. — M. Bouquet <le la 

 Grye in the chair. — Integral curves of differential equa- 

 tions : Georges Remoundos. — The accidents arising 

 during the manipulation of compressed o-\ygen, and on 

 an arrangement permitting of their avoidance : Georges 

 Claude. The ordinary forms of regulator for reducing 

 the pressure contain a piece of ebonite, and this is liable 

 to catch fire and even to inflame the steel cylinder. The 

 author describes a simple modification of the regulator bv 

 which any local elevation of temperature in the neighbour- 

 hood of the ebonite is avoided. — A dynamo designed for 

 wireless telegraphy : P. Vjllard. This dynamo has been 

 designed so that the voltage curve is analogous to that 

 of a Ruhmkorff coil, and, in addition, allows the time 

 interval between the successive sparks to be regulated 

 mechanically. The nature of the voltage curve produced 

 1ias been studied by means of the oscillograph, curves 

 /mm which are reproduced in the paper. Experiments 

 NO. 1973, \'f^L. 76] 



have been made with this instrument both in the labor- 

 atory and in the field, and for equal motive power the 

 results are much superior to those obtained with a coil. 

 The dynamo is also useful for the production of X-rays. 

 — The maximum of phosphorescence : J. de Kowalski 

 and C. Gamier. A discussion of some recent results on 

 the same subject by L. Bruninghaus. — The cause of the 

 beating of the heart: II. Kronecker. Serum from the 

 blood of a calf was subjected to diffusion in a current 

 of flowing water so that the amount of sodium chloride 

 was reduced to o-6 per cent. This fluid was used to re- 

 place the blood in the cardiac cavities of the frog, toad, 

 and tortoise, and it was found possible to suppress com- 

 pletely the beats of the heart for one hour. Any 

 stimulus applied during this period of arrest caused either 

 a strong pulsation or a group of pulsations. The effects 

 of other solutions are also recorded. The conclusion is 

 drawn from these experiments that the heart does not 

 beat automatically, but requires stimulants of a chemical 

 nature to act on the nervous plexus of the heart. — ^The 

 reaction of tuberculin in leprosy (subcutaneous, dermic, 

 and conjunctival inoculations) : Charles Nicolle.— Observ- 

 ations on the Eocene and Oligocene in Hampshire : Jean 

 Boussac. — The results of observations of the intensity of 

 gravity at the island of Booth-Wandel, Grahamsland. by 

 the .Antarctic expedition of Dr. J. Charcot : M. Matha. 

 An account is given of the experimental inethod used and 

 the accuracy attained. The value of g found, 982'439, is 

 higher than the value calculated from the formula of 

 Defforges, ;?=q7S-io6 (i —0.005243 sin^ A), by o-ii6 cm. 

 This difference is in full accord with the results of Foster 

 in the same regions. — The paroxysms of Stromboli : .\. 

 Ricco. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Applied Optics. Rv Edwin Edser 409 



A Theory of the .S;ther 410 



Foundry Practic e 411 



Our Book Shelf: - 



Kingsley : '■ Eversley Gardens and Others " . . . 412 



Martin :" The Friendly Stars."— W. E. R. . . 412 

 Cameron : " On the Evolution of Wound-treatment 



during the Last Forty Years " 413 



Wake: "Vortex Philosophy: or the Geometry of 



Science Diagrammatically Illustrated " 413 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The August Draconids — Perseid Fireballs. — W. F- 



Denning 413 



The Heating of a Balloon Wire by Lightning. — E. Gold 413 

 The Origin of the Domestic Striped Tabby Cat. — R. I. 



Pocock .... 414 



A Fossil Tsetse-fly in Colorado.— Prof. T. D. A 



Cockerell 414 



Physics and Chemistry. By Sir Oliver Lodge, 



F.R.S 414 



A Triad of Sporting Books. {Ilhtstralcd.) By R. L. 415 



Genetics 417 



Notes 417 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



Daniel's Comet, 1907^ 422 



Search-Ephenierides for Comets 1894 IV. and 1900 III. 422 



Mars 422 



The Total Eclipse of January, 190S 422 



The Leeds Astronomical Society 422 



The Making of Mountains. ByG. A.J. C 423 



The South African Association 424 



International Marine Investigations 425 



The Transvaal Department of Agriculture . . . 4:5 

 The Arc and the Spark in Radio-Telegraphy. By 



W. Duddell, F.R.S 426 



The British Association : — 



Section K. — Botany. — Opening Address by Prof. 

 J. B. Farmer, M.A., F.R.S., President of the 



Section 430 



Section L. — Educational Science. — Opening Address 

 by Sir Philip Magnus, B.Sc, B.A., M P., 



President of the Section 439 



University and Educational Intelligence ... 439 



Societies and Acadeoiies 44° 



