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All Souls might readily do as much for learning in Oxford by her fellowships as she now does to prevent learning as she now does to turn the attention of the ablest men towards what will pay in examinations, and to shut their ears to the still small voice of latent imagination and original power. If All Souls gave her two fellowships each year for evidence of research, the ablest of the men studying the subjects of her choice would demand of their teachers inspiration and guidance in the highest work. Where the ablest men lead others would soon follow, and the whole intellectual atmosphere would rapidly change.

All Souls unaided could do an immense deal to induce the other colleges to provide higher teaching, or, even better, to encourage their men to get help outside the college walls. As it is, she provides the strongest of all the forces which chain Oxford to that unhappy infatuation which has had so disastrous an effect on the imagination, the initiative, the resourcefulness of the nation.

The title of this article was chosen in the profound conviction that interests much wider and more important than those of Oxford and Cambridge are at stake. Our ancient universities have heavy responsibilities, extending far beyond their historic walls. Every new university and university college in the Empire draws its teachers from Oxford and Cambridge, and, for good or for evil, moulds the broad features of its intellectual life upon the pattern supplied by these ancient seats of learning.

In the supreme interests of the Empire, as well as of the university itself, we fully sympathise with the aims of those who desire to render Oxford a more efficient instrument of research and the highest and most stimulating teaching, but we have no right to claim their sympathy or support for our own views on university and collegiate life. It may well be that the onlooker sees weaknesses and obvious measures of reform hidden from those on the spot, or appearing to them as a far-off ideal impossible of realisation, at least in this generation. Speaking for those who watch from without, who admire and would preserve and strengthen the truly inspiring elements of the academic life at both our ancient universities, we would gladly see them subject to the following simple, but, as we believe, efficient measure of reform.

The whole of the teaching should be entirely under the control of the university, which in its boards already possesses at least the foundation of the necessary apparatus. The college fellowships should be given in part for university teaching combined with original work and in part for research alone, to be held only during the continuance of investigation. A career would thus be open for originality of a high order, and the ablest men would flock to our ancient seats of learning and render them indeed worthy of the name. Residence in homes of ancient learning would gain added inspiration when the greatest traditions of the past were renewed and maintained. Even with things as they

are, Oxford and Cambridge, though much injured by competitive examinations, have been far less injured than England in general; and this they owe to the residential system. Little thought of, perhaps neglected, by the builders, the head-stone of the educational edifice is here to be found. Where mind meets mind in the free intercourse of youth there springs from the contact some of that fire which, under our present system, is rarely to be obtained in any other way; and not only this, but many other priceless advantages in the battle of life are also conferred. To these influences we owe in large part all that is best in the English character, and so valuable are the qualities thus developed, or at least greatly strengthened, that we regard residential colleges as essential to the success and usefulness of the newer universities. The changes we have advocated in the older universities would only add to this beneficent system increased power for good by substituting for the barren pride of first classes and university prizes the enthusiasm for a society which nobly holds its own in those achievements which bring renown wherever the advancement of learning is held in honour-a sufficient answer to the contention that to deprive a college of teaching is to render it a boarding-house and nothing more. That the advancement of learning is the desire of those who have signed the memorial we do not doubt, however much they may disagree with the methods here suggested for the attainment of their ends. On our part we feel such confidence in the beneficent influence of the increase in efficiency for which they plead, that we should gladly see funds provided for the purpose.

In former centuries the highest learning was encouraged in this country by the munificence of "founders and benefactors"; and we are glad to

know that one of the needs set forth in the accompanying statement has already been generously met, and even more than met, by the establishment of a department presided over by a Beit professor of colonial history. But the signs of the times do not encourage us to anticipate any very large or fruitful following of this fine example; and we see no prospect of carrying out the suggested scheme in anything like completeness, except by a re-arrangement of the revenues of the university and the colleges, or by the action of a Government which is convinced that the national well-being is imperilled, the national existence at stake.

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two great monographs of the Rhizopods and Heliozoa, are here presented in a form more accessible to the student. About fifty species and varieties are described and figured, the majority being peculiar to deep lakes, the others characteristic of, though not confined to, deep lakes.

On looking over the diagnoses of the species, it cannot fail to be remarked that many of them are distinguished by very trivial differences from other known species. Considering the intolerable burden of synonymy in zoological nomenclature which results from the practice of describing species on insufficient grounds, it is a pity that Dr. Penard should have conferred a specific name upon a form (Difflugia curvicaulis, Penard) which he naïvely admits he regards as scarcely even a fixed variety. Other instances are not wanting in the volume of species which seem to be of very little value. It is obvious that he makes insufficient allowance for the recognised variability of the species of the group. He puts too much reliance on size as a specific character, and gives an exaggerated value to minute differences in the size and form of the scales which encrust many species.

Making all allowance for the slight differences on which he separates the abyssal species from the related species of shallower waters, it appears that there is really some considerable amount of peculiarity among the abyssal Sarcodina. Species tend to appear in the abyssal region under different forms or varieties from those found elsewhere. We would ask, however, whether this peculiarity is any greater than one would expect from the influence which must be exerted by the very different environment upon the individuals produced in this region?

Of interest in this country is Dr. Penard's assertion that some representatives of the abyssal fauna of the Swiss lakes have been found by him in Loch Ness. The difficulty of accounting for the passage of abyssal forms from one lake to another is just touched upon, and dismissed with the short statement that several of the species have also been found at the margins of the lakes, as well as in the depths. One is tempted to make another explanation of this fact, and say that it proves that they are not peculiarly abyssal. Dr. Penard does not say whether he regards this coming to the shore as a normal mode of migration of abyssal species.

In the special case of Loch Ness, there are facts which make it difficult to believe that the abyssal Rhizopods are peculiar species. No abyssal species of any other class has yet been found in Loch Ness. Some of the forms which are regarded as purely abyssal in the Swiss lakes are found in the shallow bays of many Scottish lochs, and even in peat bogs. This may prove an interesting fact in distribution if it can be shown that species which are superficial in Scotland have to descend to some depth in Switzerland in order to find congenial conditions of temperature. Among Dr. Penard's abyssal forms which have been found in Scottish moss may be mentioned Heliopera petricola, var. amethystea, Penard, and Cyphoderia ampulla, var major, Penard.

Making due discount for his too high appreciation of minute differences, and appraising his species at

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our own value, this volume is valuable to students of the Sarcodina, as there is no question of Dr. Penard's painstaking accuracy of observation. His descriptions are clear and concise, while the illustrations in the text are excellent.

STEAM TURBINES.

(1) Steam Turbines, with an Appendix on Gas Turbines. By Dr. A. Stodola, of Zurich. Translated from the second revised and enlarged German edition by Dr. L. C. Loewenstein. Pp. xvi +434; illustrated. (New York: D. Van Nostrand Company; London: Archibald Constable and Co., Ltd., 1905.) Price 215. net.

(2) Bau der Dampfturbinen. By Prof. A. Musil. Pp. 6+233. (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1904.) Price 8 marks.

(1)THE steam turbine has for some years now, thanks to the inventive genius of Mr. Parsons, become a formidable rival of the reciprocating steamengine on land, and the past three years have seen a rapid increase in its use for marine purposes. On cross-channel steamers there is no doubt that in a few years it will completely oust its rival, while the adoption of this type of engine for two of the Allan line steamers, and the decision to use steam turbines for propelling the great Cunarders now being built, probably herald the approach of the day when on these big liners also the reciprocating marine engine will be entirely displaced.

It is not surprising, therefore, that there has grown up a rapid demand for good text-books on the steam turbine in which both the theory and the constructive details of the numerous types now on the market are fully dealt with. In addition to numerous papers and articles which have been printed in the Transactions of our leading engineering societies and in the technical journals, we have had two editions of Mr. Neilson's book, and now, by this English translation, the latest edition of Dr. Stodola's classic work is made available to British engineers.

In his preface to the second edition, Dr. Stodola points out that he has been able in the period which elapsed since the issue of the first edition to investigate experimentally several important problems untouched in the first edition, as, for example, the frictional resistance of turbine wheels in air. In the first section, after dealing with the elementary theory of the steam turbine, a concise and clear classification is given of the various types which have so far been practically successful. The more advanced thermodynamic problems which are met with in the theory of the steam turbine form the subject of the second section, and details are given of a series of valuable experiments on the flow of steam from orifices; these experiments are of great importance, and the results are very striking, and will undoubtedly prove of great value to those engaged in the design of diverging nozzles for turbines. In connection with this chapter, Mollier's diagrams for the properties of saturated steam are explained; these diagrams have been reproduced, and, for the English edition, similar

diagrams, expressed in English units, have been prepared by the translator. The design of the details of the more important types of turbines is then investigated, and such details as the shape, the construction, and the strength of the blades, and the design of the bearings of the shafts are fully dealt with.

In section iv., a full description is given of the various types of steam turbine which have so far been constructed and have been practically successful, and, in the case of several, the results of experiments by trained observers are given in detail. This portion of the book will be found of particular value to users of steam power who are anxious to have some knowledge of the relative merits of the various types of turbine now on the market. The application of the steam turbine to marine purposes is scarcely dealt with in as full and comprehensive a manner in Dr. Stodola's book as the rest of the subject, and a little more information might well have been given as to the relative merits of the steam turbine and the reciprocating engine for various purposes.

The last section of the book deals with some of the more advanced scientific problems, treated largely from a mathematical point of view, which occur in connection with the theory and construction of the turbine. We might instance such problems as that of the distribution of pressure in any cross section of an expanding gas or steam jet, the deflection, due to its own weight, of a horizontal disc of variable thickness, and the straightening out of such rotating discs under the action of centrifugal forces.

In an appendix, the possible future of the heat engine is briefly discussed; the main directions in which increased economy may be hoped for appear to be in the decrease of the passive resistances, such as friction, &c., in the supply of the heat to the motor only at the highest possible temperature and in the abstraction of the waste heat only at the lowest possible temperature, and in the avoidance, so far as possible, of all non-reversible changes of condition. Dr. Stodola is of opinion that in the future a heat motor which combines the high thermal results of the gas engine with the constructive advantages of the steam turbine will supplant all other types. Such a motor will be found in the gas turbine, a motor which at present has not reached practical constructive stages.

descriptions of several types of turbines, beginning with the Laval, which is described in detail with a number of illustrations. The important problems due to the use of a flexible shaft in this turbine are investigated, also the question of the governing of the turbine. The steam consumption of this type when under test is given in a series of tables, and the relation of the actual steam consumption to the theoretical is dealt with in some detail. The second type of turbine taken up is the Parsons, again illustrated with a number of well drawn plates, and here also the question of the governing of the turbine forms an important section; details of the actual steam consumption under varying loads are given, and the results have been put into the form of a series of curves, which will be of great use to the student.

It may be well to point out that Prof. Musil expressly excludes from the scope of his text-book the application of the steam turbine to marine purposes. The other types of turbines which are dealt with by Prof. Musil include the Zoelly, the Riedler-Stumpf, the Curtis, and the Rateau. For each type good descriptions of the mechanical details are given, with very clearly drawn illustrations, and in the case of the Zoelly and the Rateau results of tests are also given. Prof. Musil's book will be found of especial value by students in engineering colleges, and by draughtsmen in those engineering works where turbines are now built. T. H. B.

OUR BOOK SHELF.

An Angler's Hours. By H. T. Sherringham. Pp.
xii+264
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd..
1905.) Price 6s. net.

MR. SHERRINGHAM deserves the thanks of all anglers
who have an idle hour and no fishing for having
re-published his essays in book form, and he who is
forced by sad circumstances to enjoy his fishing
vicariously will find his time well spent in our scribe's
company. There is a pleasant and old-world flavour
in his style; whether he rises early to catch tench
while the dew is still thick, or drowses away his
Sunday afternoon in the July heat of a sunny garden,
he is an entertaining companion, who boldly confesses
to his crimes in the first person or conceals his
triumphs, like Julius Cæsar, in the third with equal

art.

But there is instruction in his essays too, such mild instruction as may best suit an idler, and much shrewd observation of the habits of fishes delicately

imparted in pointing the moral of a failure or adorning

the tale of a success.

Many important considerations are thus put forward and discussed; for instance, the possibilities of the fly as a lure for other fish than trout and their kind, and the hopes held out to the fisherman who finds himself by some sluggish southern stream if he will only not despair but go forth and tempt the Cyprinids that haunt its troutless waters with flies and tackle suited to their tastes.

(2) After a brief account of the history of the steam turbine from the days of Hero, and a discussion of the lines upon which recent invention has proceeded, Prof. Musil gives a very useful bibliography; then, as is usual in books on this subject, there follows a classification of the various steam turbines now in use. The theory of the well known Laval nozzle is then dealt with mathematically, and the proportions of such nozzles are worked out in detail; the results of experimental investigation into this question are given, and Again, there is the harmless, necessary worm; Mr. the effect on the flow through such nozzles of super- Sherrington handles him gently (especially when heating the steam is discussed. The thermodynamic dragging him from his burrow), and adjures us to treat him as a friend in need and no mere despicable problems involved in this branch of the theory of the device for luring fish to an undeserved and unedifyturbine are also treated by the author with the aiding end. We may be cursed with the instincts of a of entropy diagrams.

The remainder of the book is devoted to detailed

poacher, but must confess to a leaning towards that conception of the angler's art which advocates the

removal of fish from the water by the most effective means if fish are wanted, and by the most pleasant if amusement is our aim or if the waters hold few fish. We recall a schoolboy who fished for loaches with a gentle if he wanted foaches, but used a kitchen fork tied to the end of a stick if he wanted sport, and we have known others who rose superior to adverse circumstances, one who found all he wanted with a fly rod and small dace on the Cambridge Backs and another who could glory in the capture of eels with a gaff in the same unpromising water.

Mr. Sherringham has not withdrawn the veil that shrouds his early exploits, and he may have been more orthodox; but now he despairs of nothing, but finds good in all; if there are no fish he can study nature, and if there is no water he can shrewdly meditate on the ways of fish and men; an hour with him and his rod by a troutless tarn is as good as an hour by the Kennet in the mayfly time. We will not attempt to cull passages and quote them, or to draw invidious distinctions between one essay and another, but will leave each idle angler to do this for himself, with a candid admission that our own hours with Mr. Sherringham were all pleasant and instructive, but we should like more of them. A word of praise is also due to the publishers, who have produced a book the size and print of which add to its convenience as an adjunct to a pipe, an easy chair, and idleness.

L. W. B.

Botany of Cook's First Voyage. Illustrations of Australian Plants. By Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S., and Dr. D. Solander, F.R.S. Part iii. Pp. iv+25; with 75 plates. (Trustees of the British Museum, 1905.) Price 25s.

The

INASMUCH as Solander was a pupil of Linnæus, this work furnishes a link with the founder of systematic botany, and it is known that Linnæus himself looked forward with great anticipation to the publication of the results of the collections made on this the first voyage of Captain Cook. The expectation was not fulfilled, and although certain of Solander's original descriptions were transcribed for sending to press, the MS. on Australian plants did not even reach this stage. A draughtsman, Sydney Parkinson, accompanied the expedition and executed a number of drawings, of which less than a third were finished for engraving purposes. Parkinson died on the voyage home, and other artists continued the work. specimens and drawings were available, and were consulted by Gaertner and Sir Joseph Hooker, but unfortunately Bentham failed to do so when_compiling his Flora Australiensis. Possibly Banks was responsible for some of the work, but the text is taken from a MS. by Solander, and this is reproduced with brief notes and determinations by Mr. J. Britten, who has also written the interesting introduction printed with this part. In the notices of the earlier parts reference was made to some of the generic names, and, at a time when the rules of nomenclature are being discussed, it is appropriate to instance the name Banksia, that the majority of botanists associate with a genus of the order Proteaceae, whereas Mr. Britten, in accordance with his views, adopts Isostylis, and refers Banksia to the genus of the order Thymelaceæ, otherwise known as Pimelea. This is merely quoted as an illustration of the confusion of names which renders it most desirable that a uniform system should be universally adopted. The present volume, with the two preceding parts, completes the Australian plants, and for this worthy tribute to the authors botany is indebted to Mr. Britten for his careful revision and to the British Museum for the production.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Education in Belgium and Holland.

DURING a recent cycling tour in parts of Belgium and Holland, as well as during the outward and homeward voyages on a Dutch trading steamer plying between a neighbouring Cornish port and Amsterdam and Antwerp, I have been greatly struck by several examples of the apparent educational superiority of Holland and Belgium over our own country, and at the present moment these examples may not be without interest to your readers.

(1) We were staying at a little inn near Dinant, in Belgium, and our hostess, seeing us occupied in drying some botanical specimens, brought us the herbarium of her son, a boy of about thirteen. These specimens were admirably dried and mounted, and were labelled with details concerning the characters of the order, &c., in such wise as to constitute a valuable educational asset. On inquiry, we found that the lad was a pupil at the lycée of Dinant, and that botany was a compulsory subject there, although the lad had not yet reached the stage of learning foreign languages. The boy himself was so bright and intelligent, and so brimful of enthusiasm for botany, that we at once supposed him to be exceptionally intelligent; but some old friends of the family informed us that until a year ago he was shy and lumpish," and that the transformation had been effected by the lycée. Commend me to such schools!

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(2) The skipper of the Dutch steamer on which we returned told me that in the elementary schools of Amsterdam the children are taken at intervals to the Zoo to receive object-lessons on the animals about which they read at school, and on other occasions are taken into the fields to receive object-lessons on the wild flowers; and what struck me especially was that this mere sailor -this skipper of a tramp steamer-fully appreciated the value of such practical instruction as giving an interest and sense of reality to his children's school-work. It was also rather surprising to hear such a man express the opinion that a little knowledge of astronomy rendered certain theological doctrines impossible of belief.

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(3) The skipper of the outgoing Dutch steamer plained to me that the standard for mates' and masters' certificates in the Dutch mercantile marine is higher than in ours, there being three stages of mates' certificates instead of our two, and that before taking out a master's certificate it is necessary to attend a course of simple medical instruction for some months-surely a very reasonable regulation. On the subject of Englishmen's usual inability to speak a foreign language, he opined that this inability was due to our laziness-not realising, probably, the absurdities of our traditional school system.

(4) The second mate of one of these steamers a rough lad of twenty-one-seeing me reading a volume of verse in a well known "series" with distinctive binding, asked me if I knew a book like that with Longfellow's poetry, for he had it at home and liked it! I cannot imagine an Englishman of the same age and status knowing a poet even in his own language, much less a foreign

poet.

I must not occupy your space by drawing from these facts the moral that is obvious enough, but will conclude with two statements on which it is not pleasant to reflect. These Dutch steamers have driven out a line of English steamers which formerly traded between Fowey and Antwerp, and now practically monopolise the china-clay trade between these two ports; and of the total crews of nine were Dutchmen and two forty-one carried by the two boats mentioned above, thirtywere Germans from the Dutch border, whereas everyone knows that on English vessels often only a small minority of the crew are English. Are such results surprising? F. H. PERry-Coste.

Polperro, Cornwall, June 22.

The "Bubbling" Method and Vapour Pressures.

IN the course of an endeavour to determine the osmotic pressure of a solution by measuring the relative lowering of its vapour pressure, we have been led to abandon Oswald and Walker's bubbling method on account of its inherent inaccuracy.

As the disabilities of this method seem to have been overlooked, we think that this note may be of use to other workers in the same field.

Oswald and Walker, it will be remembered, bubbled dry air through the solution, then through the water, and absorbed the moisture by means of sulphuric acid. The loss of weight of the water measures the relative lowering of the vapour pressure of the solution, and the gain in weight of the sulphuric acid represents the vapour pressure of the pure solvent, water.

Assuming the air to be at the same temperature throughout, it can easily be seen that the space occupied by a bubble of air, when leaving the solution, will be less than that which the same bubble will occupy when leaving the water, that is, the bubble expands while travelling up the water column, and will have taken up more water vapour than it should. The expansion of the bubble (and consequently the amount of vapour necessary to saturate the space occupied by it) is proportional to the difference in pressure at the top and bottom of the water column. If the total depth of the latter be, say, 6 inches, and the barometer stand at 30 feet of water, then an error of I part in 60 is induced.

This can conveniently be verified by passing air through two or more Winkler's tubes filled with water; it will always be found that the exit tube has lost weight. Owing to the form of the equation connecting osmotic and vapour pressures, the effect of the above error is magnified. BERKELEY. Foxcombe, near Oxford. E. G. J. HARTLEY.

Luminosity and Colour.

IN conjunction with my other methods of testing colour vision, I have been using Rayleigh's apparatus for matching yellow with a mixture of spectral red and green. I find that the proportions of red and green depend upon the luminosity of the match (both the mixed colour and the simple one being of similar luminosity); for instance, I require two and a half times as much green in the mixed colour when the match is bright compared with a match at a lower luminosity. Some persons make a match which is nearly the same at several luminosities, others require more and more green as the luminosity is diminished, and others when the luminosity is diminished cannot make a match at all. So three normal sighted persons may make a similar match at one luminosity, and at another one may appear to be an anomalous trichromatic and the other colour blind. I find that a colour blind person (a dichromic with considerable shortening of the red end of the spectrum) may make a match like a normal sighted one. F. W. EDRIDGE-GREEN.

St. John's College, Cambridge.

MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION IN SOUTH AFRICA.

THE arrangements for the forthcoming meeting of

the British Association in South Africa have now been completed, and Mr. Silva White, the assistant secretary of the association, sailed for Cape Town in the Walmer Castle on Saturday last, July 1. The number of members who will proceed to South Africa to attend the meeting is 385, and of these no less than 276 members have intimated their intention to visit the Victoria Falls at the conclusion of the ordinary work of the association. The official party, consisting of leading representatives of science and guests of the association, with the general and sectional officers for this meeting and the president, numbers 140 in all, and will sail by the Saxon on July 29. Most of the other members will proceed to the meeting by the Durham Castle and the Kildonan Castle, both of which sail on July 22.

In a previous article (May 18, p. 59) the local arrangements for the meeting were described. There will be receptions and social functions, excursions, &c., at Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg, Kimberley, and Bulawayo. The central organising committee for South Africa (chairman, Sir David Gill, K.C.B., F.R.S., hon. secretary, Dr. Gilchrist) has carried out the coordinating work of the programme. The lists of local committees and subcommittees contain nearly one thousand names, from which it may be concluded that much interest is taken in the meeting.

As already mentioned, lectures of a popular character will be delivered at the chief towns visited. These lectures have now been definitely arranged as follows:

Cape Town: W. J. Burchell's discoveries in South Africa, Prof. Poulton; some surface actions of fluids, Mr. C. V. Boys. Durban: Mountains: the highest Himalaya, Mr. D. Freshfield. Pietermaritzburg: Sleeping-sickness, Colonel D. Bruce. Johannesburg: Distribution of power, Prof. Ayrton; steel as an igneous rock, Prof. Arnold. Pretoria: Fly-borne diseases, malaria, sleeping-sickness, &c., Mr. A. E. Shipley. Bloemfontein: The Milky Way and the clouds of Magellan, Mr. A. R. Hinks. Kimberley: Diamonds, Sir William Crookes; bearing of engineer. ing on mining, Prof. Porter. Bulawayo: Zimbabwe, Mr. Randall-MacIver.

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The president's address to the association will be delivered at Cape Town August 15, and at Johannesburg on August 30. Mr. G. W. Lamplugh's report on the geology of the Victoria Falls will take the form of an afternoon address to Section C at Johannesburg.

Subjoined is a draft programme of the work of the sections:

Section A (Mathematics and Physics).-Cape Town: President's address; progress of the arc of meridian and geodetic survey of South Africa, Sir D. Gill; to what extent can the ether affect the motion of matter? Prof. J. Larmor; observations of atmospheric electricity in South Africa, Prof. Beattie and Mr. Lyle; leak of electricity from certain heated substances, Prof. Beattie; the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases, Mr. Burbury; application of the kinetic theory of nebulæ, Mr. J. H. Jeans: radiation at low temperatures, Dr. J. T. Bottomley. There will also probably be communications from Mr. Hough on tides, and from Dr. Roberts on the Algol variables. Johannesburg: On the teaching of elementary mechanics (jointly with Section L if possible), Prof. J. Perry; on flight, Prof. G. H. Bryan; (1) electrical conductivity in relation to chemical action; (2) magnetic survey of South Africa, Prof. Beattie; report of the seismological committee, Prof. J. Milne; a form of dry Daniell cell, Mr. J. Brown; the strength of winding ropes in mines, Prof. Perry; the experimental foundations of the theory of hear conduction, Dr. C. H. Lees. There will probably be a communication from Mr. Sutton on the meteorology of South Africa.

Section B (Chemistry).-Detailed information regarding papers offered by members in South Africa has not yet been received, but the following provisional arrangement has been made :-Cape Town: Recent advances in agricultural science, A. D. Hall; vegetable assimilation, Dr. Horace T. Brown; enzyme action, Dr. E. F. Armstrong. These communications are intended to serve as a basis of discussion of agricultural chemical problems. Johannesburg: President's address; reports on various aspects of the metallurgy of gold by local experts. Communications by Dr. H. Marshall on the experimental basis of the dissociation hypothesis, and by H. Ingle on the soils of the Transvaal, have been provisionally accepted.

Section C (Geology).-Cape Town: Opening remarks by the president; the continent of Africa in relation to the physical history of the earth, Prof. W. J. Sollas; the classification of the Karroo beds of South Africa, Prof. R. Broom; report of the committee on the fauna and flora

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