central storm, to 7 and 6, at the outer edge of the bad weather, but which, instead of blowing in ever enlarging circles farther and farther out from one common centre, are always converging to that centre, and on all sides gradually increasing, until, at a certain distance from the central calm, they acquire the force of a hurricane (12), and thence inwards blow with great violence in what, in all probability, is as nearly as may be a circle. It is these converging lines of wind that are, I think, likely to lead men into error as to the position of the centre of the storm. In the remarks I make I shall, to prevent confusion, confine myself to cyclones south of the equator, every one acquainted with the cyclonic theory knowing that the inverse of rules for the guidance of seamen in the southern hemisphere will be the rules for their guidance in the northern hemisphere. Let us suppose that a ship bound to Europe arrives at the point marked in the outer converging curve traced on my diagram, the wind being N. E. with force 7, that is, double reefs and jib-barometer falling, sky overcast, confused swell, and, in short, every appearance of bad weather-lat. 12° S., long. 70° E.-What ought her commander to do? Heave to on the port tack,' says one, 'and wait for the weather to clear.' Run to the S. W.,' says another, and make use of the storm.' Being a pushing fellow, he makes up his mind to run, and, truth to say, there are as many reasons for approving that proceeding as for finding fault with it. If he succeeds in making use of the hurricane, he is considered a smart fellow; if he runs into it, and is dismasted or worse, 'rash,' 'headstrong,' 'ignorant,' &c., are the best terms he can look for; and yet he might as easily have been wrong in heaving to as in running. The wind being N. E., he infers that the centre bears N. W. He considers that the barometer and weather indicate that he is on the S. E. edge of a cyclone the N.E. wind upon which he is running forming part of a circular storm, and that necessarily the centre is N. W. of him. Considering, further, that in that lat. and long. the storm is probably travelling W.S. W., he thinks that if he runs S. W. he will be diverging from it, and, that by making use of the storm he will get fine runs perhaps for days to come. But if the N.E. wind be only converging towards the fearful storm raging near the centre, that centre, in the first place, bears W. by Ñ. N., instead of N.W., so that the vessel, by steering S. W. is not diverging from the centre, as was supposed, but is really drawing nearer to it. In due time the weather gets worse from this very cause; the wind veers more to the eastward, the barometer continues to fall, and the captain begins to doubt whether the storm may not after all be progressing more to the southward than he supposed; whether, indeed, it may not, although so far to the eastward, be actually recurving, and he naturally becomes anxious and uncertain what to do. If he decides on running at all risks, he finds the wind still drawing at first more and more easterly, and then more and more southerly, always increasing in fury, and the sea becoming more and more heavy and tumultuous. But run he must now, and he must run dead before it, and being on what I have supposed a line of wind converging to a centre, he finishes by getting into the real hurricane, and loss and disaster are imminent. may, however, if his ship be tight and staunch and runs well, get round to the N. W. side of the storm, and so get clear, probably with loss of spars and sail; but he has clearly run into what he was running to avoid, because he was under the impression that winds within the influence of a cyclone, although far from its centre, blew in circles round that centre, the wind everywhere clearly indicating the exact, or nearly exact, position of that centre. These opinions I submit with very great diffidence for the consideration of seamen and cyclonists. I am not going to attempt the setting up of any dogmatic theory of my own, but I am inclined to think this theory of converging winds will probably account for the manner in which many vessels have become entangled in hurricanes when seeking to avoid them according to cyclonic rules. Like all other theories on this very but important subject, it requires very careful consideration; there can be no possible risk in deducing from it the rule that vessels on approaching what the barometer, the state of the weather, and the force of the wind, clearly indicate as the dangerous side of a cyclone, should, in seeking to avoid it, keep the wind quite four points on the port quarter. With the wind thus free, a fast ship would run with great rapidity through the water, and, unless the storm were advancing on her in a direct line, would be always increasing her distance from its centre, and getting into finer weather, and, in any case, would have a very good chance of running across, its track and thus avoiding it.

He

Ships running into cyclones on their equatorial sides are to a very great extent without excuse. There are, however, some exceptional instances; but they are very rare." The chairman, in thanking Captain Wales for his interesting and valuable communication, expressed the hope that the important suggestions it contained would be taken advantage of by seamen, and prove to be serviceable to them in their attempts to avoid the dangerous parts of cyclones. The diagram prepared by Captain Wales fully explained how it might happen that a vessel, by seeking to keep away from the centre of what was considered a circular storm, would be actually running into it. The secretary was glad that the subject had been taken up by a sailor of long experience and of great practical knowledge and skill, and he had no doubt that Captain Wales's remarks would receive the serious attention they merited. In various papers published during the last fifteen years, he (the secretary) had often called attention to the incurving of the wind in cyclones, and to the losses occasioned by acting upon the supposition that the bearing of the centre was at right angles to the direction of the wind; and he believed that it was now beginning to be admitted that the movement of the air in a cyclone was not at all represented by concentric circles, but by a figure similar to that sketched by Captain Wales. The description given by Captain Wales of the way in which vessels might get involved in a cyclone, whilst acting according to accepted rules, applied to many cases which actually occurred. Captain Wales had framed a practical rule based upon observed facts, and it was for seamen to test its value.

PARIS

Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, July 14. Two seats of associés libres, vacant by the death of MM. Prosper Merimée and Deheque, have been filled at the recent sittings. M. Merimée's seat was given to M. de Robert, and M. Deheque's to M. Thomas Henry Martin, director of the Academy at Rennes. This gentleman has written many valuable volumes on interesting points of history; among others, "On the Physical Opinions of the Greeks and Romans." one of the few French savants opposed to M. Chasles' famous letters of Newton, and has written a pamphlet on the subject.

He was

Academie des Sciences, July 17.—M. Faye in the chair. A committee was appointed to discuss the respective merits of several candidates for a free associate membership. The committee was composed of MM. Combes and Bertrand for the section of mathematical sciences, MM. Chevreul and Boussingault for the section of physical sciences, MM. Raulin and Bussy for the free members. The chairman of the committee is de jure M. Faye. When a report is to be drawn on the respective merits of ordinary members, the committee is composed from the section to which the late member belonged in his lifetime. In the secret committee held after the public sitting, a discussion was raised as to several candidatures, and it was impossible to come to any definite conclusion.-M. Lacaze Duthiers, a professor at the museum, who claims a seat in the section of zoology, read a paper on a new organ of nervous power which he has discovered in certain gasteropods living in water. This organ is placed behind the oesophagus, and at all events its dimensions are very small indeed. The Academy has appointed a committee to report on the prize Bordin, which is to be awarded this year for the best paper on the function of the stomata in the leaves of plants. -On the 3rd of October, 1870, M. Egger proposed the transla tion of the four books on Optics by Ptolemy, which were translated from Arabic into Latin, and of which two copies exist amongst the MSS. in the National Library. This suggestion was not lost, as the Royal Academy of Turin passed a resolution to raise the funds required for its publication. Other copies of the same Latin translation are also to be found in the Ambrose Library at Milan, and will be used for the purpose. The translation is very difficult, having been unsuccessfully attempted in Italian, and in French.-M. Leverrier presented a report on the observation of falling stars, for August 1869. The phenomenon was observed in twenty-seven different stations, viz. Agde, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Chartres, Chebli (Algiers), Genoa, Grenoble, Le Guerche (Cher), Larenore (Basses Pyrenées), Le Mans, Lyons, Marseilles, Mer (Loire et Cher), Metz, Moncalieri, Montpelier, Nice, Orange, Perpignan, Rochefort, Sainte Honorine (Calvados), Toulon, Toulouse, Tremont, Turin, Valencia. Observations were made by competent observers with correct chronometers, and special maps prepared by the Association Scientifique de

once

once

France, of which M. Leverrier is now the chairman. The discussion on the observations is a long work which is not yet finished in consequence of the late war. The observations could not be completed in 1870, but the Association Scientifique de France is resuming its labours, and will be ready to make observations by August 1871 on the former principles.-M. Leverrier sent the description of a bolide observed at Ioh. 6m. in the afternoon, 1° 30' higher than a Andromeda, and exploding in Pegasus. He asks for some observations from the astronomical public.—The same question is put as to a magnificent falling star seven times larger than Jupiter observed by M. Chapelas 11h. 12m. in the afternoon, on the 18th July, from? Pegasus to the horizon in the north-west. It must have been seen in England.—At the last sitting we omitted to mention the presentation of some grains of wheat, &c., burned by electricity in a storm, a few years ago and preserved as a great curiosity.-M. Bert, Professor of Physiology at the Museum, formerly a prefect of Lille during the latter part of the war, sent a most interesting paper on the influence that the diminution of pressure exerts on animal life. Living frogs were placed under the air-pump, and proved to be killed very soon if pressure is diminished quickly to seven or eight inches, but if diminished gradually, they can live in a more perfect vacuum if proper precautions are taken to renew the residual air offered to them for respiration. Certainly the same thing can be said of aeronauts, who cannot reach a high level without inconvenience, except by very gradual ascent.-M. Dumas presented a small pamphlet fron M. Janssen, narrating his ascent on December 2 with Volta. Dr. Janssen was himself the aëronaut, and his ascent was the occasion of some interesting observations. He was appointed a commissioner for visiting the meteorological establishments in England, and reporting upon them, and is now on his way to London.-M. Beaugrand, an engineer in the Parisian hydraulic service, presented a report on Roman aqueducts. He has written a very long essay on the matter, which would have been burned by the Communists with his office at the Hotel de Ville, if he had not brought it home on purpose to write out of it a paper for the Academy.

VIENNA

Imperial Academy of Sciences, April 13.-Prof. von Reuss reported on the fossil remains of a crab found in the Leithakalk of the Rauchstallbrunn pit near Baden. The fossil most nearly approaches the living genera Acteon and Daira.-Prof. A. von Waltershofen reported on a new thermopile of great efficacy.-Prof. V. Graber communicated a memoir on the physiology and minute anatomy of insects, especially the Pediculina, in which he treated chiefly of the Malpighian vessels and trachea. The former in many cases consist merely of prolongations of the peritoneal membrane.--Prof. V. von Lang presented a memoir containing researches upon the influx of gases, undertaken for the purpose of testing the laws which have been established for the dependency of inflowing gases upon the pressure.-Prof. C. von Ettingshausen presented a first memoir upon the flora of Sagor in Carniolia, in which he described numerous species of fossil plants from the brown coal of that locality. This memoir included the Thallophytes, vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, Monocotyledons, and Apetala. The Thallophytes include a Sphæria nearly allied to the Greenland species, and a Laurencia, which is the only marine plant found in the deposit. Of the Conifera Glyptostrobus europaus and Sequoia Couttsia are the most abundant, and of the latter genus three other species occur. A Cunninghamia, very like C. sinensis, is remarkable as adding a new genus to the Tertiary flora. Grasses are rare, but Naiadæ are abundant and remarkable. A Pandanus and a species of palm occur. Among the Apetale the author noticed two species of Casuarina, one of which is new and allied to C. quadrivalvis. The other orders represented are Myricaceae 3 species, Betulaceae 6, Cupuliferæ 15, Ulmaceæ 4, Celtideæ 2, Artocarpeæ 2, Salicineæ 2, Nyctagines 1, Monimiacea Santalaceæ 4, Daphnoidea 2, Proteaceæ, 21, Moreæ 19, and Laurineæ 18.-Prof. Carl Koritska exhibited and explained a hypsometrical map of the Alban Mountains, with profiles and views. He regarded the district as particularly instructive, from the intimate collocation of the three forms of volcanic craters and their apparent transition one into the other which prevails there.-Dr. E. Klein communicated a contribution to the knowledge of the Malpighian corpuscles in the human kidney, by Dr. Victor Seng; and a contribution to the knowledge of the finer nerves of the buccal mucous membrane, by Dr. E. Elin.-Prof. Ludwig Boltzmann presented a memoir containing several pro

positions on the equilibrium of heat, and another on the main proposition of the mechanical theory of heat.-Prof. E. Weiss furnished the elements and ephemeris of the comet discovered by Winnecke at Carlsruhe on the 7th April.

April 20.-Prof. C.von Ettingshasuen presented a memoir on the leaf-skeleton of the Loranthaceæ. -Prof. Simony noticed some peculiarities of the glaciers of the Dachsteingebirge. The Gosau glacier descends to an elevation of 6030 feet, the Hallstatt glacier to 6115 feet, and the Schladminger Fern:r to 6935 feet. The most instructive moraine phenomena are presented by the lower part of the Hallstatt glacier.-Prof. Seeger presented a memoir on the methods at present employed for detecting small quantities of sugar in the urine, which he regards as unsatisfactory.-A paper on the perforations in the vessels of plants, by Dr. Tangl, was communicated by Prof. Ad. Weiss.

April 27.-Prof. Lang communicated some remarks on the abnormal dispersion observed by Christiansen and Kundt in solutions of fuchsine, cyanine, &c. He showed that the appearance is due to the defective achromatism of the human eye.-M. F. Schwackhöfer reported on the occurrence and mode of forination of phosphorite balls in Russian Podolia. He stated that these balls were originally carbonate of lime formed by concretion, and converted into phosphate of lime formed by the lixiviation of the Silurian clay slate in which they occur, which contains phosphoric acid. The analysis of these balls led to the formula 3 (Ca3 P2 O3) + Ca F12, agreeing with that of apatite in the proportion of fluorine.

PHILADELPHIA

American Philosophical Society, April 21.-Dr. Geuth described the results of recent investigations by himself into Corundun pseudomorphs of Hersinite, an aluminate of oxide of iron, from specimens from Bengal. He reported finding specimens of Hersinite in N. Carolina Corunduns, and believes the emery of Massachusetts is to be referred to the same mineral. In Chester County, Penna., "Corundun pseudomorphs occur which are quite soft like talc or scaly talc, which prove to be Margarite. A third pseudomorph very much foliated has not yet been determined.-Prof. Cope presented a paper entitled, "A preliminary report on the Vertebra discovered in the Port Kennedy Cave."-Prof. Cresson stated that the young and tender shoots of the Symplocarpus fortidus (skunk cabbage) had forced themselves through a solid asphaltum composition Glen," Park. pavement two inches in thickness in many places in "Belmont The road was used for heavy hauling at the time. -Prof. J. P. Lesley described a discovery which he had made in East Tennessee of a sharp anticlinal axis crossing the coal measures of the Cumberland Mountains at right angles to the dominant system of disturbances, and showed its important bearing on the question of the conversion of the northern anticlinals of the Alleghanies, into the southern system of downthrows. Also its relationship to the latter and to the cross undulations worked out by Joseph Lesley in his instrumental survey of E. Kentucky thirteen years ago; and to the N.W.-S. E. system of faults described by Owen, Hall, and other geologists in the Valley of the Mississippi.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1871

THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE IN

WHI

SCHOOLS

general public has pronounced warmly in its favour; the masters and managers of schools are prepared in almost all cases, freely or grudgingly, to admit it. And if this be so; if the principles of opposition are surrendered, and objection rests only upon details; if, further, the deterrent details thus interposing are notorious, and are of a kind which authority, or enlightenment, or guidance, placed in sufficient hands and wielded with sufficient energy, can obviate, surely we may call upon the men whom the suf

schools which have ventured to introduce it are left to struggle unassisted against almost overwhelming difficulties. There are those who congratulate us on the advances made within the last two years, who point with pride to the Eton telescope and the Rugby laboratory, to the Botanical Garden of Clifton and the Scientific Society of Harrow. No doubt the evidence thus cited is most gratifying; no doubt the thanks of the community are due to the men whose individual wisdom and energy have made so admirable a beginning; but if their success is to produce in us only self-complacency, and to hide the enormous deficiencies which it ought to make more glaring and conspicuous, their efforts have been worse than vain.

Let us ask the following questions. Of our countless Secondary Schools how many teach or profess to teach Natural Science in any shape whatever? Are there twenty schools in England which teach it systematically on a scale at all extensive, with special master and necessary apparatus? Is there one which accords to it such a place in comparison with other subjects of school teaching as is due to its inherent educational value, its practical use in after life, and the extent to which it is attracting and unfolding the chief intellects of the day? Lastly, are the schools which teach it honestly working on a well-considered plan, agreed amongst themselves as to the economies of methods, subjects, tests; or are their systems contradictory and chaotic, are they ignorant of each others' experience, are their efforts tentative and independent, their results often nugatory, their progress necessarily slow?

There is but one answer to these questions. Science teaching in our schools is as yet potential merely. It rests with those whom we are addressing to make it actual. Observers most conversant with the difficulties which have hitherto kept Science out of schools or paralysed it when nominally admitted, feel most strongly that combined and intelligent action on its behalf, undertaken by men of commanding influence and reputation, is the one thing needful to ensure for it existence, vitality, and permanence. So long as the necessity of teaching it to boys was denied, the action of authority would have been premature. It was necessary that public opinion should be formed, and that experience and argument should work the slow process of conversion. But its claims are now, in theory, established. The most bigoted no longer venture to question its utility; the champions of the old exclusive and one-sided culture are silenced, if not convinced; the

VOL. IV.

originate such a plan and to carry out such measures as may supplement the victory of reason over prejudice by assisting willing votaries and kindling half-roused enthu

siasm.

There are cases in which the support of external authority is needful for the introduction of Science into schools. Probably few of the readers of NATURE are aware how bitter an opposition is offered to Science teaching by the clergy in many parts of England. The schoolmaster, who, being himself a clergyman, ventures to insist on Science as a necessity in his school curriculum, finds himself the object of a conspiracy as adroit as it is unscrupulous. No matter how able and energetic he may be ; no matter how unmistakeably he may care for the moral and religious training of his boys; there is an accursed thing in the midst of him; the word goes forth to ostracise him ; the dextrous calumny is dropped in fitting places, his neighbours send their sons elsewhere, and his schemes are broken up. This, which has happened more than once, must happen many times, unless such hapless pioneers of Science can be made to feel that they are backed by men of character, by men whose names are known, to whom they can appeal, who will interfere on their behalf with weight to convince or to overawe their persecutors.

In quite another way again authority is needed. Public competitive examinations, for the universities or elsewhere, must always exercise a paramount influence upon the schools, and must stamp in great measure the value of the subjects taught. It may well be doubted whether in the examinations for India and for Woolwich scientific excellence is appraised sufficiently high. It is quite certain that the influence of the universities both on the higher and lower schools is what it ought not to be in this respect. The local examinations, excellent in many points, vicious in some few, are most vicious in their operation upon Science. The unwise limitation of the subjects taken up, with the certainty that classical and mathematical papers gain many more marks than chemistry or mechanics, prevent the boys in a widely taught school from taking Science in at all, and help to deter masters from a subject which will not count in the examination. And unless they are closely watched, the "matriculation" or "leaving" examinations now contemplated both by Oxford and by Cambridge will be more disastrous still. Between the universities clinging to old subjects as desperately as they distrust the new, and the schoolmasters defeating by nearly ten to one the proposal to give boys the choice between a "linguistic" and a scientific " matriculation, an obstacle more serious than any which now exists will be built up in the path of Science teaching, if its natural supporters stand aloof from the progress of a mischief which it now lies within their power to avert.

P

But if School Science lacks authority to help it, it lacks guidance and enlightenment still more. For it may be taken as an established fact that the head masters are, as a body, absolutely helpless. No one can doubt this who will peruse their published utterances on the subject at the Sherborne Meeting in December last. Nor need they be ashamed of the imputation. They owe their position in almost every case to their high classical or mathematical reputation. They are so large minded as to appreciate and to wish to foster in their school studies of whose details they know nothing, and should be allowed to feel that in opening their doors to Science they may fall back with confidence upon supreme and accredited advisers.

Think of the difficult points which, without previous experience of any kind, they are called upon to settle. The main subjects of teaching, their relative value, and the order in which they should be taught, the age at which scientific study should commence, the extent to which it may be optional or must be compulsory, the merits and demerits of bifurcation, the text-books to be used, the time to be allowed, the methods of teaching, the frequency of examinations, the mode of obtaining teachers, the necessary apparatus, the arrangement of museums, laboratories, botanic gardens,-on all these points and on more blank and total ignorance holds the minds of many masters, while others are puzzling them out with cruel

waste of force, destitute of traditions, ignorant of each others' experience, lacking central guidance.

For such guidance where are they to look, if not to the British Association? It includes men fitted for such a task beyond any others in the country, men individually of commanding reputation, representing severally the great towns, the Universities, the commercial centres. Is it too much to hope that a board of such men as these might assume, at the request and by the appointment of their brethren, the task of counsellers and supporters to the schools in the difficult task which lies before them? They might deliberate on the points which we have noticed, and draw up rules for a scientific course which all schools would adopt. They might send missionaries

to schools newly entering upon their task, who should advise upon the many points no published rules could cover. They might suggest and accredit text-books, might bespeak and cheapen apparatus, might secure from Government facilities for obtaining specimens, for stocking gardens, for borrowing or renting instruments. Established more and more securely as the representatives and controllers of scientific education, they would see their power spread from the schools to the Universities, from the Universities throughout the country.

But we forbear. We have stated the difficulties which beset scientific education in our schools, we have hinted at means which may remove them. Our description is only too real, our project may be too chimerical. Be it

So. The chimera of one age is often the truism of the next. Let us only call upon our friends at Edinburgh, before they separate for another year, to take this great subject into consideration, and to weigh its claims on their activity. Many a solitary teacher will be cheered, many a half-abandoned scheme will be preserved and furthered, if not by the certainty of their support, yet at any rate by the knowledge of their sympathy.

THE APPROACHING TOTAL SOLAR

WE

ECLIPSE

F. regret that we have, as yet, nothing very definite to announce in addition to what has been already stated with reference to the observations of the Total Solar Eclipse of the 12th of December next. We believe that an appeal is about to be made to Government, and if this be so, we may trust that anything that may be asked in the interests of Science will readily be granted by the Government. It is unfortunate that the Astronomer Royal's official position prevents his joining in the request, for his experience in connection with the large expenditure (10,000l. has already been voted) incurred by him for the approaching observation of the Transit of Venus, would be valuable in showing the necessity for the sum now required. This amounts only to a few hundreds in excess of the sum saved by the rigid economy practised by the Committee appointed to organise the arrangements connected with the late expedition.

We trust that the proposed arrangements will be brought before the British Association, in order that the influence of that important body may be made to bear upon this matter. We have recently shown the important results obtained by the late observations. It seems clear that the weather prospects for the approaching event are good, while recent calculations made by Mr. Hind show that the totality in Ceylon is much longer than had been at first imagined, amounting to as much as 2m 11s for Trincomalee, and therefore longer in the central line a few miles to the north. The accompanying map shows approximately the shadow path over India, and gives us good ground for congratulating ourselves that there are already in that country such observers as Tennant, Pogson, Herschel, Hennessy, and others, ready to occupy the best stations. The appeal made to Government includes funds for an expedition to Ceylon, under the charge of Mr. Lockyer, who has been requested by the Royal Astronomical Society to undertake spectroscopic observations there, while M. Janssen will probably take up his station in Java. We have already stated that a strong party from Melbourne and Sydney will observe in the north of Australia. All then is in order, provided our scientific leaders will put their shoulders to the wheel.

NOTES

THE American Association for the Advancement of Science, which meets a fortnight later than our own at Indianapolis, is modelled in most respects after the pattern of the parent institution, but presents some features which the managers of our own Association may do well to take into consideration. The arrangements with regard to the opening address, sectional proceedings, &c., are very similar, the following being the officers for the Indianopolis meeting :-President, Prof. Asa Gray, of

Cambridge; Vice-president, Prof. George F. Barker, of New Haven; Permanent Secretary, Prof. Joseph Lovering, of Cambridge; General Secretary, Mr. F. W. Putman, of Salem; Treasurer, Mr. Wm. S. Vaux, of Philadelphia. Special convenience will be provided for microscopists in relation to the exhibition and care of any instruments or apparatus, a suite of rooms having been secured in the State House for their special use. It will be remembered that the same thing was attempted at the Liverpool meeting, but in rather a private and unacknowledged manner. Excursions are arranged to Terre Haute, a distance of seventy-three miles, including a visit to the celebrated block coal field and blast furnaces of Clay county, and to New Albany on the Ohio river, where there are a number of interesting manufactories, among them the only finishing plateglass works in the United States. Special arrangements have

been made as to terms for the accommodation of the members of the Association at hotels and boarding-houses, and it is expected that all the railroads will carry the visitors at half fares.

ALTHOUGH the Report of the Science and Art Department in the year 1870 is not yet published, we believe that the following chief results, taken from the Times, may be relied upon as accurate. The numbers who during 1870 have attended the schools, museums, and other institutions receiving Parliamentary aid, considerably exceed those of 1869. There is a very large increase

in the number of persons receiving instruction in science applicable to industry, which has risen from 24,865 in 1869 to 34,283 in 1870, or upwards of 37 per cent. At the Royal School of Mines there were 17 regular and 124 occasional students, at the Royal College of Chemistry 121 students, at the Royal School of Naval Architecture there were 40, and at the Metallurgical Laboratory 24. The evening lectures at the Royal School of Mines were attended by 2,574 artisans, school teachers, and others; and 243 science teachers attended the special courses of lectures provided for their instruction. At the Royal College of Science, Ireland, there were 17 associate or regular students and 21 occasional students. The various courses of lectures delivered in connection with the department in Dublin were attended by 1,152 persons, and at the Evening Popular Lectures, which were given in the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art during the session 1869-70, there was an attendance of 1, 195. The total number of persons who received direct instruction as studen's or by means of lectures in connection with the Science and Art Department in 1870 was upwards of 254,000. showing an actual increase as compared with the number in the previous year of 67,000, or nearly 36 per cent., and an increase in the rate of

progress of 8 per cent. ; the numbers in 1869 having been nearly 28 per cent. higher than in 1868. The museums and collections under the superintendence of the department in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh, have been visited during the past year by 1,847,929 persons, showing an increase of 49,087 on the number in 1869. As we have said before, it is impossible to over-estimate the importance of the work which is being done.

THE correspondence between the Royal Commission on Scientific Instruction and the Advancement of Science and the Science and Art Department on the subject of the transfer of the School of Mines to South Kensington, has been presented to Parliament.

THE assertion made by a contemporary relative to the endowment at University College of a De Morgan professorship of mathematics, has given rise to the statement by Prof. T. Hewitt Key, to the effect that he now withdraws the proposal, not merely because it is said by the family to be at variance with the expressed wishes of the deceased, but more because it has been hinted that he has been unworthily "using Prof. de Morgan's name against such expressed wishes for the emolument of the college." The endowment of a mathematical chair still remains as an object to which his best energies will be applied.