350 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Sept. 28, 1888. 



vidual which had been shown by the English members 

 of the Congress. They had been in a sufficient majority 

 to carry any proposition ; but, instead of using their 

 power, the London Congress had been signalised by the 

 adoption of the foregoing rules for voting. 



M. Capellini announced that the council had found it 

 necessary to continue the International Commission on 

 Nomenclature, although certain modifications of its func- 

 tions had been made. 



The Commission, which included representatives of 

 all countries, chose M. Capellini for its president, and 

 M. Dewalque for its secretary. 



Professor Prestwich then delivered his concluding 

 address as president of the Congress. He said : — We 

 approach the end of the Congress and we can now con- 

 gratulate ourselves upon the results obtained. The first 

 sitting was devoted to the discussion on the divisions 

 of the Cambrian and Silurian systems, and although no 

 vote has been taken, the opinions expressed have de- 

 monstrated that all are in accord for retaining the three 

 groups or zones of Barroude and Murchison. But the 

 necessity is not seen of making, as some members pro- 

 posed, the intermediate zone a separate system. Thus 

 the status quo of the Upper and Lower Silurian for the 

 beds as far as the Tremadoc, and of the Cambrian for 

 the group below, will not be affected. Two sittings 

 have been devoted to the discussion on the origin of the 

 crystalline schists by hydrothermal chemical action or 

 by movements, for each of which causes powerful argu- 

 ments have been advanced. The Congress had received 

 and printed in advance memoirs by eminent geologists, 

 which will be valuable documents in the solution of 

 this important problem. Another sitting took cogni- 

 zance of the connection between the Tertiary and the 

 Quaternary, the result of which is that, although opinions 

 are divided, the majority cf members approve of re- 

 taining the term Quaternary. Although in these cases 

 votes have not been taken, the discussions had a great 

 interest in the demonstration of the ideas which pre- 

 dominated among the most distinguished geologists. 

 According to the resolutions adopted by the committee 

 on voting, it will be easier in the future sessions to 

 arrive at more positive conclusions. The reports which 

 the Committee of Nomenclature has received from the 

 national committees, and which are printed, are of great 

 importance and will serve as bases for a more settled 

 classification. The unavoidable absence of Professor 

 Hughes is much to be regretted, since he took so active 

 a part as President of the English Committee. It is to 

 be regretted also that the great palaeontological work of 

 all the known fossils is about to be abandoned for the 

 present, by reason of the great expenses which it in- 

 volves. One of the most important objects of the Con- 

 gress has been brought to a conclusion — the unification 

 of colours and shadings in maps, and the Committee on 

 the Geological Map of Europe announce to us that the 

 publication of this fine map will not be delayed. 



After the usual vote of thanks the proceedings of the 

 Congress terminated. 



Strange Physiological Defect. — It appears that some 

 persons have a defect in the sense of smell, analogous to 

 colour-blindness. An instance is known of such a per- 

 son who cannot distinguish the scent of violets from that 

 of garlic, though his recognition of other smells seems 

 normal. 



TECHNICAL EDUCATION NOTES. 



Agricultural Lectures. — The annual course of lectures 

 on agriculture will be given at the City of London College, 

 Moorfields, on Tuesday evenings, at 7 p.m., beginning on 

 October 2nd, by Mr. Bernard Dyer, consulting chemist to the 

 Essex, Leicester, and Devon Agricultural Societies. The 

 lectures will treat of soils, plant life, manures, tillage opera- 

 tions, live stock, dairying, food, etc. The course will be in 

 connection with the Government Science and Art Depart- 

 ment, and will end in May. In addition to the college and 

 other prizes, the Saddlers' Guild offers, as in former years, a 

 prize of £$ 5s. to the student who passes the best examina- 

 tion in chemistry and agriculture. 



Technical Education in the Postal Telegraph De- 

 partment. — The thirteenth session of the Telegraphists' 

 School of Science, which was established in the Central 

 Telegraph Office in 1876, is about to commence, and a good 

 and useful programme is announced, embracing classes in 

 telegraphy, magnetism and electricity, mathematics, chemistry, 

 workshop and laboratory practice, and a new and special 

 course of instruction in relay and cable manipulation, the 

 raison d'etre of this last class being the approaching transfer 

 of the Submarine Telegraph Company's system to the Post- 

 Office. The principal of the school is Mr. W. Slingo, who is 

 assisted by three of his old pupils. The school is now a 

 recognised portion of the Central Telegraph Office, and has 

 for some time received considerable support from the Depart- 

 ment, as indeed it should, seeing that it derives very material 

 profit from the work carried on. Last year's classes were 

 unusually successful, taking at the examinations of the 

 Science and Art Department and the City and Guilds Insti- 

 tute eighty-one certificates, as compared with forty-one in 

 the preceding year. In the Telegraphy examinations twenty- 

 two certificates were gained by the school out of the seventy 

 awarded throughout the kingdom. A valuable prize, con- 

 sisting of a bronze medal and £3, was also gained. During 

 the past five years thirty-three medals and ^85 have been 

 awarded as prizes throughout the kingdom ; and of these, 

 six medals and ^24 have been gained by this school. In 

 electrical instrument-making, the honours prize (consisting of 

 a bronze medal and £$) was also gained by the school. 

 Altogether more than 350 members of the staff of the Central 

 Telegraph Office have passed through the school, and have 

 gained upwards of 500 certificates. 



City and Guilds of London Institute. — The classes at 

 the Technical College, Finsbury, for the session 1889 will 

 begin on Monday, October 1st. They are divided into five 

 departments — viz. (1) Mathematics and Mechanical En- 

 gineering; (2) Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics ; 

 (3) Industrial and Technical Chemistry; (4) Applied Art ; (5) 

 Special Trade Classes. The classes are conducted both in 

 the daytime and in the evening. The entrance examination 

 for day students took place on Wednesday, September 

 26th, at 10 o'clock a.m. Scholarships of ^30 a year each, 

 and the Holl Scholarships of ^20 a year, all tenable for two 

 years, were awarded (in accordance with the several 

 schemes) on the results of the entrance examination. 



School Board Evening Classes. — We are asked to state 

 that the seventh session of the evening classes for male and 

 female pupils, conducted by the School Board for London, 

 began on Monday evening, the 24th inst. As man}' as 16,320 

 persons received instruction in the classes last session. They 

 are held in every district of the metropolis, and meet, as a 

 rule, on three evenings a week, between the hours of 7.30 

 and 930. The subjects of instruction are reading, writing, 

 dictation, spelling, arithmetic, book-keeping, drawing, gram- 

 mar composition, geography, history, singing, algebra, men- 

 suration, domestic economy, physiology, sound, light and 

 heat, mechanics, magnetism, and electricity, etc. Special 

 classes for instruction in French, shorthand, science and art 

 (in connection with the Science and Art Department") are also 

 opened where there are enough pupils. Where possible the 

 Recreative Evening Schools Association, whose President is 

 her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, illustrate the lessons 

 by the magic lantern, and introduce such recreative and prac- 



