March 18, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



261 



of beams, over which are spread two covers of 

 seal-skin, the intermediate space being filled with 

 shrubs. In referring to Sutherland's measure- 

 ments of the Eskimos of Cumberland Sound, 

 Murdoch remarks that they may have been half- 

 breeds. Sutherland visited the Sound only a few 

 years after its discovery ; and there were no grown- 

 up half-breeds there at that time, though they 

 form a large portion of the population nowadays. 

 The tribes of that district are in the habit of cook- 

 ing the food for their regular meals ; but besides 

 this, they eat large quantities of raw and frozen 

 meat. They indulge in drinking oil as little as any 

 other tribe. Murdoch remarks rightly that it is 

 far too valuable to waste in this way, as it is the 

 only and indispensable fuel. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The board of oriental studies at Oxford has 

 added Chinese and Burmese to the list of lan- 

 guages which may be offered in the examination. 



— Prof. Edward A. Freeman has been obliged 

 by ill health, the result of overwork, to obtain 

 leave of absence from Oxford for a time. He is 

 now^ in Sicily. 



— The report of the Swiss commission for the 

 reform of gymnasial instruction has just been is- 

 sued. The commission recommend that the teach- 

 ing of Latin shall begin in the fifth class, and 

 shall be continued, for five hours weekly, up to 

 the highest class ; that instruction in Greek shall 

 depend upon the expressed desire of parents or 

 guardians, and shall begin in the fourth class; 

 and that all scholars who do not learn Greek shall 

 learn either English or Italian. Two spare hours 

 gained by pupils in English or Italian are to be 

 spent in the study of natural science and mathe- 

 matics. 



— The Educational times remarks that the 

 event of the month — January — has been the 

 visit of the French teachers to Oxford — the 

 members of the Soci6t6 nationale des professeurs 

 de Francais en Angleterre — for the holding of 

 their sixth annual congress. They lunched at 

 different colleges, and assembled thereafter in 

 Balliol hall, where they were received in a most 

 eloquent speech by Dr. Jowett. That master 

 spoke highly of the value of modern languages 

 and the promotion of their study in England ; but 

 he loves his Greek better. "Modern languages in 

 Oxford," he said, "must serve the higher purposes 

 of education : therefore they must not drive out 

 the ancient, and, above all, Greek, which, more 

 than any other ancient language, seems to be the 

 original source of our literature and civilization." 



Other speeches were made, and the following ex- 

 cellent resolutions were carried: "1. That the 

 Society of French masters earnestly desires to see 

 established at Oxford a school of modern lan- 

 guages, on such a basis as will encourage the 

 study of French literature, and of the French lan- 

 guage as a living tongue ; 2. That the society de- 

 sires that the system of set books in the local ex- 

 aminations of Oxford and Cambridge beabolished^ 

 and that certificates be awarded on translation at 

 sight, composition, grammar, and viva voce." 

 Later, the members dined together at Orielj 

 where they were entertained by the provost and 

 a committee of reception. Toasts and more 

 speeches followed dinner ; Dr. Beljame, the rep- 

 resentative of the French minister of public in- 

 struction, expressing an eloquent hope that the 

 old friendly intercourse between French and Eng- 

 lish universities would be renewed. Altogether, 

 the Oxford meeting was a very pleasant success, 

 enjoyable, and of much benefit to all concerned. 



— The English educational papers are bewailing 

 the appointment of Sir William Hart Dyke to suc- 

 ceed Sir Henry Holland as vice-president of the 

 council of education. 



— Hawaii is not unprovided with educational 

 facilities. The edu<,"ation act compels the attend- 

 ance at school of all children between the ages of 

 six and fifteen. The government supports free 

 public schools out of a tax of two dollars per head, 

 paid by every male inhabitant of the kingdom be- 

 tween the ages of twenty and sixty years. An in- 

 spector-general is at the head of the school depart- 

 ment, but no person in holy orders or minister of 

 religion is eligible to fill the oflBce. 



— An association for promoting the university 

 education of teachers, consisting, in the first place, 

 of the masters of English elementary schools who 

 spent some weeks at Oxford last summer, has been 

 inaugurated in London. As its first act, the asso- 

 ciation has appealed to the education department 

 to recognize the university degree as equivalent to 

 a certificate, "provided the universities co-oper- 

 ate by making provision for training in teach- 

 ing." 



— Of late the Prussian minister of education has 

 had several applications made to him to admit 

 women as students at the universities. His reply 

 is, that women are not to be admitted as regular 

 students at any Prussian university, nor at any of 

 the medical schools. 



— Cornelius Nepos is a particularly good author 

 for beginners in Latin to take up, because his style 

 is easy and perspicuous, and his subject-matter, 

 when trustworthy, is of historical interest. The 



