NA TURE 



[July 2, 1896 



As regards (lie waiU uf practical application in this science, 

 the words of ('melhe are no longer true. KIsewhere he says: 

 "There is a flavnur of the monU or the old bachelor about 

 crystallography, and therefore it is self-sufiicient. Practical ap- 

 plication' in life it has none ; its rarest objects — the crystallised 

 precious stones — have to be cut and polished liefore we can adorn 

 our ladies with them." Hut you will remember that crystallo- 

 graphy ineans now nuicli more than the study of external form ; 

 what is done by the lapidary is really much what is done by the 

 scientific investisjator — the result in both cases is to reveal the 

 inherent but hidden beauty of the crystal. 



It is, however, very true that there is a self-sutficiency about 

 (he -science, and for a reason which I have already indicated: 

 crystals can be considered as things which e.-cist for themselves, 

 since their nature is independent of their surroundings. 



The philosophic conleiuplalion of these beautiful and un- 

 changing objects among the fleeting scenes of a restless world, 

 does bring with it a philosophic content. Nowhere is the evidence 

 of the permanent order that prevails in nature written in more 

 lustrous and indelilile characters than in the mineral kingdom. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



The University of Utrecht has just celebrated its 260th 

 anniversary by a series of brilliant Jltes. 



Mk. John R. Frm.ows, of New- York City, has given 

 5000 dols. to Notre Dame University to found scholarships. 



The University of Yirginia, which suffered serious damage by 

 fire last autumn, is being rebuilt on the plans of its founder, 

 Thomas Jefferson, friends having subscribed a fund of 250,000 

 <lols. for that purpose. 



Dr. Frank I'. (Iraves, of Brooklyn, has been unanimously 

 elected president of the .State University of Wyoming, located at 

 Laramie. President Graves was born in 1869, and is probably 

 the youngest college president in America. 



The Electrical Kevirci) states that the Kaden Chamber has 

 voted /'30,ooo to the Technical High .School at Karlsruhe, to 

 build a new electro-technical institute. The whole cost of the 

 building projected, exclusive of the cost of the land, is estimated 

 to be about ^25,000. The building is to be commenced 

 immediately, and it is expected to be ready for occupation in 

 t wo years. 



The following are among recent announcements : — Dr. l^iul 

 Kisler to be professor of anatomy in the University of Halle ; 

 Dr. L. Joubin to be profe.ssor of zoology in the Faculty of 

 .Science at Rennes ; Dr. H. I'rous to be professor of zoology in the 

 Faculty of Science in Lille ; Dr. J. A. Wislicenus to be professor 

 at the School of Forestry at Tarandt ; Dr. C. Frege to be 

 professor of mathematics at the University of Jena ; Dr. H. 

 Klinger to be jirofessor of pharmaceutical chemistry in the 

 University of Konigsberg, and Dr. Sclioll to be assistant 

 professor of chemistry at Karlsruhe. 



F"OR the evening exhibitions in science and technology offered 

 for competition by the Technical Education Board of the London 

 County Council in April last, and the awards of which have 

 recently been published, 285 candidates entered as compared 

 with 256 last year. There is a similar increase in the number of 

 awards, there being eighty-eight as compared with seventy-seven 

 last ses.sion. The examiners' report: "The most noticeable 

 feature was that the performance of candidates who selected 

 such practical subjects as building construction, machine con- 

 .struction, plumbing, metal plate work, itc. , was greatly superior, 

 ■;is a rule, to that of candiilates who selected branches of pure or 

 exiieriniental science such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, 

 Ac.'' The second conspicuous fact brought to light is the com- 

 plete want of ability on the part of most of the industrial 

 candidates to deal with the simplest applications of arithmetic to 

 their own trades. This is an old complaint of teachers of 

 technical subjects, and the pity is that it .seems as just now as 

 ever. The children from elementary schools leave off their 

 tuition with no knowledge of the principles of arithmetic, 

 though some of them are experts in working ordinary " rules " 

 as they learn to call them. The majority of the successful 

 candidates consist of men engaged in engineering, building, 

 carpentering and plumbing trades. It is to be hoped that one 

 result of their work during the coming session will be to 

 introduce them to those general principles of science on a 



NO. 1392, VOL. 54] 



knowledge of which a successful career in their various avoca- 

 tions most certainly depends. 



A HRIEK history of the City and Cluilds of I-ondon Institute 

 has been received. A glance through the pamphlet should be 

 enough to m.ake members of the Corporatiim and Livery 

 Companies of London proud of the part they have played in th e 

 advancement of technical education in this country since 1S76, 

 when, at a meeting of representatives of Livery Companies, it 

 was resolved : "That it is desirable that the attention of th e 

 Livery Companies be directed to the promotion of education not 

 only in the metropolis but throughout the country, and especially 

 to technical education, with the view of educating young artisans 

 and others in the scientific and artistic branches of their trades." 

 It was this resolution which led to the foundation of the Institute 

 in 1878. A few years later the Central Technical College — than 

 which there is no more efficient institution for teaching the 

 relations of science to industrial processes — was established. 

 Other Colleges connected with the Institute are the Technical 

 College, Finsbury, the South London Technical Art School, 

 and the Leather Trades School. A very important part of the 

 In.stitute's work consists of the technological examinations. 

 These examinations have become a powerful agency in 

 encouraging the establishment of technical schools and classes 

 throughout the country, in assisting County Councils and other 

 bodies in the organisation of their local schools and classes, and 

 in securing the useful expenditure of the grants placed at their 

 disposal under the Local Taxation Act, 1890. In :88l the 

 number of students in attendance at these classes was only 

 2500, but last year it reached 24,920. The Institute also takes 

 part in establishing and assisting experimental classes in manual 

 training, wood-work and metal-work, cookery, laundry-work, 

 and housewifery, for boys and girls in elementary schools. For 

 this provision and organisation of technical education in the 

 metropolis and in the provinces, the total amount subscribed by 

 the Livery Companies during the past eighteen years is, in round 

 figures, ^^"480,000, of which ;^ 1 50,000 has been expended on 

 buildings and equipment, and the remainder on maintenance, 

 scholarships, prizes, and grants-in-aid. Tlie splendid work done 

 by the various branches of the Institute miire than justifies this 

 expenditure. 



On Friday last the Prince of Wales was installed as Chancellor 

 of the National University of Wales : and a large and brilliant 

 company assembled at Aberystwith to witness this crowning of 

 the movement for which educational pioneers in Wales have 

 worked so zealously. After the installation, honorary degrees 

 were conferred upon the Princess of Wales, .Mr. Oladstone, 

 Lord Herschell, and Lord Spencer. The three colleges com- 

 prised in the new University — Aberystwith, Cardiff', and Bangor 

 — have all been founded within the last five-and-twenty years, 

 and sums amounting to nearly ;{^200,ooa have been subscribed 

 to support them. The Welsh ])eople have from very early times 

 shown a desire for knowledge, and now they have a truly 

 national University they will doubtless take still greater pride in 

 developing their heritage. The Vice-chancellor, Principal J. 

 Viriamu [ones, F. R.S., told the history of the foundation of the 

 University to the Welsh National .Society of Liverpool in 

 November last, and a copy of his address, which is published at 

 the offices of the Western Mail, Cirdiff, was received a few days 

 ago. The need for the University definitely emerged from a 

 proposal adopted by the Cymmrodorion Section of the National 

 Kisteddfod in 1887, that teachers in elementary schools should 

 be trained at the University Colleges. The need was again felt 

 when the Welsh Intermediate Educ.ition Bill became law in 

 1889, for a (juestion which had to be considered in connection 

 with the Bill was the nature and constitution of the authority to 

 which the work of inspecting and examining the intermediate 

 schools should be committed. For these reasons, and because 

 educational pioneers in Wales felt that the existence of a naticmal 

 University was essential to the vitality of the colleges, the 

 foundation of such a University was urged nine years ago, and 

 now what was then ideal has become a fact. Some re- 

 marks by Principal Jones on the functions of a teaching 

 University such as that of Wales are not without interest 

 to those who cherish the hope that a teaching Univer- 

 sity ot London may eventually be established. He says : — 

 " It is certainly part of the ideal of any university institution that 

 its professors should be leaders in the departments of scholarship 

 or science which they profess, and that, as such, they should 

 help to frame the courses of study leading to graduation. 



