June 27, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



385 



steamer "Normannia," leaving Southampton on Sept. 12. The 

 meetings and excursions will last altogether over a month, and 

 will practically embrace every point of interest in the United 

 States within a distance of fifteen hundred miles of New York. 

 Papers have been promised for the meetings by Sir Lowthian Bell, 

 Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, Sir Henry Eoscoe, and others. Among 

 those who have intimated their intention of being present at the 

 meetings are Sir James Kitson (president of the institute), Loi-d 

 Edward Cavendish, Sir John Alleyne, Sir James Bain, Mr. Hing- 

 ley, M.P. (president of the Iron Trade Association), Mr. Theodore 

 Fry, M.P., Sir J. J. Jenkins, Sir Thomas Story, Mr. Windsor 

 Richards, Mr. Snelus, F.R.S., and Mr. Edward P. Martin. 



— We learn from the Journal of Education (London) that a 

 model school has recently been built at Mannheim, Germany, at a 

 cost of £45,000. It contains 42 school-rooms, 2 drawing-rooms, 2 

 singing-rooms, 2 rooms for manual instruction, and a gymnasi- 

 um; further, a large hall, 2 private rooms, 2 sets of rooms for the 

 servants, and 4 subterranean prisons. The latest hygienic im- 

 provements and precautions against fire have been introduced. 

 Iron has been used instead of wood, except in the roof. The 

 ceilings are all of beton. The floors are parquet floors laid in as- 

 phalt. The accumulation of dust and the development of bacte- 

 ria are hereby minimized. Underground there are two bath- 

 rooms, one for boys and one for girls, with a dressing-room for 

 each; also a large dining-room where 700 poor children can be 

 fed in winter. The number of children in the Volksschnle at 

 Mannheim has increased from 4,650 in 1880, to 9,220 in 1890. 



— The next meeting of the American Society of Microscopists, 

 instead of being held at Louisville, Ky., will be held at Detroit, 

 Mich., Aug. 12 to 15 inclusive. The outlook for the meeting is 

 most encouraging, from the papers already promised. The subjects 

 for discussion are "Representation of the Society at the World's 

 Fair, Chicago, 1893," to be opened by Ex-Gov. Jacob D. Cox, 

 Cincinnati, O.; "Micrometry," by Professor William A. Rogers, 

 Waterville, Me. ; "Proposed Standing Committee on Medico-Legal 

 Microscopy," by Professor Marshall D. Ewell, Chicago, 111. ; 

 "Uniformity in Tube-Length,'' by Professor Simon H. Gage, 

 Ithaca, N. Y. ; "The Advisability of adding more Members to the 

 Publication Committee," by Professor D. S. Kellicott, Columbus, 

 O. ; "Proposed New Constitution," by Dr. William J. Lewis, Hart- 

 ford, Conn.; 'The Advisability of meeting at Same Time and 

 Place of the Amarican Association for the Advancement of 

 Science," by Professor W. H. Seaman, Washington, D.C. ; "Ad- 

 visability of sending Copies of the Publications to Some of the 

 Great Colleges and Libraries of the World," by Dr. LeeH. Smith, 

 Buffalo, N.Y. ; and "Fees of Experts with the Microscope," by 

 C. M. Vorce, Esq. , Cleveland. The general session for the reading of 

 papers will be held in the new building of the Detroit College of 

 Medicine, corner of St. Antoine and Catherine Streets and Gratiot 

 Avenue. The mayor of Detroit will deliver the address of wel- 

 come, to be followed by the response of the president of the 

 society, George E. Fell of Buffalo, N.Y. On Wednesday the 

 forenoon and afternoon sessions will be devoted to the reading 

 and discussion of papers and special topics; and in the evening 

 the president will deliver the annual address, the subject being 

 "The Influence of Electricity on Protoplasm." Thursday fore- 

 noon will be devoted to the reading and discussion of papers and 

 special topics; and the afternoon, to the various technological fea- 

 tures of microscopy, as preparing, staining, mounting of speci- 

 mens, section-cutting, manijiulative methods, etc. These demon- 

 strations will be conducted by experts in the different branches of 

 work, and will form a valuable feature of the meeting. In the 

 evening there will be an exhibition of microscopes and objects, pop- 

 ular in character, and tendered by the society to the citizens of 

 Detroit. Friday will be given over to the reading of papers, discus- 

 sions, etc., until 4 p.m., when, by invitation, the members and 

 friends of the society will take a trip on the Detroit River, fol- 

 lowed by an inspection of the laboratories of Park, Davis, & Co. 

 The headquarters of the society will beat the Hotel Normandie.and 

 the Russell House and Hotel Cadillac will also be open to the guests. 

 Negotiations relating to reduced railroad fares have been in prog- 

 ress. Should they be successful, due notice will be given. The 



local committee of Detroit will issue circulars relating to the work- 

 ing session and the exhibition. They will supply badges, and look 

 after the general welfare of those attendant upon the convention. 



— The January number of Flecheisen and Masius' Neue Jahr- 

 biicher fur Philologie und Padagogik contains a short but inter- 

 esting report by E. Vogel on Spanish Oymnasia. The writer 

 commences with a few details on the Spanish Volkssehule. He 

 says that elementary education is not compulsory, but that the 

 Volksschiilen, whether conducted by the municipality or the 

 Church or other societies, are not so bad as might be expected. 

 The Spanish child is unusually sharp, and, not being burdened 

 with several alphabets or a complicated orthography, learns to 

 read and write easily in a few months. After this, he makes 

 some progress in arithmetic and geography, and other branches 

 of instruction; "while the German teacher is still laboring, in the 

 sweat of his brow, "seine buben durch die disteln und dornen 

 eines sogenannten lesebuchs zu lavieren." There are some estab- 

 lishments for higher elementary teaching; but these are little 

 patronized, children being usually put out apprentices at the age 

 of twelve. Secondary education is given in the institiitos, organ- 

 ized some thirty years ago. The curriculum covers five years, 

 with a very singular time-table: viz.. First year, Latin and Span- 

 ish, 9 hours weekly; geography, 4^. Second year, Latin and 

 Spanish, 9; Spanish history, 4rJ. Third year, rhetoric and poetic, 

 9; arithmetic and algebra, 9; history, 4|; French or English, 4^. 

 Fourth year, geometry and trigonometry, 9; psychology, logic, 

 and ethics, 9; French or English, 4^. Fifth year, physical sci- 

 ence, 9; biology and hygiene, 9; agriculture, 9. The school-year 

 is 37 weeks. The text-books are said to be good, all except those 

 on Spanish grammar, the best of which is ludicrously incorrect 

 and antiquated. The teachers lecture, but the boys cannot under- 

 stand the words they are obliged to use. The leavingexamina- 

 tion is ridiculous; so much so, that a moderately clever boy can 

 become "bachiller" at fourteen, and most boys do so at fifteen. 

 The instituto is consequently, in popular opinion, "ein humbug." 

 Mr. Vogel, with the true German belief in pedagogy, concludes 

 his observations with the remark that "a good middle school 

 would, in twenty-five years, make this talented nation one of the 

 first in Europe." 



— Professors F. W. Clarke and H. W. Wiley, representing com- 

 mittees appointed by the Chemical Society of Washington, the 

 Chemical Section of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, and the Association of OflScial Agricultural 

 Chemists, respectfully submit the following statement: Diu-ing 

 the past two years the formation of a national, or rather conti- 

 nental, chemical society has been much discussed. A committee, 

 of which Professor A. B. Prescott was chairman, presented a re- 

 port upon the subject at the last meeting of the American Asso- 

 ciation, and that report was in the main favorable. A new com- 

 mittee, however, was appointed to secure fuller information, and 

 will report at the next meeting of the association, in August, 

 1890, at Indianapolis. A larger attendance of chemists is there 

 expected. The plan which has so far been chiefly considered is 

 in brief as follows: to organize a continental chemical society, 

 representative of all North America, by affiliating together as far 

 as possible existing local organizations; the society as a whole to 

 hold an annual meeting at such time and place as may be agreed 

 upon from year to year; while local sections, like the sections of 

 the British Society for Chemical Industry, shall have their regu- 

 lar, frequent gatherings in as many scientific centres as possible, 

 all publishing their work in one oiBcial journal. The opinions of 

 chemists are sought as to whether they regard the project favora- 

 bly; and, if modifications or objections occur to them, it is de- 

 sired to have them formulated. Upon the basis of the replies, the 

 committees named will prepare their reports to the organizations 

 which they represent. Other existing societies, having appointed 

 similar committees, may take action independently; if so, their 

 views will be considered also, as it is desirable to secure the full- 

 est CO operation among the chemists of America. Complete unity 

 of action is essential to success. Replies should be addressed to 

 Professor F. W. Clarke, United States Geological Survey, Wash- 

 ington, D.C. 



