October 15, 1896] 



NA TURE 



58: 



lungs. The best antidote is the inhalation of oxygen. Rapid 

 motion almost always produces collapse when more than 30 jier 

 cent, of the blood has been saturated with the gas. 



Chemical education formed the subject of no less than three 

 communications to ihe Section, almost the whole of one sitting 

 being devoted to this important question. 



.Sir II. K. Roscoe, in opening a discussion on "Chemical 

 Kducation in England and Ciermany," laid emphasis on the 

 necessity for a training in the methods of research for those 

 who were to be the leaders of industry. He also pointed out 

 that, although great industries have in the past arisen and are 

 now developing in England, our manufacturers do not show the 

 same appreciation of the value of a thorough scientific training 

 as those of (lermany. A further ditflculty is offered by the in- 

 etiiciency of many of our secondary schools. A number of 

 speakers look part in the discussion, agreement with Sir H. E. 

 Koscoe's position being generally expressed. Some difference of 

 opinion existed, however, a.s to w here the reform was to originate ; 

 many speakers being in favour of calling in parliamentary aid, 

 whilst others advocated the gradual training of public opinion 

 cm the point. 



The subject of " Science Teaching in Elementary Schools " 

 was dealt with by Dr. J. H. (iladslone, on behalf of the 

 Committee appointed to investigate this question. Continued 

 progress is being made in the teaching of science subjects in 

 elementary schools. The Committee is strongly of opinion that 

 the time has come when the educational authorities should lay 

 down a scheme of elementary experimental science to be taken 

 by every scholar before he is allowed to specialise into the various 

 branches of science. An all important point is to train teachers 

 to regard science teaching as a means of mental culture, and to 

 leach accordingly. 



In practical illustration of the requirements laid down in the 

 last sentence of the report. Miss L. Edna Walter read a paper, in 

 which she recounted her experience of the teaching of science in 

 girls' schools. The system of instruction is practically a continua- 

 tion of the kindergarten system, applied to elementary scientific 

 notions. The children are taught by being made to perform, 

 and even to originate, simple physical measurements and experi- 

 ments, and are encouraged to form their own notes into books 

 of reference. After passing through such a preliminary course, 

 the children are introduced to a course in practical chemistry 

 such as that suggested by I'rof. Armstrong, or that adopted Ijy 

 the Association of Head Masters. 



Several of the Committees of the Association presented im- 

 portant reports of the work carried out during the past year. 

 Mr. C. F. Cross read the reiiort of the Committee on "The 

 Constituents of Barley Straw," The results obtained make it 

 appear probable that the furfuroid constituents of the cereals are 

 not, as has hitherto been supposed, secondary products of 

 assimilation, but are directly built up by the plant. The fur- 

 furoids appear to form a very large group, comprising a number 

 of diflfcrent substances, which differ in their susceptibility to 

 yeast, and yield osazones of diflerent melting-points. The 

 cereal plants are distinguished by the great proportion of grain 

 which they produce, the amount being no less than 40 per cent, 

 of the weight of the entire plant. It appears probable that 

 during the period of jiroduction of seed, part of the necessary 

 material is derived from the tissues of the stem and leaves. 



Prof. Bedson presented the report of the Committee which 

 has been engaged in the examination of the " Proximate Con- 

 stituents of Coal." Ordinary co.al is practically insoluble in all 

 reagents, but can be converted by treatment with dilute hydro- 

 chloric acid and potassium chlorate into soluble products, the 

 compcsition of many of which has been ascertained. By re- 

 peated treatment, no less than 75 per cent, of the coal 

 can be dissolved. Brown coal appears to behave in a similar 

 manner. 



The Committee on " The Isomeric Naphthalene Derivatives" 

 reports that work has now been begun on the important subject 

 of isomeric change, especially in the sulphonic acids and other 

 derivatives of the naphlhols. 



The reix)rt of the Committee on " Quantitative Methods of 

 Electrolysis " is of very great practical value, and comprises four 

 distinct papers. One of these deals with a very convenient 

 arrangement of the necessary electrical instruments, whilst the 

 others treat of the determination of bismuth, antimony, and tin. 

 The separation of the last two can onlv be satisfactorily accom- 

 plished when there is less tin than antimony present. 



The Committee on the " .\ciion of Light on Dyed Fabrics" 



NO. 1407. VOL. 54] 



has also been active during the past year, a large number of dyed 

 fabrics having been tested in this respect. 



Advantage was taken of the favourable po.sition of Liverpool 

 to inspect several of the more important chemical workj in 

 the district. 



GEOLOGY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 ■yHE President of this Section devoted his address mainly to 

 stratigraphical geology, and we may well follow his ex- 

 ample, and consider the papers presented to the .Section in a 

 similar order. Beginning with the oldest rocks, the first paper 

 to claim attention is that by Sir \V. Dawson, on pre-Cambrian 

 Fossils. A valuable portion of this paper summarised our know- 

 ledge of the succe.ssion of Canadian rocks of high antiquity. 

 He regards Matthew's Prolo/einis zone of New Brunswick as the 

 equivalent of the Olciiellus zone, and beneath this occurs a mass 

 of greenish slates and conglomerates with a few doubtful fossils, 

 such as brachiopods, ostracods, and protozoans. These Etche- 

 minian rocks rest on the Huronian rocks, which contain worm- 

 burrows, sponge spicules, and laminated forms comparable to 

 Cryplozoon and Eozoon. Under these comes the Grenvillian 

 system, or Upper Laurenlian rocks, with Eozoon in the lime- 

 stones, and at the base the orthoclase gneiss and hornblendic 

 schists, which constitute the Lower Laurentian. The author 

 exhibited a series of lantern slides showing the structure and 

 composition of Eozoon canadeuse, amongst them being many 

 very beautiful decalcified specimens, which none of those who 

 criticised the paper attempted to explain. 



Dr. G. F. Matthew's paper, which followed, endeavoured to 

 recognise the larval characters of entromostraca, brachiopods, 

 and trilobites in those faunas which preceded that of Paradoxides. 

 He showed that in the young of trilobites from the Paradoxides 

 beds the following larval characters were striking : ( i ) the pre- 

 dominance of the cephalic over the caudal shield ; (2) the long, 

 narrow, parallel-sided glabella ; (3) the absence of eyes : (4) 

 absence of movable cheeks ; (5) absence or smallness of thorax ; 

 (6) the pygidium is at first small and of one segment. Such 

 larval characters are to be observed in pre-Paradoxidian trilobites, 

 and the author particularised Ptychoparia^ Soknoplenra^ and the 

 trilobites of the Protolcniis fauna, such as the type-genus, 

 Ellipsoicphahis., and Minnacca. Similar conclusions were arrived 

 at with regard to the Obolidae, and to such ostracods as 

 Bi'yrichonia and Hipparicharion. 



Sir Archibald Geikie referred to some rocks, hitherto described 

 as volcanic agglomerates, in Anglesey. Although the material 

 of which the rocks were composed is volcanic, he now regards 

 the breccialed and conglomeratic structure as due to earth-move- 

 ment. The hard bands have been broken and rounded into 

 fragments, the softer crushed and stretched out into a broken 

 slate or phyllite. 



Mr. Greenly dealt with a similar subject, and he referred to 

 the quartzite lenticles, which about Beaumaris vary from one- 

 quarter of an inch to one foot in length, but at Pen-y-parc 

 attain a length of 700 feet, to the action of earth-movement. 

 They were originally beds, but had been crushed and pinched 

 off till they formed mere lenticles. The same author announced 

 the discovery, in Central Anglesey, of bands of Sillimanite 

 gneiss occurring where the gneiss is traversed by sills and bands 

 of granite, to which there are no chilled edges. These Silli- 

 manite gneisses are like those described by Mr. Home and the 

 author from Eastern Sutherland, where they are also associated 

 with hornblendic gneiss of Hebridian aspect. 



Ancient rocks of a very different character were dealt with 

 by Mr. W. W. Watts, who gave some notes on his recent work 

 in Charnwood Forest. The volcanic rocks had been mapped 

 in detail on the six-inch scale, and the divisions correlated from 

 one part of the country to another. Their age was still in doubt, 

 but was not likely to be newer than Cambrian, while the un- 

 likeness to the Cambrian system is shown at Nuneaton, and the 

 direction of movement in the anticline pointed to a greater an- 

 tiquity. A set of views was shown to illustrate the reniarkable 

 character of the scenery produced by the old rock, whose features 

 dated back to pre-Triassic, and probably preCarboniferous, 

 times. The old hills and valleys were beautifully preserved 

 under a mask of Triassic marl, which was only now being slowly 

 removed in places. 



Messrs. Howard and Small made a very interesting com- 

 munication on the rocks of Skomer Island, likewise illustrated 



