Septembeb 11, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



353 



now found. They would not need to ask pro- 

 tection from foreign competition, but would 

 dictate terms to every nation. Both in Great 

 Britain and the United States enormous sums 

 of money are annually spent, and well spent, in 

 primary and secondary education. Yet this 

 education is chiefly of advantage to the indi- 

 vidual, whereas higher education and research, 

 chiefly of advantage to the State, are neglected 

 by it. 



Nature does not hesitate to urge that a min- 

 istry and council of science be established in 

 Great Britain equal in rank and importance 

 to the war council. We fear that it will be 

 a long while before anything would be gained 

 by urging that we should have a minister of 

 science in the Cabinet, but the modest request 

 that the ofla.ce of director-in-chief of scientific 

 bureaus and investigations in the department of 

 agriculture be created should be seconded by 

 all who are interested in scientific research, or 

 in commercial or agricultural success. 



THE GERMAN ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



There will be found in the issue of Die JSfatur 

 for August 23d an interesting account of the 

 German Zoological Society by Prof. O. Taschen- 

 berg. Many who are familiar with the impor- 

 tant work of the Society may not realize that it 

 was only founded in 1890 and has held but six 

 meetings; the first in Leipzig in 1891, under the 

 presidency of Prof. Leuckart; the second in 

 Berlin and the third in Gottingen, under the 

 presidency of Prof. Schultze; the fourth in 

 Munich and the fifth in Strasburg, under the 

 presidency of Prof. Ehlers, and the sixth in 

 May of the present year at Bonn, under the 

 presidency of Prof. Biitschli. 



Yet in these few years the Society has con- 

 tributed to the advancement of zoology in an 

 unusual degree. It has not only published an- 

 nually its scientific proceedings, but in accord- 

 ance with its constitution has discussed and 

 carried out plans requiring scientific coopera- 

 tion. It has secured the establishment of a 

 marine biological station in Heligoland, and has 

 agreed upon and published a system of zoolog- 

 ical nomenclature. It will be noticed that in 

 the second of these works the Society has un- 

 dertaken to legislate not only for Germany, but 



for the scientific world. It has further pro- 

 ceeded with plans that concern all zoologists. 

 It has secured the republication of the 10th 

 edition of the Systema Naturse of Linnseus and 

 the publication of the Zoologisches Addressbuch, 

 to which we have recently called attention. It 

 has now carried into eflfect the plans for the 

 publication of a complete Species animalium 

 recensium (this, its original title, has now 

 been changed to Das Tierreich), which, as all 

 zoologists know, is one of the most extensive 

 scientific works ever planned. 



The German Zoological Society demonstrates 

 what can be accomplished by proper organiza- 

 tion and sets an example to other countries, 

 which, if not followed, will leave to Germany 

 tasks that should be accomplished by interna- 

 tional cooperation. 



REPORTS ON ENGINE-TRIALS OF 1896. 



Le Bevue Universelle des Mines de Liege pub- 

 lished in its issue of 1896, Volume XXXIV., an 

 account of the work of the Experimental En- 

 gineering Laboratory of Prof. Dwelshauvers- 

 Dery in the early part of the current year. 

 The following is a brief abstract of this series 

 of reports : 



These experiments were conducted in the op- 

 eration of the experimental engine of that lab- 

 oratory for the purpose mainly of ascertaining 

 the eflPects of draining the steam-chest, while in 

 action, of superheating, of steam-jacketing, and, 

 further, to obtain a measure, on a large scale of 

 operation, of the mechanical equivalent of heat 

 energy. 



The latter, the most interesting and impor- 

 tant, perhaps, from a general and purely scien- 

 tific point of view, are also exceedingly impor- 

 tant as corroborating, on this large scale of work, 

 the earlier laboratory tests of Joule, and espe- 

 cially of Rowland. The engine is a machine 

 built especially as an 'experimental engine,' 

 and so constructed as to permit the investiga- 

 tion of as many as possible of the numerous 

 problems of steam engineering, while at the 

 same time combining in its design the requi- 

 sites for practical work of a less scientific char- 

 acter and permitting the instruction of students 

 in the methods of manipulation of steam-en- 

 gines. The series of researches here described 



