468 EEPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



8. Syllabuses of Geneeal Elementary Science. 

 General science is at present included in the syllabuses of the Oxford 

 and Cambridge Joint Board, the Oxford Local School examination and 

 (under certain conditions) by the Civil Service Examiners. The syllabus 

 of the Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board is here reprinted as an example 

 of what is prescribed for School Certificate candidates. 



General Science. 



Papers will be set to test the candidates' knowledge of scientific 

 principles and of their application in everyday life, as indicated in the 

 following schedule : — 



Section 1. Principles of mechanics, illustrated by falling bodies and 

 by simple machines ; the meaning of mass, weight, force, energy ; the 

 transformations of energy. 



The general properties of solids, liquids, and gases ; principles of hydro- 

 statics with practical applications ; outlines of diffusion and surface tension. 



Production and sources of heat ; the ideas of temperature and quantity 

 of heat ; effect of heat on matter ; transference of heat. Relation 

 between heat and work as illustrated in the steam engine and the internal 

 combustion engine. Domestic heating and ventilation. 



Production and propagation of sound ; pitch, loudness, and quality. 



Production and propagation of light ; reflexion, refraction, and disper- 

 sion ; colour. The eye and simple optical instruments. Domestic lighting. 



Elementary ideas of magnetism. The fundamental experiments of 

 electrostatics. Effects of the electric current. Ohm's law. Current 

 induction with the outlines of its application in the dynamo. Practical 

 applications of electricity in domestic lighting and in the transmission 

 and transformation of energy. 



Section 2. The chemistry of air and water and of the elements con- 

 tained in them. The general laws of chemical combination illustrated by 

 the study of common substances, especially such as have familiar practical 

 applications [e.g. chalk, sulphur, salt ; the common acids and alkalis and 

 the salts formed by their interaction ; iron, copper, lead, and their common 

 oxides ; common metallic salts like blue and green vitriols, alum). The 

 explanation of these laws by the atomic theory. The chemistry of com- 

 bustion ; common forms of fuel ; carbonisation of coal ; outlines of the 

 metallurgy of iron and lead. Oxidation, reduction, bleaching ; catalysis ; 

 solutions ; outline of electrolysis. The relation of the air and its con- 

 stituents to the life of animals and plants. The fixation of atmospheric 

 nitrogen. 



Section 3. The general structure of a vertebrate animal and a flowering 

 plant and the functions of their chief organs. Bacteria and their economic 

 importance. Organisms causing disease. Habits and life-history of 

 common British insects, fish, birds, and mammals, with particular reference 

 to those important to man. The chief constituents of human diet. Simple 

 cases of fermentation and the preservation of food. Elementary hygiene. 



The solar system ; stars and nebulae. Formation and constituents of 

 granite, sandstone, limestone, coal, clay, and slate. Action of rain, wind, 

 frost, ice, rivers, and sea. Fossils and their significance. Stratification, 

 folding, and faulting of rocks. 



The formation of soil ; an elementary knowledge of the relation 

 between soils and crops. 



