Russia, Biology of, 151; Science in, 190, 194, 287; Inter- Sabine's Report on Terrestrial Magnetism, Sir W. Thomson, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, 229, 452, 476 Salem, Peabody Academy of Science, 109; Proceedings of the Salmon Ladders for Reservoirs (Br. A.), 337 San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, 419 Sanitary Science in India, 150 Saturday Afternoon Rambles, by Henry Walker, 157 Saturn's Rings, Lieut. A. M. Davies, F. R. A.S., on, 159, 203; Schobl (Dr.) on the Mouse's Ear, 253 School of Mines, its Proposed Transfer to Kensington, 259 Science and Art Department, Kensington; Summary of Report Science for the People in France, 394 "Science in Plain English," by William Rushton, 142, 166 Scientific Value of Cheese Factories, 104 Sclater (Dr. P. L., F.R.S.), on Captain Sladen's Expedition, Scotland, Geological Survey of (Br. A.,, 292 Scott (Michael) on Improved Ships of War (Br. A.), 397 Scott (Robert H., M. A., F.R.S.), on the Minerals of Strontian, Scottish Arboricultural Society, 73 Scottish Naturalist, 319, 498 Sea, Colours of the, W. M'Master on, 203, 305 Sea-grasses, Geographical Distribution of, 211 Spectra of Stars, 99 Spectroscope, Sir W. Thomson, F.R.S., on the (Br. A.), 267 Spectrum of Comet, 95; of Uranus, 88 Spectrum Microscope, Compound Prism for, 511 Sponges in the British Museum, 50 Sponges, their Affinities, by H. J. Carter and W. Saville Spontaneous Generation, 125; Dr. Bastian on, 178; Sir Wm. Squier (E. G.), on the Ruined Cities of Central America, 466 State Scientific Questions, proposed Commission on, 130 Statistical Society, Proceedings of, 154, 168 Stokes's Dynamical Theory, Sir Wm. Thomson, F.R.S., on Stonyhurst, Meteorological Observatory at, 247, 248 Storm of August 12, 1871, 326 Secchi (Père) on the Sun and its Temperature, 41, 82, 204, 384 Storms, Magnetic, in Higher Latitudes, 441 Seeley (H. G.) on Ornithosauria, 100 Sensation and Science, 177 Stowmarket, Gun-Cotton Explosion, 309, 518 Strange (Lt.-Col., F.R.S.), Permanent Commission on State Science Questions," 130 Serocold (G. P.) on Rain after Fire, 83 Sewage, Prof. Corfield on, 287 Sharp and Dresser's "Birds of Europe," 308 Shaw (J.), Changes in the Habits of Animals, 506 Shetland, Magnetic Storms in, 441 Ships of War, Improved (Br. A)., 397 Shooting Stars of August 1871, 504 Signal Light for Storm and Danger, Inextinguishable, 49 Signal Service in America (See Meteorology, Hough, Prof. S. W., Maury, Prof. T. B., Wild, Prof.) Silver, Coal and Gems, in Bolivia, 418 Skelton (Mr.) his New Lamp for Street Lighting, 477 Skull of the Eel, its Structure, 146 Slade Professorship at University College, 50 Sladen (Capt.) his Expedition to Yunan, 405 Smith (John) on "Domestic Botany," 304 Smith (Worthington G., F.L.S.) on New and Rare Fungi, 240 Smyth (C. P., F. R.S.) Paris Observatory and Metric System, 120 Societies and Academies, 17, 36, 57, 77, 95, 115, 134, 153, 173 Society of Antiquaries, Exhibition of Stone Implements, 50 Solar Eclipse (See Eclipse) Solar Parallax, Prof. S. Newcomb on, 160; R. A. Proctor, Solar Radiation Temperatures, 393 Solar Spectrum, Prof. C. A. Young on the, 445 Solly (Samuel, F.R.S.), Obituary Notice of, 436 Sorby (H. C., F.R.S.) on the Various Tints of Foliage, 341; Sound, its Velocity in Coal, 487, 506 Striated Muscular Fibre in Gasteropoda, 114 Strontian, Argyleshire, Mineralogy of, 37 Strutt (Hon. J. W.) on Colour, 142 Stuart (J.) on Prof. Tyndall's "Fragments of Science," 237 Submarine Telegraphs, 8; Injuries to, 436 Sun: Prof. Newcomb on, 41, 160, 183, 204, 322, 423; R. A. Sun's Parallax, John Flamsteed's Ghost, on, 503 Switzerland, Biology in, 171; "Bibliothèque Universelle et Revue Sylvester (Prof. F.R.S.) and the Government, 324, 326 Tait (Prof. P. G., M. A.) on Mathematical and Physical Science Talbot (Fox) on a Method of Estimating the Distances of Fixed Tapeworm (Tania mediocanellata), 500, 506 Tate (George), of Alnwick, his Death, 210 Technical Education, Wm. Rushton on, 142, 166; W. Mattieu Williams on, 180 "Telegraph Earth," Quantitative Method of Testing, 399 Teleosaurus from Kimmeridge Bay, 153 Telescope for the Washington Observatory, 493 Temperature, its Distribution in the North Atlantic, 251 Temperature of the Deep Sea, Dr. Carpenter on, 97, 162 Temperature of the Sun, 42, 82, 204, 268, 384, 449, 487 Texas, Entomology of, 51 Therapeutics, Dr. T. K. Chambers on, 168 Thermal Equivalents of Oxides of Chlorine (Br. A.), 291 Walker (Henry) on Saturday Afternoon Rambles Round Thermo-Dynamics, Sir W. Thomson, F.R.S., on (Br. A.), 268; Ward (Thos.) on Optical Phenomenon of Colour, 68 Rev. H. Highton on, 46 Thermo-Electricity, Prof. Tait on (Br. A.), 396 Thermometer, Self-Registering, 430; Observations, 467 Thunderstorms, Rev. C. A. Johns, F. L.S., on, 367 Tidal Committee (Br. A.), Report by Sir W. Thomson, 375 Tissandier, Gaston, on Aërostation, 3 Tobacco, a Poison for Snakes, 494 Todhunter (I., F.R.S.), Solution of a Geometrical Problem, 444 Transparency, a Cause of, Prof. Zenger on (Br. A.), 354 Transit Instrument at Greenwich, 103 Transit of Venus, 12, 103, 107; Preparations for Observations Trout, Tailless, in Scotland (Br. A.), 333 Tunnel through Mont Cenis, Opening of the, 415 Turner(W., M.D), Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, 359 66 Tyler (T.), on H. Howorth's New View of Darwinism, 221 Ullyett (Henry), on the Duties of Local Nat. Hist. Societies, 142 Uarnus, Spectrum of, 88 Utrecht, Science at, 31 Valencia, Meteorological Observatory at, 245 Vapour of Iodine, Dr. Andrews on (Br. A.), 316 Vascular Cryptogams, Classification of (See Williamson, Prof.) Vision, Defective, Dr. Boettcher on, 140 Victoria Institute, 50, 148 Walden (Viscount) on the Birds of Celebes, 37 Volcano in America, 56; near Celebes, 286; Pacific Islands, 169 Washington, Signal Office at, 390, 410; Telescope of the Waterspouts in Cork Harbour, 325; in Southern India, 287; in Watson (H. W.), "Elements of Plane and Solid Geometry," 364 Weinhold (Adolp. F.) his "Experimental Physics," 148 West India Islands, Ornithology of, 473; Conchology, 307; Wheeler (Prof.) on " Chemistry in the United States," 292 White (Dr. J.B.), Lepidoptera of Perthshire, 190 Williamson (Prof. W. C., F. R.S.) on the Fossil Plants of the Wilson (J. M.) on Neologisms, 367; "Some Speculations on Working Men's Club and Institute Scientific Classes, 211 Working Men's University, Proposed, 41 Yarrell's "British Birds," Revised Edition of, 89, 403 Yates (Jas., F.R.S.), Legacies to University College, 260, 307 Year Book of Science Advocated by Sir W. Thomson, 264 Zenger (Prof.) on a Cause of Transparency (Br. A.) 354 Zöllner (Prof.), his New Theory of Sun-Spots, 163 66 Zoological Record," Zoological Results of Dredging Expedition off Spain and Portugal Zoology at the Br. A., 317, 377 Zoology, its Study in Great Britain, 193 Zoological Society, Frigate Bird at Gardens, 394; New Species Wales (Capt. Douglas) "On the Converging of the Wind in Zoology of New Zealand, 51; of Nova Scotia, 32; of Palestine, 32 Zoology, Recent French Discoveries, 369 it furnished him with the rudiments of various sciences that he could pursue and extend in his leisure moments. A few years more passed away, and the advances made in THE SMALLER LECTURESHIPS AT THE every department of knowledge rendered it impossible for A any man to undertake singly to lecture upon two different sciences, such as chemistry and botany, or even upon two such cognate subjects as anatomy and physiology. Each required its separate professor, who delivered from thirty to ninety lectures upon his special science, and attendance upon them was rigorously enforced both by the lecturer himself and by the examining bodies. BOUT sixty years ago the student who determined to enter the medical profession was usually bound as an apprentice to some respectable country practitioner, and spent several years in acquiring the rudiments of his profession, by bandaging bad legs, dressing simple And now ensued a period that was undoubtedly opwounds, bleeding freely everybody that presented himself posed to all true intellectual training. The student, as and prescribing and dispensing for the poor. He then soon as he entered the profession, saw little practice, came to London, or attended one of the larger provincial but was everlastingly in attendance upon lectures. No towns provided with a hospital, and followed the practice mental effort was required, and, except in the case of of some celebrity, hearing an occasional lecture and much first rate lecturers, none, we are convinced, was ever clinical discussion, and finally presented himself for ex- exerted in acquiring and assimilating the information amination before the Master and Court of Assistants of conveyed. Here and there a good lecturer, thoroughly the College of Surgeons, and started in practice. Such master of his subject, chained his audience; but the training was solid and good; practice went before, and substance of four out of five lectures either entered theory followed after; some thought, indeed, the cart at one ear to pass out at the other, or was altogether went before the horse; yet the excellence of the plan refused admission to the brain by the locked portals of was shown in the high scientific position and lucrative the slumbering student. The horses were indeed put practice obtained by many a well-known name. As before the cart, but the team was so strong that they Shakespeare knew little Latin and less Greek, our stu- often ran away with the cart before anything useful had dent knew little anatomy and less physiology, but what been put into it. The requirements of the examining he did know was substantial, and served him in good bodies in regard to these lectures rendered it imperative for every school, however small, to have as numerous a staff of lecturers as the largest. The senior officers of the medical staff consequently took the more important subjects of medicine and surgery, anatomy and physiology, whilst the younger ones divided amongst them chemistry and botany, materia medica, forensic medicine, and midwifery. In many instances these latter posts were filled by gentlemen who had received no special training, but who accepted them and often worked at them with praiseworthy energy, merely to secure the succession to the medical staff, upon obtaining which the minor lectureship was at once given up. stead. A few years after the time we are speaking of, systematic courses of lectures upon various subjects, as upon chemistry, botany, anatomy and physiology, medicine and surgery, began to be delivered at the larger schools, at the instigation of the Society of Apothecaries, who were constituted by the Act of 1815 the guardians of "general practice," two or even three subjects being given by the same lecturer; and attendance upon these soon came to be regarded as an important part of the student's education. So far all was well. The several subjects mentioned above were treated broadly by such men as Abernethy, Cooper, Babington, and others, generally speaking with direct reference to medicine or surgery; and the student underwent a training that possessed considerable value in relation to his future profession, whilst VOL. IV. It is obvious that lectureships so obtained and so held must have been in many instances valueless alike to the lecturer himself and to the student who sat under him, yielding to the former a barren honour, and to B the latter a signed schedule, the advantage of the professor and not the advancement of the student being the point considered. During the last few years a reaction has been setting in against this perpetual lecturing, and the number required to be attended has been considerably reduced. The University of London deserves the credit of having been the first to break through this absurd system, by requiring attendance on only one or two courses, and this rather as evidence of the student being really engaged in the study of medicine than for any other purpose, leaving him free to acquire his information as best he can, but testing its extent and value by a searching examination. No doubt many of the posts above alluded to are filled by men of great talent and ability, but their powers are crippled by the small means at their disposal, which prevents many illustrations or experiments from being exhibited which are almost essential for thorough teaching. As a means of improving the system of education by supplying a better class of lectures on some subjects than those at present given, and at the same time obtaining better remuneration for the lecturers themselves, a scheme has recently been advanced by which it is proposed that certain medical schools in the metropolis should be amalgamated, a reduction in the number of lecturers being thus effected, whilst the pecuniary value of those that remain will undergo considerable augmentation. It is hoped that the value of these posts would then be sufficient to lead to their being accepted not by those who only use them as a steppingstone for advancement, but by gentlemen who have devoted themselves exclusively to the study of the department of science on which they lecture. At the present moment the lectureships in several of the smaller schools yield such small returns to their holders as would astonish many of their hearers. As a matter of fact we could mention an instance where the proceeds of an entire summer course of lectures has amounted on the average for the past three years to a sum not exceeding 67. Can this for a moment be regarded as in any way proportionate to the intellectual labour, the time, and the money expended in their preparation, illustration, and delivery? It might be considered to be a moderate recompense for one lecture, but as payment for a course it is simply monstrous. Is it surprising that the lectures are often given without animation, and listened to without interest? By amalgamating several schools, however, such chairs might, it is hoped, be so far increased in value as not only to lead men of high ability, and distinguished for their knowledge in particular branches of science, to accept them, but to provide ample funds to admit of their copious illustration, and for the purchase of expensive apparatus apparatus which the smaller schools now find it difficult or impossible to procure. It would not be difficult, we imagine, to find room for those who at present hold appointments as demonstrators, with lighter but not less important duties than they have hitherto performed. At all events it seems to us that the amalgamation scheme, if fairly carried out, would prove the most splendid example of the Conservation of Force with which we are acquainted, and on that ground alone should receive the cordial support of the medical teachers through out the metropolis. In a future article we shall suggest what appears to us a desirable and practical scheme for medical education. THE LITERATURE OF CHEMISTRY THE HE appearance of the April number of the "Journal of the Chemical Society " marks the commencement of a new era in English Chemical Literature, containing, as it does, besides the papers which have been read before the Society, the first instalment of the promised "abstracts." The papers selected for this purpose by the accomplished editor are ninety-one in number, comprising every branch of Chemical Science, Technology included, and are classified under six various headings, as "Physical Chemistry," "Inorganic Chemistry," &c. The abstracts themselves, made by the gentlemen whose names appear on the wrapper of the journal, are naturally of different degrees of literary merit, but seem to be carefully and conscientiously done; all the points of essential importance in the original papers being retained. The reader will thus not only have a good general notion of the extent of the researches made by any particular author, but also be able to repeat any of the experiments, or prepare any of the substances from the directions given. These abstracts are therefore really what they profess to be, and not merely notices of a few lines in length, from which but little more information can be gleaned than from the title of the paper. The Council of the Chemical Society is to be congratulated on the energetic way in which it has endeavoured to supply a great defect in our scientific literature, by affording us the means of obtaining a general view of the progress of Chemistry both here and on the Continent. Chemists have hitherto had to depend chiefly on Will's "Jahresbericht," which, although useful in its way, has the double disadvantage incident upon its method of arrangement, first, in not being published until long after the end of the year, and, secondly, of being rather a résumé of the chemical work done, than a condensed account of particular researches. There is no doubt that these abstracts, if furnished with a full and comprehensive index, both of the subject-matter and the names of the authors, will become a standard work of reference, not only here but on the Continent. It is to be hoped that other Scientific Societies will be induced to follow the example of the Chemical Society, and, by publishing abstracts of all papers connected with their particular branch of science, give an impetus to its cultivation, and render a knowledge of its general progress easily attainable. The value of such abstracts is greater than might at first sight appear; for the study of Science, both for its own sake, and in its application to the Arts, is extending so rapidly that it requires a considerable expenditure of time to acquire a knowledge of the numerous researches and discoveries which are now being made in any particular science, and leaves but little for the study of the sciences allied to it. If, then, each of the learned societies were to publish abstracts similar to those of the Chemical Society, it would render it comparatively easy for the workers in any one department of science to acquire something more than a superficial knowledge of the discoveries made in the others. GLAISHER'S TRAVELS IN THE AIR Travels in the Air. By James Glaisher, Camille Flammarion, W. de Fonvielle, and Gaston Tissandier. Second and revised edition. With 125 illustrations. (London: R. Bentley, 1871.) the invitation "Try Lapland" fails to stimulate the jaded nerves of the zealous explorer of "fresh fields and pastures new." In the realms of air, however, there is still plenty of new ground, if we may be allowed the Hibernicism. Mr. Glaisher and the illustrious French trio can claim this field as almost exclusively their own, though, OOTH the scientific and the lover of adventure will find doubtless, they will not long be left in undisturbed possesabundance to interest them in this handsome volume. sion of it. After a brief history of the rise and progress of The terrestrial fields of enterprise are getting exhausted. aërostatics in England, Mr. Glaisher here recounts to us Mont Blanc has long since been used up. We are getting the particulars of ten of his most remarkable ascents; tired of Central Africa and the Steppes of Tartary. Even and the Frenchmen then follow suit. The volume is got BOTH up in drawing-room style, as a veritable livre de luxe; we wish we could transfer to our pages some of the beautiful chromo-lithographs by which it is illustrated, in particular, the wonderful mirage and luminous aureole which serves as frontispiece, and the falling stars as observed from the balloon, at p. 262. We must, however, content ourselves with two or three of the scarcely less effective woodcuts. The scientific information contained in the volume is important, though rather as showing how little we know at present of even the fundamental principles of Meteorology, than as establishing any new laws. With regard to temperature, Mr. Glaisher remarks that the decrease as we ascend is far from constant, and we must entirely abandon the theory of a decline of 1° of temperature for every increase of 300 ft. of elevation. With reference to the colour of the sky, he states that, as viewed from above the clouds, it presents a deep blue colour, which deepens in intensity with increase of elevation regularly from the earth if the sky be free from clouds, or |