132 



NA TURE 



[Jiine 1 8, 1874 



in the name of George II., but the Japanese claim it by 

 right of prior discovery and occupation. It is principally 

 frequented by whalers, for supplies. There are no notable 

 features in the sea-bed between this island and the coast 

 of Japan. 



COGGIA 'S COMET 



'IP HE latest observations taken here give the following 



-'■ position of this comet, which, compared with that of 



June, published in Nature, vol. x. p. 113, shows the 



present direction of the motion. 



June 14, at loh. 42m. 30s. mean time at Twickenham. 



R.A yh. ym. 24's6s. 



D +68"56'3i"-5 



The comet on this evening was distinctly visible to the 

 naked eye, sensibly brighter than 43 Camelopardi, and 

 therefore rather higher than the fifth magnitude. Towards 

 midnight it was possible to detect a difference between its 

 appearance, without the telescope, and that of neighbour- 

 ing stars. 



There appears a decided similarity between the elements 

 of this comet and those of the second comet of 1737 ob- 

 served by the French Missionaries in China. For the 

 latter body I have calculated the following orbit, from the 

 observations, or rather the estimated places, published by 

 the Baron de Zach (Mon. Corresp. x-xi. p. 31S). 



Perihelion passage 1737, June 2-230 Greenwich M.T. 



Longitude of perihelion . . , . 26158 



Ascending node 132 5 



Inchnation of orbit 6152 



Perihelion distance o'834S 



Motion — Direct. 

 Daussy's elements of this comet which appear in our 

 catalogues are certainly defective. 



The present comet was detected when the true anomaly 

 before perihelion exceeded 100", and there is ever)' proba- 

 bility that Mr. Stone at the Cape of Good Hope may be 

 able to furnish a good normal place at a large arc of 

 anomaly after perihelion. Hence the period of the comet 

 may be determined directly from the observations. In 

 another week's time we shall doubtless know very nearly 

 the course v/hich it will take when near the earth and sun 

 in the first half of July ; but so far, the determination of 

 the elements has been one of no ordinary difficulty, as I 

 find the continental computers have remarked as well as 

 myself. J. R. Hind 



Mr. Bishop's Observatory, Twickenham, 

 June 16 



NOTES 

 We need not say much on Monday night's deb.-ite as to the 

 appointment of a minister of Education ; as we liavc already often 

 referred to the subject our ideas must be known. Mr. Lyon Play- 

 fair's appeal was certainly strong, unanswerable we tliink, but it re- 

 ferred too much to education and too little ] to science. Our 

 scientific administration ouglu to be as strong .is that of our 

 law, and we are confident that it ultimately will be. .Sir John 

 Lubbock's speech was admirable. He said it was surely a great 

 mistake to suppose that the business of an Education Minister 

 would be confined to questions relating to elementary schools. 

 We must, he thought, take a broader view of the question. 

 "We had," he said, "large educational endowments, but a 

 system which was not even now in harmony with the present 

 state of things, and which consequently does not produce the 

 results which might reasonably be expected. If there had been 

 a Minister of Education the Endowed Schools would not have 

 been allowtd to fall into tlie condition in which too many of 

 them were when the Endowed Schools Act was passed." Speak- 

 ing of the Fellowships of Oxford and Cambridge, numbering 720, 



he said, " Out of the whole number he believed that not above 

 a dozen had beeif given for proficiency in Natural Science, while 

 even as regarded the Scholarships those oftered for Natural 

 Science are only a small fraction of the whole. But then 

 the Colleges said, and said with some force, that they 

 could not do more for Natural Science because the sub- 

 ject was not sufficiently taught in the schools ; while, on 

 the other hand, the schools did not teach it because 

 so few inducements were held out at the Univeriities. Both 

 admitted that a change was needed, but each was waiting for the 

 other. Here, again, the influence of some co-ordinating 

 authority was much needed . Then there was the management 

 of our museums. It was generally felt that the erection of the 

 new Natural History Museum at South Kensington should be 

 takeii advantage of to effect a change in the governing authority 

 of the British Museum ; that, as recommended by the Science 

 Commission, the national collections should be under the charge 

 of directors, responsible to a special Minister of State. At pre- 

 sent the different national collections were in competition, not 

 in harmony." The arguments urged in favour of the appoint- 

 ment of an Education Minister were simply eluded by its 

 opponents, though it is at least consoling to think that Mr. 

 Disraeli's speech was carefully guarded ; indeed the opinion of 

 many is that in time he will see his way to supporting the ap- 

 pointment of such a Minister. 



In reply to a question in the House of Commons on Monday 

 Lord Sandon stated that arrangements had been made for bring- 

 ing the various departments at the South Kensington Museum 

 more directly under the control of the Education Department at 

 Whitehall. 



Lord Rayleioii, F. R. S., a member of the Council of the 

 Mathematical .Society, is about to do a very handsome thing, 

 which will make that Society greatly indebted to him, and which 

 should earn the gratitude of all mathematicians and therefore of 

 all scientific workers. He has expressed his intention of pre- 

 senting r,ooo/. to the Mathematical Society to assist it in the 

 publication of its Proceedings and in the purchase of mathe- 

 matical periodicals. The application of this handsome gift 

 shows great discrimination on the part of the donor. 



The Professorship of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at 

 King's College, London, is rendered vacant by the resignation 

 of Mr. T. Rymer Jones, F.R.S., who has held it since the year 

 1836. 



We regret having to record the death on June 6 of Dr. Her- 

 mann Vogelsang, Professor in the Polytechnicum of Delft, at 

 the early age of 36. He was well known for his various publi- 

 cations on subjects connected with the microscopical structure of 

 rocks and minerals. 



At the meeting of the French Academy on June S, the death 

 was announced of M. Roulin, librarian to the Academy, and 

 editor of the first volumes of the Comptcs RiuJiis, 



The deputation of the Royal Geographical Society which 

 waited on Government in reference to the family of the late Dr. 

 Livingstone recommended that 10,000/. or 11,000/. should be 

 granted ; but it seems the Government have thouglit 3,000/. 

 sufficient, with about 1,000/. by way of payment of arrears due 

 to the followers and seiTants of the doctor. This is in addition, 

 to the 200/. pension, which is to be continued to the family. 

 The Geographical Society seems to be quite satisfied with this 

 arrangement. 



It seems to be generally allowed that this year's Cambridge 

 commencement has been unusually brilliant ; the number of 

 honoraiy degrees conferred on Tuesday was very large. The 

 names of the scientific men to whom the degree of LL. D. w as given 

 we have already mentioned. At the same time the thanks of the 



