June i8. 1908J 



NA TURE 



16' 



yellow fever, bubonic plague, and other terrible scourges. 

 _ We were glad to see portraits of Major Ronald Ross and 

 other leaders in the campaign which science is waging 

 on behalf of humanity, and especially on behalf of the 

 native races of the tropical regions of the Empire. The 

 evolution of the microscope is excellently demonstrated by 

 the instruments lent by the Royal Microscopical Society, 

 ranging from the copy of the simple microscope of 

 Leeuwenhock (1675) to "the 1848 pattern of Powell and 

 Lealand. .\ full account of them may be found in Dr. 

 Dallinger's editions of " Carpenter on the Microscope." 

 Modern methods of mounting microscopical preparations 

 are represented, also the processes for the preservation of 

 anatomical structures on the larger scale. 



Anthropology. — Anthropometric contrivances are numer- 

 ous, and gain some additional interest from recent regula- 

 tions with regard to the medical inspection of schools and 

 from the efforts being made to secure an anthropological 

 survey of Britain. 



Geography and Geodesy. — The Government has given 

 but little assistance to the science section as a whole, but 

 in this division we find much instructive material lent by 

 the War Office and the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 

 the former through the topographical section of the 

 General Staff and the latter through the Ordnance Survey. 

 The production of the topographical map of the Orange 

 River Colony is illustrated in all its stages, and there is 

 a fine collection of Ordnance Survey maps of the United 

 Kingdom. The Royal Geographical Society contributes 

 photo reproductions of original MS. maps by British ex- 

 plorers in Africa, including Livingstone, Burton, and 

 Speke. Surveying instruments used in famous pre- 

 Victorian expeditions are to be seen, and also those of the 

 latest 1908 pattern. 



Geology and Geodesy. — The Geological Society shows 

 facsimile reproductions of early tables and maps by 

 William Smith, 1799 to 1801. Photographs of British 

 scenery illustrative of geological features are contributed 

 bv the Geological Survey and the British Association Com- 

 mittee, of which Prof. Watts is secretary. We direct 

 attention to a new small geological map of the United 

 Kingdom, scale i inch to 25 miles, published by the 

 survey to provide teachers with a cheap and accurate map. 

 In the palseontological division systematic research is 

 illustrated by the grouping, viz. : — (a) collecting of fossils ; 

 (/)) preparation of fossils ; (c) study of fossils ; (d) literary 

 aids to research ; (c) presentation of results. 



Oceanography. — The Admiralty has lent the gear used 

 bv H.M.S. Challenger, 1S72-6, photographic reproductions 

 of Captain's Cook's original charts, and various pieces of 

 apparatus used in sounding, both antique and recent. 

 Biological specimens brought by the Scotia from the 

 Antarctic can be seen, while the submarine cable com- 

 panies contribute an attractive exhibit. 



Meteorology. — No fewer than twenty-five pages of the 

 catalogue are required for the enumeration of the items in 

 this remarkably complete division. Here one may studv 

 the equipments of stations of the first, second, and third 

 orders, and the methods of dealing with observations and 

 results. Applications of meteorological statistics to agri- 

 culture and public health are instructively set forth. 

 .Apparatus for investigating the upper air, for observations 

 on board ship, and for such special purposes as dust- 

 counting, are on view. The historical collection includes 

 Merle's weather journal, kept from 1.^37-44, and the 

 earliest treatise on the barometer, published in 16S8. 

 Photographs of lightning flashes and of cloud-forms are 

 numerous and of high quality. In the subdivision devoted 

 to terrestrial magnetism will be found the results of the 

 Discovery Antarctic Expedition. 



Astronomy. — Though placed last in the oflicial classifica- 

 tion, this section is second to none in extent and interest. 

 The observatories of Greenwich, Cape of Good Hope, 

 Edinburgh, Cambridge, Oxford, Stonyhurst, and the Solar 

 Physics Observatorv of South Kensington have all con- 

 tributed to a wonderful display of instruments and photo- 

 graphs. The subcommittee has arranged a stand to show 

 the more important instruments required to equip a modern 

 astrophysical laboratory. The large variety of objects of 

 historical interest include an equatorial by .Abraham Sharp 



NO. 2016, VOL. 78] 



{circa 1674), an astrolabe constructed for Sir Francis 

 Drake, a Newtonian telescope made by W. Herschel, an 

 Arabian astrolabe dated 1224 a.d., and autograph letters 

 of John Flamsteed relating to Greenwich Observatory la 

 1712. In an adjoining case we found a photograph of the 

 new satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Mr. Melotte on 

 February 28, 190S. We cannot imagine a better w^ay to 

 view the progress of astronomy during the last two 

 centuries than bv visiting this exhibition. 



The National Physical Laboratory sends photographs anJ 

 duplicates of apparatus used in standardising and research 

 Regarding such an exhibit as a gauge of the degree of 

 advancement attained in the branches of knowledge for 

 which the instruments are employed, and of the degree ot 

 skill reached by our manufacturing firms, we may feel 

 legitimate pride in recent advances, particularly in electro- 

 technics. . . ,. 



In dealing with a new enterprise, it is, of course, easy 

 to find details which are susceptible of improvement, but 

 in this case the onlv faults we observed were minor ones, 

 and will mostlv disappear under the capable directors who 

 have brought so large an undertaking to such a high pitch 

 of attainment with commendable punctuality. We cheer- 

 fullv omit minor criticisms, and express our strong feel- 

 in<j' of indebtedness to the workers who have done so- 

 well We also thank the executive of the exhibition for 

 endowing the Science Section to the extent of about 7000L 

 The best return for this labour and generosity will be an 

 attendance of visitors such as the merits of the exhibition 

 deserve. G. F. Daniell. 



CONFERENCE OF TE.ICHERS IN 



TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS. 



T^HE second annual conference of the Association of 



J- Teachers in Technical Institutions was held in London. 



last week. The following are among the matters of wide 



interest discussed at the conference :— , , , 



(i) The necessity for the provision of two types of schoo s 

 for the continuance of the education of boys and girls 

 from the ages of fourteen to seventeen years. 1 he first 

 of these types corresponds with the present existing hrst- 

 class " secondary " school, the second with the trade 

 or "preparatory trade" school, which should be a 

 secondarv school with a marked •'technical bias. Ihis 

 school should prepare definitely for the trades, crafts, or 



industries. , . , ^ .u.^ 



(2) As a small but distinct educational advance, the 

 minimum age of exemption from obligatory school attend- 

 ance should be fourteen vears, without any exceptions,, 

 as provided in clause 2 6( the Education (Continuation 

 Schools) Bill promoted by Mr. Chiozza Money. Ihis, 

 however, is only one step forward. The leaving age for 

 trades industries, or crafts, where the conditions of the 

 trade 'perm't. ^^hould be sixteen or seventeen years, trom 

 fourteen to sixteen years, the boy or girl should attend 

 a school provided in accordance with paragraph (i) above 



(.) The technical institution has to deal with students 

 who have received their preliminary training in the primary 

 and secondary schools, often in the primary schools only 

 The average quality of the material from the primary and 

 secondary schiols is far from satisfactory There is too 

 oton a certain lack of intellectual " grip" and thorough- 

 ness How far this is due to the widening of the school 

 curricula in recent vears it is impossible to say. Signs 

 are not wanting that in many schools the old evils of 

 stringent individual examinations are being replaced b> an 

 evil almost as great, namely, the cramming of a nuniber 

 of pupils for the valuable borough and county scholarships 

 now offered in such profusion. Technical colleges and 

 schools have still to devote much valuable time space, and 

 equipment to work which should have been done in the 



secondary schools. , ^ j . >^„„^;„rt 



(4) In the case of a large number of students attending 

 evening classes in technical schools, their sole previous 

 educational training has been in the pnmarv school up' 

 to the age of thirteen or fourteen years. About sixteen 

 or seventeen years of age, or later, they enter the technical 

 schools, after a period of three or four years during which 



