See Extracts from Minute of 17th January, 1878. At Whitehall, the 17th day of January, 1878. BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS OF THE COMMITTEE OF HER MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL ON EDUCATION. 1. The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education consider the subject of Science Instruction in Training Colleges. They believe that the time has arrived when a special examination should be instituted at a period of the year better adapted to the Training Colleges than May; and that the nature of the examination and the payments made on the results should be modified to suit the circumstances of those Colleges. 2. They therefore determine that in future a special examination in Science shall be held in Training Colleges in December, immediately before the ordinary Christmas Examination. 3. The examination will not be open to Acting Teachers. It will be held in those subjects only for which a special course of instruction is provided in the time table of the College, and will be conducted by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors, or by an officer of the Science and Art Department. 4. No Student in a Training College will be allowed to attend the May examinations of the Science and Art Department. 5. The examination will be confined to the following ten sub jects : 1. Mathematics. 2. Theoretical Mechanics. 3. Applied Mechanics. 4. Acoustics, Light, and Heat. 5. Magnetism and Electricity. 6. Inorganic Chemistry, including Practical Chemistry. 7. Animal Physiology. 8. Elementary Botany. 9. Physiography. 10. Principles of Agriculture. 6. No Student will be permitted to take up more than two subjects in any one year. Women will not be permitted to take more than one subject in a year. 7. The examination, except for Mathematics, will be based on the syllabus of the several subjects given in the Science Directory. But the two stages, Elementary and Advanced, will be treated as a whole-one paper only being set. These examination papers will be framed much as the present May papers are framed, that is to say, with a certain number of compulsory *For information respecting the examinations in Science and Art, and for copies of the Science and Art Directories, application may be п ade to 'The Secretary, Science and Art Department, South Kensington, London, W.' In 1883 the passages will be taken from Cæsar de Bello Gallico, Book III., Virgil's Eneid, Book VI., Xenophon's Anabasis, Book III., Euripides' Medea, Bonnechose's Lazare Hoche, Racine's Iphigenie, Goethe's Italian Journey, and Schiller's Maria Stuart. In 1884 the passages will be taken from Cæsar de Bello Gallico, Book II., Virgil's Eneid, Book II, Xenophon's Anabasis, Book II., Euripides' Alcestis, Saintine's Picciola, Book II., Racine's Iphigenie, Goethe's Italian Journey, and Schiller's Maria Stuart. questions and a certain number of optional questions, some of the latter being more difficult, and more highly marked, than the rest. Questions will also be set on the method of teaching various branches of the subject. The syllabus for the Mathematical examination is given in the Appendix. 8. The successful Students will be placed in the 1st or 2nd Class, the standard for a 2nd Class being as high as that of a good 2nd Class in the present Advanced Stage, and for the 1st Class of a good 1st Class in the Advanced Stage. 9. All Students who pass will be registered as qualified to earn payments on results and will receive certificates, but no prizes will be given. N.B.-1. A Student may not, in his first year, take up more than two special subjects, nor, in his second year, more than four. 2. Á Student, who, at the end of his first year, passes 3. A Student who fails to pass with credit in either, (or 5. Acting Teachers, who attend the Christmas Examina- Correspondence. St. Paul's Board Schools, 4th November, 1882. DEAR SIR,-Will you please kindly allow me a small space in your excellent PRACTICAL TEACHER to ask any of our able correspondents if they will please give information on the following? In the "Grammatical Questions' for PRACTICAL TEACHER last July, three of the exercises were taken from Tennyson, and two were taken from the same author for last November, and it may be noticed that these exercises have often been selected from this author. I should be glad to learn from which of Mr. Tennyson's works they are taken, and is there such a thing as a very cheap edition of this work or these works issued? Perhaps some able corre spondent who is familiar with this author will kindly inform me. I am, dear sir, Yours faithfully, E. MARTIN. ERRATA.-Scholarship Examination, last month's issue:For 4 read 4x in divisor, line 2 and 3. Ex. 8. Algebra. (Simplify, etc.) For 16 read 173. Ex. 9. Arithmetic. A. 1. £27 7s. 2 d. 2. £89 17s. 77d. 3. 3 per cent. B. 1. 3,607. 2. £8 os. 1d. 3. £3 8s. 10id. C. 1. 5 years. 2. 4s. 8 241d. 3. 85.70. D. I. 101 5s. 3. 459. 40 75. 4d. 2. 256 miles. 3. £11 2s. 6d. ADVANCED EXAMINATION. 1. £13 10s. m., £4 10s. w., £1 10s. b. 2. £54 10s. 11d. 3. 10 to 9. STANDARD VI. E. 1. 1'499349+ 2. 323 892 3. 1295. F. 1. 000003. women. Ans. £54 10 II 3. 18 × 1 = 27 women's day's work in 9 acres, and Is. 6d. x 27 40s. 6d. cost of 9 acres 4s. 6d. an acre done by It is easily seen from the question that a man does an acre a day, and therefore the cost done by men is 5s, an Hence the ratio is 5 to 4 = 10 to 9. Ans. acre. STANDARD VI. 1.2 miles 13 (or) miles = = 2. m. £7 6s. 8d., w. £6 proportion, 9 hr. x 20 m. x 10 d. × 9 length 25. 2 d. 3. £770 9s. 2'9352d. ADVANCED EXAMINATION. I. 9 hours. 2. £9 8s. 10d. gain 3. 1918 days. STANDARD VII. 18 x 9 X II = 2. 035 of £4670 £163 45 cost of the cloth. 475 of 300 yd. 142 5 yd., and £575 × 142 ̊5. £81 9375.300 - 142'5 = 157'5 yds. the rem. 55 guinea = = 5775 £5775 × 157'5 = L90 95625. £819375 + £90*95625 £172 89375 £163'45 172 89375 total selling price. £9'44375 = £9 8s. 104d. Ans. 105 3. 36 + 15 = frac. of an ac. done by A and B in 1 hr. 3 ac. Ir. 15 p. = 31 ac. = 17 ac. Then (÷91) (1.07 × 102 × 75) = 1935 = 1913 days. Ans. 32 8216 39 STANDARD VII. 1. (£780 × 4)÷100= £35'1 (2730x31) + 100 = 2350625} = £70 1625 interest on (£780+£935=) 1715. But the interest on £1715 at 5 p. ct.= £85.75, hence £85·75 - £70*1625= £15.5875 short of 5 p. ct. on the 1715, to be made up by the extrap. ct. on the amount at 5 p. ct., £200 of which will make 1 additional interest. Then £155875 × 200= £3117 105. Ans. 2. 318-39 million gallons increase, being on millions, hence the increase is on the original quantity, and of 100= = 52 per cent. increase in quantity. Ans. £905,400 £880,420 = £24,980 decrease in value. Then 2498 of 100= 2759+ per cent. decrease in value. Ans. 3. £31×37=£129 10s. annual income from 34 p. cts. £871 × 37=£3237 cash received on selling out. £32371÷80=40}} hundreds of 3 p. cts. bought. £3×40}=121}= £121 8s. 1d. Then 129 10s. - £121 8s. 1d.=8 1s. 10ld. decrease in income. Ans. ANSWERS TO ALGEBRA QUESTIONS IN 'THE SCHOLAR, FOR JANUARY, 1883. EXERCISE XIII. 12 m-n-p. (5) 3. (6) - 3 Science Notes. A NOVEL APPLICATION OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.-Among the most recent uses to which the electric light has been put, none more ingenious has been noticed than its introduction into dentistry. A well-known dentist has taken (17) 1. advantage of it to enable him to carry out his operations under more favourable conditions than the ordinary ones. He uses a small incandescent lamp to illuminate the cavity of the mouth of the patient. It is fitted into a vulcanite cup, which serves as a prop to keep the jaws apart. ANSWERS TO ARITHMETICAL QUESTIONS A. (1) 22 B. (1) 107 D. (1) 890 E. (1) 54 A. (1) 71,013 B. (1) 5,516 (2) 73,957 E. (1) 2,216,592 A. (1) 1,608 (2) 2,344 +14 (3) 1,689 B. (1) 7,360 (2) 6,136+27 C. (1) 943+123 STANDARD I. F. (1) 25 G. (1) 273 I. (1) 9,071 (2) 12,447 J. (1) 2,907 (2) 1,324 STANDARD II. G. (1) 21,805 H. (1) 9,334 +6 (2) 4,769 I. (1) 6,497 +51 J. (1) 4,658,986,920 STANDARD III. D. (1) 4,538 +40 (2) £2,142 25. old. G. (1) 25. 94d. H. (1) £142 15s. 9ąd. I. (1) 295,522 farthings J. (1) £36 11s. 8d. K. (1) £2,122 19s. old. * ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.-Since these have been brought into partial adoption, the attention of many engineers has been devoted to improvements in the details of their working. Among new patents which are calculated to effect these, is one taken out by Edison, which is specially directed to prevent what has caused so much difficulty in working them, viz., tbe leakage of the current. Edison's new plan is to construct the ends of the rails and the fish-plates of nickel, and to have a copper strap between the rail and the fish-plate. Further, he proposes to have the rails japanned except on the top, and to cover the ties with an insulating compound. By these means he expects to reduce the leakage to a minimum. THE new electric railway between the Giant's Causeway and Portrush was tried last month. with fair success. Several experimental runs of over a mile each were made, with the result of attaining a speed of about ten miles per hour. PRUSSIC ACID IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.— A curious myriapod has lately been observed in several hothouses in Holland, which appears to possess the remarkable property of producing prussic acid. On irritating the creature in any way it was noticed to give out a distinct smell of bitter almonds, and this was observed to be much more powerful if it were crushed. When some of these myriapods were killed and their bodies. bruised with water, and this distilled, prussic acid was found in the distillate. Herr Egeling took the matter up, and made a series of investigations into it. His results lead him to the conclusion that the animal prepares or secretes a substance which under certain conditions is decomposed, giving prussic acid as one of the products of such decomposition. Various reagents he applied enabled him to ascertain the presence of such a substance, and probably another body which acts as a ferment, causing the production of the prussic acid, under certain conditions of excitement, in the living body. The myriapod is a foreign species of Fontaria. POWER OF RESISTING POISONS IN INSECTS. -Some interesting experiments have been carried out lately by Mons. Fredericq, of Liege, on the large water-beetle (Dytiscus). He put several of these insects into aqueous solutions of urari (the Indian arrow-poison) and into solutions of strychnine of poisonous strength. A few drops of his solutions were sufficiently potent to kill a frog in a very few minutes. The beetles showed themselves in most cases quite unaffected by the poison; some experiments lasted for fourteen days, at the end of which they were apparently unharmed. Other beetles besides Dytiscus also showed themselves proof against the action, some maintaining themselves uninjured for nearly a month. COAL IN THE UNITED STATES.-The coal supply of America has lately been attracting considerable attention, some rich seams having been discovered in the Southern States. It is not many years since the great fields of Pennsylvania were the only known deposits in the States; but recently large territories in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama have been found to be rich in the mineral. The extent of these territories is not less that 15,000 square miles, or four times that of the coal-field in Pennsylvania. Texas, also, is considered to be above a coal-field, which is thought to be of about 6,000 square miles extent. In both the coal is described as being exceedingly bituminous and of excellent quality. Some veins of good soft coal are being worked in the Indian territory, in Kansas and Missouri. The mines of the Osage Coal and Mining Co., which are situated at Macallis in this district, are among the best in the country. The coal turned out from them is described as being almost equal to the English Cannel, and as being free from impurities. It is already in very great demand over all the adjacent railways. The great Missouri basin, in which the deposits are found, is estimated to cover 84,000 square miles of territory. The Appalachian coal-field extends towards the south, becomes narrower as it crosses Kentucky, and widens again in Tennessee. Beyond this it expands across the north-west corner of Georgia, and enters Alabama, terminating in the vicinity of Tuscaloosa. It is estimated that in the State of Alabama alone enough coal will be yielded to supply the whole country for a century. THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.-It is announced that Mr. A. G. Vernon Harcourt, M.A., F.R.S., has been elected General Secretary of the British Association, in the room of the late Professor Balfour. THE LATE PROFESSOR CHALLIS.-Astronomy at Cambridge has recently suffered a great loss in the death of the late Professor. He had lived and worked in the University for nearly a life time, and had done great things for the study of the science there. His own attainments as an undergraduate were remarkably brilliant, for he was Senior Wrangler and first Smith's prizeman of his year. He succeeded the late AstronomerRoyal, Sir G. Airey, as Professor. * at A NEW FORM OF LOCOMOTION.-A great improvement in travelling by road is foreshadowed by a new invention of Messrs. Ayrton and Perry, in the shape of a tricycle, which is to be propelled by electricity. It is not a very great modification of the ordinary tricycle of recent days, the same shape being preserved, and the apparatus for the application of the motive power being comparatively inconspicuous, or, any rate, not attracting more attention than a traveller's ordinary luggage. Close to the driving wheel of the tricycle, as we know it, is fixed a large wheel furnished with a number of teeth. A motor is slung from the seat platform, the armature spindle of which carries teeth which gear into those of the wheel. The battery is composed of a number of Faure cells, which are slung from the back-bone and axle. When fully charged these contain an amount of energy equal to two horse-power. The motor and battery together weigh not quite 150 lbs. The speed with this arrangement will be about six miles per hour, but by using more accumulators it can be worked up to eight. The steering handle and the brake occupy their usual positions, and at the left side of the rider is a commutator, by which the number of accumulators in the circuit. can be altered, or the current cut off from the motor. The full power of the battery is only obtained by turning the switch of the commutator through the intermediate powers, so that shocks are avoided in starting the machine. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.-Some experiments have been reported recently bearing on an interesting problem in Agricultural Chemistry, viz., the alteration of nitrates in the soil. A small vegetable organism, Bacillus armylobacter, has been discovered to be active in setting up a butyric fermentation in the ground. The organism has been examined while in an active condition, in a fermenting liquid which was prepared from earth mixed with sugar, and containing nitrates in small quantity. When this was kept at a temperature of 35°C. gas was given off, which was sometimes a mixture of CO, and hydrogen, and sometimes CO, with nitrogen and nitric oxide. At the same time the liquid smelt strongly of butyric acid, and the nitrates disappeared. The Bacillus described as effecting this change is widely distributed, and can be observed as a number of oblong particles collected into groups of two or three in liquids properly prepared. The nitrates in the soil are reduced by the hydrogen generated in the butyric fermentation, set up by the organism when it meets organic matters in the absence of oxygen. |