brous machinery has had to be devised. To summarise and explain this machinery is the aim of the work under notice. In the main it is intended for the food analyst, and the author's idea has been to give this official some information, not only on the subject of food-analysis, but also on various collateral matters with which he is brought into contact. Thus there are sections discussing the equipment of the laboratory, the storage of samples, legal precautions, the duties of the food inspector, and certain processes of food manufacture.

All the ordinary foodstuffs are dealt with, a chapter being allotted to each group of allied products, such as cereals, spices, alcoholic beverages, and so on. The descriptions are written clearly; an excellent selection of the salient facts and the best methods of examination has been made; and to each division an extensive bibliography is appended. Microscope work is a special feature, and the volume is enriched by a series of forty plates, containing about four times as many photomicrographs of the principal vegetable and animal structures met with in the examination of foods.

The chief criticism to offer on the book is that the treatment of so much material in one volume-even one of eight hundred pages-must necessarily be in the nature of a summary. Hence in many instances the information, though sufficient for routine work, is not full enough to be of much value when cases of real difficulty arise.

One notes several examples of careless transcription in looking through the work. On p. 441 the so-called "Koettstorfer's equivalent" for butter-fat is given a maximum value of 241 and a minimum of 253. It might be guessed that these two numbers have been transposed; but on the next page the value of the constant in question is given as 224. The author has, in fact, failed to distinguish between the " equivalent and the "value" of the saponification experiment. In the table on p. 441 the values of the insoluble acids for oleomargarine are transposed; the specific gravity has no temperature of reference; and a faulty arrangement of the table makes it appear that butter-fat and margarine possess, somehow, a maximum and a minimum temperature; whilst in the data for edible oils and fats on p. 380 the limiting values are again transposed.

Nevertheless, it would be unfair to judge the book by these slips. It contains a large amount of information and, though written more particularly from the American point of view, will be found a useful conspectus of the whole field of food control.

is well known to have attended to the subject for many years.

The amount of contradictory evidence is remarkable. In the case of the earlier experimenters, with more or less faulty methods, this is not surprising; but the same thing strikes one in many modern instances. The question of the amount of transpiration in moist tropical regions, as compared with Europe, is a case in point. Another instance is what the author describes as a "seven years' war" (1884-1891) between Wille and Lundström as to the absorption of water by the aërial parts of plants. Other disputed points are the effect of salt solutions supplied to the transpiring plants, and the influence of varying amounts of CO, in the atmosphere; and many other cases might be cited.

The relation of plants to water, though a subject of primary importance, is still to a great extent in the elementary stage of inquiry. A large number of the statements quoted by Burgerstein are little more than disconnected facts, and, in spite of the interesting book he has made of them, they still seem to us to await a somewhat different treatment.

The subject-matter of the book falls into two classes (1) the loss of water-vapour considered as physical phenomenon; (2) the biological inquiry into the adaptation of plants to the distribution of water considered as environment. From both points of view transpiration should be considered side by side with assimilation and respiration, and this manner of looking at the subject has not, in our judgment, been kept sufficiently in mind by the author. The point is that the same organs-the stomata-serve for gaseous exchange and for the evaporation of water. Burgerstein discusses at the end of his book the question whether, as some have supposed, transpiration is a necessary evil. This might have been discussed from a broader standpoint, and would have been in place in an earlier chapter. It does not seem necessary to treat the view referred to as entirely false. Plants undoubtedly have to strike a balance between the possession of a free stomatal connection with the atmosphere and the consequent danger of evaporating more water than they can take up from the soil. This compromise includes also the value of the transpiration-stream in supplying minerals to the aërial parts, on which Burgerstein rightly lays stress. All we suggest is that the whole problem, being of a fundamental character, might well have been dealt with more liberally, and been given a place preliminary to the details of transpiration.

A fault in Burgerstein's treatment of transpiration, though a fault difficult to avoid, is that he does not keep before the reader the fact that the condition of the stomata-whether open, half open, or shut is far and away more important than all the other internal conditions put together. Like the rest of the world, he is well aware of this, but we doubt whether the uninstructed reader would here learn to think of the problem in this way. To take an example, he describes (p. 62) how, when part of the foliage is removed, the remaining leaves transpire more actively than before. Here we want a discussion of the possible effects, direct or indirect, of the operation on the

stomata of the remaining leaves. The same thing is true of the discussion (p. 81) on the transpiration of flowers as compared with leaves, where the reader is left in ignorance of how far the facts are explicable by reference to the stomata.

But it is not merely in relation to isolated problems that we feel the want of more information with regard to the stomata. We should expect to find a full general discussion of their importance in regard to transpiration. This would have included a reference to Horace Brown's work on the static diffusion of gas through these openings, and a consideration of the question how far evaporation can be checked by the closure of the stomata. Again, we should have liked a discussion of the trustworthiness and general value of the microscopic measurements of the stomata in living plants. Burgerstein gives an interesting account of the methods depending on the yield of water-vapour, such as Stahl's cobalt test, &c., by which it can be roughly determined that the stomata are "widely open or "nearly shut." But if we are to distinguish the stomatal factor from other factors in experiments on transpiration, numerical statements as to the condition of the stomata are wanted, and the question whether such data are available might well have been discussed. With regard to method, Burgerstein seems to us a little hard on the various " potometer" methods, by which a general idea of the transpiration curve is obtained by measuring the intake of He is justified in saying that these methods do not estimate transpiration but absorption; but we think he undervalues the fact that, with cut branches and for not too extended periods of time, the intake so closely corresponds to transpiration that the method cannot be neglected, and is certainly of great value for purposes of demonstration.

water.

Though we have criticised "Die Transpiration der Pflanzen," we are far from meaning to condemn it; we have, indeed, read it with interest and profit. Anyone intending to make a study of the subject cannot do better than read it with care. He will thus be made aware of many pitfalls, and will have a guide to the chief points which need fresh investigation.

F. D.

OUR BOOK SHELF. House, Garden, and Field; a Collection of Short Nature Studies. By L. C. Miall. Pp. x+316; illustrated. (London: E. Arnold, 1904.) Price 6s. THIS admirable little work appears to be by far the best aid to the proper teaching of nature-study that has hitherto come under our notice, the author having very wisely refrained from furnishing the teacher with a manual which would do away with all necessity for original study and observation on his part, and enable him to read the various lessons to his pupils without effort or thought. The object of the writer is, indeed, as much to educate the teacher as to enable the latter to teach his pupils. For example, in the article on bananas, Prof. Miall, when he asks the reason for the peculiar shape of that popular fruit, under the guise of leaving the reply to the pupil is really testing the powers of observation and reasoning possessed by the teacher himself.

As the author observes in his introduction, teachers

seem to expect a series of ready-made lessons on a variety of nature subjects, basing their demand on the ground that they have no time (or is it that they have no inclination?) to make the necessary studies for themselves. If this course were adopted, it would lead to two evils. First, all the observations (if they could be so called) would come from the teacher and not from the pupils; and, secondly, knowledge thus acquired by the teacher could not possibly raise the delights of genuine nature-study in the minds of his scholars. Prof. Miall has therefore preferred to make an effort to instil and encourage the habit of observation and inquiry in a few teachers (who will neces sarily be the best of their kind) by showing them what may be learnt by careful observation of the common natural objects to be met with among their daily surroundings, rather than by pandering to the popular clamour for cut and dried lessons-which are really not nature-study at all. How he has succeeded remains to be seen. If we may venture to predict, it will be the clever and inquiring teachers who will praise and take advantage of his efforts, and the dullards and plodders who will condemn them and say that they are unsuited to their purpose.

R. L.

Although the author modestly says that he gives only a few lessons, his articles or essays are no less than fifty-four in number, and cover a very wide range of subjects, including cheese-grubs, glow-worms, water-lilies, London pride, the human face and hand, and museums and their teachings. As an example of the large amount of information Prof. Miall manages to give in a very small compass, we may refer to the exceedingly interesting account of the ancestry and evolution of insects in the chapter on the "cheeseAn excellent work which should be in the hopper.' hands of all teachers is our verdict. Ideals of Science and Faith. Essays by Various Authors, edited by the Rev. J. E. Hand. Pp. xix+ 333. (London: George Allen, 1904.) Price 55. net. "On all sides" (to quote the preface) "is a growing recognition that the ideals common to both Religion and Science are not only numerous but are indeed the very ideals for which the nobler spirits on both sides care most.' Necessarily the treatment is varied, perhaps too varied, but the editor gently_deprecates criticism of this feature. Prof. Patrick Geddes has room to discourse on the excellence of teaching boys to make boxes; and the theologians, under "A Presbyterian Approach,' "A Church of England Approach," and the like, hardly give one a definite view of "A Christian Approach.'

In the papers of the men of science and philosophers the general position is that science does not deal with the whole of life, and that it can no longer meet the claims of faith with a "certainly not. Sir Oliver Lodge defends the idea of continuous guidance on the part of the Deity, seeks to reconcile Pantheism and the belief in a personal God, and complains that religious people seem to be losing some of their faith in prayer. Prof. J. Arthur Thomson and Prof. Patrick Geddes lay stress on the altruistic side of the struggle for existence. Prof. Muirhead maintains that we must limit causation and the conservation of energy to the material world, and must look for some other conception when we come to the action of the mind itself. "We use a saw to make a fiddle; we throw it (sic) aside when we come to play upon it (sic)." The Hon. Bertrand Russell's paper-" An Ethical Approach "is the most eloquent; much of it is Lucretius, Book iii., rewritten (could one be more complimentary?), with the difference that Mr. Russell recognises more definitely the need for religion and worship, albeit the worship of a God who is not Force but created by our own love of the good."

44

Die orientalische Christenheit der Mittelmeerlände. By Dr. Karl Beth. Pp. xvi+427. (Berlin: Schwetschke, 1902.)

T: author spent five months in 1901 in the eastern Mediterranean, investigating at first hand, and at close quarters, the institutions, and the practical working of the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic Churches, and of such other fragments of Christian Communions as survive in those parts. He is evidently a good observer and quick worker, and was able to elicit much interesting information, meeting everywhere, as he did, with cordial receptions and assistance. The result is a valuable handbook of an ill-explored section of ecclesiology, full of queer sidelights upon mediæval and modern history, and no less upon the workings of the religious instinct under the peculiarly unfavourable conditions which have prevailed in the Levant for so long. The author's peronal knowledge of the working of these curious institutions enables him to supply a number of corrections to Kattenbusch's "Lehrbuch," and to confirm and expand the observations of Gelzer, von der Goltz, von Soden, and other recent travellers.

Two of the narrative poems in this delightful little collection are of more than local interest. One ballad "The Alchemist of New Hall "-refers to the moated stone mansion of New Hall, where the celebrated Dr. Sacheverell lived at one time. Another poem deals amusingly with a meeting of the Lunar Society, which met in the district in the latter portion of the eighteenth century, and included among its members Erasmus Darwin, Galton, James Watt, Priestley, Wedgwood and Baskerville. To persons familiar with Sutton Coldfield and the neighbourhood, this collection of verses describing in appropriate words and metre some of the stories of "oldest inhabitants" will be read with keen interest; and many others will find pleasure in the quaint ideas contained in this dainty little volume.

The Glamour of the Earth. By George A. B. Dewar. Pp. ix+255; with illustrations by R. W. A. Rouse. (London: George Allen, 1904.) Price 6s. net. THE true lover of the country will enjoy this book. The author is not addressing the mere seeker after information; and such a reader will regard the volume as diffuse and unsatisfactory. But men who are weary with work and have gone to the country quietly to mme into contact with nature, and so secure refreshment and recreation, will follow Mr. Dewar's notes and leisurely observations with sympathy and appreciation. The beautiful pictures by Mr. Rouse add much to the attractiveness of the volume.

Jahrbuch der Radioaktivität und Elektronik. Herausgegeben von J. Stark in Göttingen. Erster Band. 1 Heft. (Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1904.)

Turs new magazine or "year-book," devoted to radioactivity and the electric discharge, is promised to appear in four parts yearly. The first part, now under consideration, contains two original contributions, six short summaries of recent work on special branches, and a fairly complete list of the original papers on radio-activity, &c., which had appeared in 1904 up to the date of going to press. The short summaries referred to are preceded by bibliographies, and should prove useful to specialists.

"I was entertained, with Kisses fine and Brandy wine." Certain spirits were introduced long before the outbreak of the phylloxera in France under the name of British brandy, still included in certain legal documents under the designation of British compounds, though, as a matter of fact, made more without than within this country. Herein a difficulty arises for those who may have to advise county or borough councils in the administration of the Sale of Foods and Drugs (Amendment) Act, as now interpreted, or those, like myself, who have to deal with cases under the Merchandise Marks Act. For on the one hand an astute chemist could make up a liquid, wholly innocent of grape juice, so that the results, obtained on analysis, were identical with those of a genuine grape-spirit, and on the other, a sample of the latter might, as pointed out in your article, if carelessly distilled be condemned, though innocent. Again, if a genuine grape spirit, distilled not far from Cognac, were mixed with per cent. of a spirit, not silent (I omit particular details on the ground of expediency), mere analytical results would be of little avail; such a problem (credite experto) requires prolonged research, and the application of methods not wholly chemical.

It is clear that professional tasting, especially by certain specially gifted persons, is a very valuable aid to analytical results and methods of research, yet, as a matter of evidence, it can be regarded only as a question of opinion, based on long experience, rather than as a definite proof.

A Government inquiry would elicit important evidence, and possibly some kind of standard might be arrived at which would not only exclude clever and fraudulent imitations, but also bring the present chaos or impasse to a conclusion. V. H. VELEY.

Oxford, November 5.

YOUR article published under the above heading in NATURE of November 3 raises some interesting points. The writer clearly fails to appreciate any difference between brandy and alcohol, for he says, "if the brandy is being made from damaged wine the rectification must be most carefully conducted, and may have to be pushed to a point that the alcohol is obtained almost pure, that is to say, almost free from non-alcohol." Now if brandy is merely alcohol, as is here plainly implied, why produce it from grapes or wine at all? Similarly, why produce whisky from malted barley, or rum from cane sugar? The fact is that the genuine article is, and has always been in history, the product of the pot still. The pot still produces alcohol plus "non-alcohol, "the patent still pure alcohol. It is true that brandy, whisky, and rum contain alcohol, but the alcohol of the patent still or rectifying still is not whisky, brandy, or rum. Pot still spirit from damaged or sick wines would be nauseous and undrinkable, but pot still spirit from wines of repute possesses the qualities which distinguish genuine brandy chemically and physiologically from rectified spirit. It is well known that the effects of pure alcohol on the blood pressure and lymph circulation are modified very considerably by the presence of other constituents in spirits. These other constituents are the alcohol" which you describe. To call rectified spirit or patent still spirit brandy is about as reasonable as calling skimmed milk milk. In England the word brandy ought to be confined to a pot still spirit produced from the wine of grapes, and should never be applied to alcohol distilled in a patent still from "damaged wine" or from likely

non

enough worse material. Such a definition, if adopted, would be "calculated to facilitate the work of the unfortunate public analysts who may be called upon to express an opinion as to the genuineness of a sample of brandy," and the question, what is brandy? analytically speaking, would no longer "await solution." Recent analyses to which you refer have at any rate reduced a large section of the brandy trade to the confession that much of the stuff they sold never had its origin in the grape at all. public house trade now posts notices in the bars that it cannot guarantee the brandy sold to be genuine grape spirit.

The

The attitude of the French committee is not difficult to understand, and there can be no objection to it so long as the trade, in the interests of which it has undertaken the inquiry, determines on issuing an honest label setting forth that either the spirit is a pot still spirit from grape wine or it is not. S. ARCH. VASEY.

Bromley, Kent, November 8.

The Origin of Life.

ALTHOUGH there are good reasons for believing that the life of our world is the product of its own physical conditions, and distinct from the life of other members of the solar system, it is hardly probable that living substance can be produced otherwise than by the same conditions that produced it in the past, and one of these conditions is a vast period of time.

vital

We are not acquainted with any life apart from "cells." But the cell is a very complex organism, and between inorganic substance and the cell there may have been as long a course of evolution as between the cell and the highest existing animal or vegetable. Probably most biologists nowadays regard life not as an entity (e.g. not as a force "), but rather as a coordination of many physical processes which have become more numerous and better coordinated in the course of evolution. It is not to be supposed that the total functions of life would be developed in not-living substances under the restricted conditions of human experiment; nevertheless, some of the individual functions might be brought into action, at least in a primitive form.

One of these functions, which I believe to be the most fundamental, is the deoxidation of a compound containing the elements N, O, C, H, &c., by the action of light, moderate heat, or slight electrical disturbance. This is the foundation of biosynthesis-a small beginning which in the course of ages develops mechanisms so perfect as the photosynthesis in chlorophyll-bearing cells. We ought by research to discover the conditions on which such deoxidation depends, and imitate it in our laboratories; we might even apply it to important economic purposes.

This deoxidation is probably a perfectly natural process, as natural as the opposite process of oxidation, only it must not be sought in the behaviour of mere oxides, as CO2, but rather in that of compounds containing N, O, C, H, &c., as above suggested. In fact, it may be expected to be nearly a reversal of the process of vital oxidation, which has been more successfully investigated. Vital oxidation seems to take place in two stages, as follows:-(1) the O is taken into combination with the N in a complex molecule, (2) it is transferred from the N to a more oxidisable element. Whether complete linking occurs between O and N, as O=N, we cannot say; but the linkings =C-O-N= and H-O-N are probable. The oxygen-carrying function of N seems to be assisted in many (if not all) cases by Fe.

First attempts at life may be occurring continually around us, but if any synthetic substances be formed they are sure to be seized and assimilated by the already developed organisms. F. J. ALLEN.

Cambridge, November 12.

Change in the Colour of Moss Agates. IN connection with Mr. Whitton's inquiry (NATURE, November 10, p. 31), the following note may be of interest.

On the top of the West Cliff at Bournemouth the road is laid with material which includes a number of flint pebbles. These are, as a rule, rounded or subangular, and of a yellow or whitish-yellow colour as regards their general surface. But where exposed to the air the colour has

changed to deep blue, violet, or purple, and so much so that in places the whole surface of the road has a marked blue shimmer. Or perhaps it should rather be said that this was the case last autumn; I have not seen it since.

As will be seen from the enclosed specimen, the contrast between the imbedded and the exposed portion of the pebbles is very striking.

Without giving any special study to the matter, I was inclined at the time to attribute the phenomenon either to a further oxidation and hydration of the iron which is, no doubt, present in the flints, or, possibly, to a molecular rearrangement of the silica. At some points the blue colour passes almost into black; this suggests that it may indicate a transition stage between yellow and black flints. Possibly some mineralogist has examined the matter more thoroughly. C. SIMMONDS. Northcroft, Deronda Road, Herne Hill, November 14.

Chemical Analysis for Beginners

IN a review on this subject (this vol., p. 5) “J. B. C." directs attention once again to the unsuitability of an extended study of analysis for a beginner. His opinions not only claim respect, but must be largely shared by all teachers of chemistry.

There is, however, a side to the question which somehow seems rather to be overlooked. The average elementary student will work patiently for hours over qualitative analysis, well taught, badly taught, or not taught at all— he is interested, and though none too willing to use brains as well as tables, he is ready under guidance to do his best. But in any logical system of elementary quantitative and preparation work calculated to build up a firm foundation in the principles of chemistry he appears to take no natural interest, when it comes to actual work. Possibly " J. B. C." will not agree that this is so; and it may be right that the student should be compelled (if it can be done) to think logically from the first. But it seems not unimportant to interest him in practice as well as "on paper.

I do not refer to the embryo professional chemist who soon gets through the introductory work and is nearly always interested, but to that enormous crowd of text-book consumers who spend, possibly, three hours per week in the chemical laboratory as part of their scheme of study. Does not the marked change of attitude in such students when qualitative analysis is touched upon indicate that there is still room for fundamental improvement in the method of presenting first steps in practical chemistry? F. SOUTHERDEN.

Royal Albert Memorial College, Exeter.

Misuse of Words and Phrases. IN Mr. Basset's book, to which he refers in NATURE of November 10 (p. 30), he speaks of the advantage of having a concise and pointed mode of expression, which saves a great deal of circumlocution and verbosity." He thinks that this object is best gained by coining a new word from the Greek, for instance, autotomic, whereas I hold that the same object is better gained by adopting a word of English derivation, self-cutting. Mr. Basset now says that he considers this word " inelegant, and, in the absence of any standard of elegance, I can only reply that this is a matter of individual taste. Perhaps it would be better still to call a curve that has double points a one that has none a "nodeless curve." is already in use.

nodal curve," and The word binodal

of his master's easy chair. A short time ago I had occasion to call on Mr. W., and the dog was, as usual, occupying the chair, from which he was removed to his basket. He showed his resentment of this disturbance of his slumbers by becoming very restless. Presently he trotted over to the door, which he rattled by pushing with his nose, his usual method of attracting attention when he wished to go out. His master immediately rose and opened the door, but instead of the dog going out he rushed back and jumped into the chair his master had just vacated! The rapid wagging of his tail and the expression on his face showed the dog to be very pleased with the result of his ruse. The dog has repeated the same joke once or twice since, with much evident delight to himself. ARTHUR J. HAWKES. Bournemouth.

Occurrence of a Tropical Form of Stick-Insect in Devonshire.

A FEW weeks ago I obtained through the kindness of a lady in Paignton a living specimen of a stick-insect, one of several individuals which had appeared in her garden. My example was met with on the plaster outside a window, and owing to the tenacity with which it adhered to its position required some force to dislodge it. I preserved it in captivity for about a fortnight, at the close of which period it died, having refused to feed on the foliage of any of the plants with which it was supplied.

It is an apterous female, and is, I think, referable to Cladoxerus phyllinus, Gray. I have not been able to obtain any clue as to the cause of its occurrence.

ROBERT O. CUNNINGHAM.

A Probable Variable of the Algol Type. Ox the evening of October 29, while examining the Pleiades with a binocular at about 9 p.m., G.M.T., I noticed that the star Atlas (27 Tauri) was slightly fainter than Pleione (28 Tauri), a little to the north of it. I did not remember at the time what the relative brightness of the stars was, and on looking them up in the Harvard Catalogues I was surprised to find that Atlas was measured 380 magnitude, and Pleione 5.19. I find that all the estimates for the last 300 years agree in making Atlas considerably brighter than Pleione. The nights following October 29 were cloudy, but on the evening of November 9 I found Atlas of its usual brilliancy, and more than 1 magnitude brighter than Pleione. The observed variation was therefore about 14 magnitude. As Atlas is not a long period variable, it seems probable that it is a variable of the Algol type. The star should be watched, and observations for variable radial velocity would be very desirable. J. E. GORE.

THE PREVIOUS EXAMINATION AT

CAMBRIDGE.

THE first report of the studies and examinations syndicate, issued on November 11, deals with the previous examination. This is the first public test imposed on candidates for degrees at the university, and since 1822 has included a compulsory examination in both Latin and Greek. In response to a demand for reform sent up by teachers, parents, professional men, and men of science in the direction of making Greek, at least for some students, an optional subject-a demand supported by a large majority of head-masters and assistant masters in the secondary schools-the syndicate proposes a new scheme for the examination in which this demand is recognised.

Briefly, the scheme provides that for all candidates the previous" shall consist of three parts, to be taken together or separately at the convenience of the student. Part i. includes Latin, Greek, French, and German, the papers in each to require unprepared translation and composition.

"Set books " are abolished. A candidate may take Latin and Greek, or either Latin or Greek together with French or German. In other words, he must take two languages,

of which one at least is an ancient classical language. Part ii. includes arithmetic, algebra, and geometry as heretofore. The paper on "Paley's Evidences" is abolished; it is not a school subject, and it is got up largely by an effort of memory from a bare abstract or analysis. Part iii. includes English composition as a compulsory subject, and two of the following alternatives: (1) English history; (2) scripture knowledge (a Gospel and Acts in English); (3) elementary organic chemistry; (4) experimental mechanics and other parts of elementary physics. Natural science, in the shape of physics and chemistry, is thus introduced for the first time. The syndicate was urged by weighty authorities to require from all candidates some knowledge of science; but, after full consideration, it is unable to recommend more than the inclusion of science among the alternative subjects. Probably, in view of the imperfect organisation of science teaching in many public schools of the classical type, to make science compulsory at this stage would have involved the adoption of a standard so low as in effect to discredit the subject.

For the benefit of certain students, among whom students of science may certainly be reckoned, to whom the power to read French and German is more important than a special knowledge of one only of these, it is provided that the translation papers in each of the two languages may be substituted for the translation and composition papers in one alone.

For a boy from a modern school or technical institute, therefore, the examination provided might thus include, for example, Latin, French, and German translation, mathematics, English composition, elementary chemistry, and elementary physics. On the other hand, a boy from a purely classical school might take the following combination: Latin and Greek, mathematics, English composition, scripture, and English history. For him the examination would be an improvement on the old "previous examination, not only by reason of the higher standard proposed to be required, but also on account of the wider range of literary subjects to be included.

The report represents a serious attempt to recognise and to provide for the changes which are in progress in modern English education. By asking from every aspirant evidence that he has seriously studied one, at least, of the classical languages, it safeguards the traditional virtue ascribed to that form of intellectual training. By admitting that modern languages (including English) and physical science are possible components of a liberal education in the twentieth century, it indicates a certain widening of academic aims and ideals that may lead to better things hereafter. There is little doubt that the report will meet with strenuous opposition from those who, in the supposed interest of ancient learning, dare not make any concession to modern knowledge. It will not escape criticism from reformers of the more advanced type, who would sweep away Latin as well as Greek. the proposals at least remedy a genuine grievance in a practical manner, and they make for progress along the lines of a sounder and broader education than the older universities have yet sought to foster.

But

THE EXPLORATION OF THE TRANSVAAL. N this first report, drawn up by Mr. H. Kynaston IN and his colleagues, we see the prospect of healthy rivalry between the geologists of Cape Colony and of the newly acquired territories to the north. No time has been lost in issuing one of those small folio

1 "Geological Survey of the Transvaal. Report for the Year 1903." Pp. ii+43; with 24 plates, folding maps, and sections. (Pretoria: Printed at the Government Printing Office, 1904.)