6i6 



NA TURE 



[OcTOIiKR 2 2, 1896 



lies before us, we have, in addition to a brief recital of the most 

 interesiing local educational events, accounts of certain manurial 

 trials which have been made in that county, and of experiments 

 conducted at the Krigfhtlingsea Marine Biological Station. The 

 larger portion of the booklet, taken up with reviews, and notes 

 on lessons in elementary chemistry, miglu be curtailed with 

 advantage. 



In opening a Technical and University Extension College, and 

 a School of Science and Art, at Colchester on Tuesday, Lord 

 Rosebery dwelt upon the urgent need of increased facilities for 

 technical and commercial education in England. He remarked 

 that Germany had long been twenty, thirty, or forty years 

 ahead of us in technical education, and Switzerland was just as 

 far advanced. Referring to the dermans, he said : — " They are 

 an industrious nation ; they are, above all, a .systematic nation ; 

 they are a scientific nation, and whatever they take up, whether 

 it be the arts of peace or the arts of war, they push them forward 

 to the utmost possible perfection with that industry, that system, 

 that science which is part of their character. Are we gaining 

 upon the Germans? I believe, on the contrary, we are losing 

 ground. The other day one of the greatest authorities on this 

 subject went to Germany, being stirred up by what he had seen 

 of alarm in the newspapers on the subject. lie came back 

 and told a friend of mine that he was absolutely appalled by the 

 progress made in the last twenty years by the Germans in 

 technical and commercial education as compared with what was 

 going on in England. When I last spoke on this subject I 

 made a modest proposal. It was, ' Cannot the Government 

 order an inquiry to be made into the facts of this matter?' 

 It would not cost as much as an ironclad. It would cost a very 

 small sum indeed. I do not suppose it would cost a year's pay 

 of the chief engineer of an ironclad. I believe it would be 

 infinitely more useful. If necessary, three men like Lord Farrer, 

 Sir Philip Magnus, and Sir Courtenay Boyle could without the 

 slightest difficulty produce all the facts bearing on this subject 

 without any expense whatever in the space of six months." 



In acknowledging the vote of thanks for his address. Lord 

 Rosebery gave further instances of the extraordinary vigour 

 with which Germany is pursuing the work of technical education. 

 The Times reports him to have said : — "At this moment the 

 German Government are about to present a Bill to Parliament 

 for the federalising, if I may so describe it, of all the skilled 

 workmen of the country. Each craft of skilled craftsmen is to 

 be formed into a guild, and each group of guilds is to be formed 

 into a central committee. These central committees are, 

 again, to elect chambers of handicrafts, on the model of cham- 

 bers of commerce, to reside at the principal centres of industry. 

 Side by side with this organisation is to be an organisation of 

 apprentices, who will have their direct representatives on the 

 central chamber. These organisations are to be formed under 

 the direct supervision of the Government. They are to carry out 

 measures designed to promote the moral and material 

 welfare of workmen, to arrest strikes, to establish and 

 assist the development of trade by inspection and supervision 

 of the methods of training skilled labour. Technical 

 schools are to be established and supported, and the whole 

 system of technical instruction, already so perfect in our opinion, 

 thoroughly overhauled. The Government Bill in.sists on the 

 constant interposition of officials, mainly with the object of 

 preventing the guilds from narrowing the recruiting ground, 

 which they are now rather inclined to do. The main principle 

 underlying the Bill is to create respon.sible bodies who should 

 advise the Government what measures should be adopted to 

 promote the interest of the .skilled producer, and should carry 

 out under Government supervision such measures as the Govern- 

 ment on their advice should recommend. Now, I do not think 

 that we like .so much Government .supervision as that in England. 

 But I only call attention to the fact as .showing how Germany, 

 in spite of her start of us, and in spile of the apparent perfection 

 of her methods, is still straining every nerve and every mu.scle 

 to organise her .skilled labour in such a way as to defy the 

 competition of the world." We need only remark now that 

 long ago we urged the formation of a respon.sible council to 

 advise on matters affecting the progress of .science and industry. 

 Had such a council been in.stituted, our industries would have 

 developed along with the increase of scientific knowledge. The 

 nation will soon, perhaps, begin to realise what it has lost by 

 neglecting scientific experience and advice. 



NO 1408, VOL. 54] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, October 12.— M. A. Chatin in the 

 chair. — Elliptic elements of the Giacobini comet, by M. 

 Perrotin. — (Jn the extension of complete functions to an 

 important problem in polynomials, by M. Emile Borel. — 

 Cryoscopy of precision : reply to M. Raoult, by M. A. Ponsot. 

 In the previous paper of M. Raoult, to which this is a reply, 

 some remarks of M. Ponsot are severely criticised, and yet the 

 substance of some of these remarks is adopted. In the present 

 note the conclusion is drawn that there is now complete agreement 

 as to the conditions theoretically necessary for obtaining the true 

 freezing point of a .solution ; but there are still some differences 

 of opinion as to the best means of |)ractically realising these 

 conditions. The propositions put forward by M. Raoult in his 

 last paper are criticised in detail. — Thermal studies on 

 cyanamide, by M. Paul Lemoult. The cyanamide was prepared 

 from thiourea, and carefully purified from dicyandiamide. The 

 molecular heat of combustion is 172 cab, and heat of formation 

 S'4 cal. ; the transformation into urea sets free 20'2 cal. The 

 neutralisation with .soda gave out 3'55 cal., but excess of soda 

 gave rise to no further heat development. — Study of the sub- 

 intestinal nervous sy.stem of the Orlhoptera of the tribe 

 MecopoJiiuc [Platyphyllum giganlciiiii), by .M. L. Bordas. The 

 great nymber of nervous centres, and the numerous branches of 

 the sub-intestinal nervous system of Platypltylluin gigauteiiiii 

 and allied species, show that this system must play an important 

 part in the carrying on of the digestive processes. In this 

 species there is a frontal ganglion, an [esophageal or hypo- 

 cerebral ganglion, a pair of lateral cesophageal ganglia, and tw:> 

 intestinal ganglia, making six in all. The position of the.se. 

 with their connecting nerves, is given in detail. 



DIARY OF SOCIETIES. 



THURSDA )', October 22. 

 Sooth London Ento.mological and Naiukal History Society, .nt 

 8.— DLscussion on Tephrosia biundularia and T. crepuscularia : C. G. 

 Barrett. — Paper on the same subject : J. W. Tutl. 



TUESDAY, Oc-row.v. 27. 

 RovAL Photographic Society, at 8. — Demonstration of .\cctylene .\ppa- 

 ratus for Portraiture and the Optical Lantern : C. Hoddle. 



FRIDAY, October 30. 

 Physical Society, at 5. — Special Meeting, after whicli. at an Otdina'>- 

 Meeting — A .Satisfactory Method of measuring Electrolytic Conductivity' 

 by means of Continuous Currents : Prof VV. Stroud and J. B. Henderson. 

 — .\ Telemetrical Sphe'Ometer and Focometer : Prof. W. Stroud. — .\n 

 Experimental Exhibition : R. Appleyard. 



CONTENTS. p.^GE 



The British Museum Catalogue of Corals 593 



Our Book Shelf; — 



Westermaier : " .\ Compendium of General Botany" 594 

 Galloway ; " The Testimony of Science to the 



Deluge."— T. G. B 594 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Utility of Specific Characters.— Prof. R. 



Meldola, F.K.S 594 



A Note on the Tesia .Spark and X-Kay Photography. — 



Rev. Frederick J Smith, F.R.S. . .... 594 



Siemens's Domestic (}as Fire. — Dr. W. Pole, F.R.S. 595 



The Variable Star Z Ilerculis.—Cuthbert Peek . . 595 



" Eozoon Canadensa." — James Thomson .... 595 



The Departuie of the Swallows. — E. P 595 



Wasps and Flies.— E. H. . . 595 



Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller. By W. Botting 



Hemsley, F.R.S 596 



Notes 596 



Our Astronomical Column: — 



Telegrams about Comets 599 



Comets Perrine (1895 IV.) and Perrine-I.amp (1S96) . 000 



The Canals of Mars Ooo 



The Huxley Lecture — Recent Advances in Science, 

 and their bearing on Medicine and Surgery. II. 



By Prof. Michael Foster, Sec. R.S 600 



Zoology at the British Association 605 



Mechanics at the British Association 607 



Anthropology at the British Association 609 



Forthcoming Books of Science 611 



University and Educational Intelligence 615 



Societies and Academies 616 



Diary of Societies 616 



