itself twice round its stick. It was then placed in the cellar, where its stem, still obeying its natural tendency, went round once more, but in a more vertical direction than before; after which, it grew straight up along the pole to which it was fastened as it grew. It was now again taken into the garden, where it immediately began to twine round again, making five close turns; and when it was once more taken into the cellar, it continued its growth again in a straight line; and so on, according as it was alternately in the light or in the dark. The same phenomenon was observed also in the Mandevillea suaveolens; but on the other hand, the bean and the Ipomea purpurea continue to twine round their supports in the dark. In a memoir read before the National Academy of Sciences, Professor H. A. Newton shows that the number of shooting-stars visible at any one time over the whole earth is 10,460 times the number visible at any one place. The whole number of meteoroids visible to the telescope, which enter the earth's atmosphere daily, he estimates at 400,000,000. The mean distance of the meteor parts varies between 140 and 232 kilometers. Professor Newton calculates that in the space which the earth traverses, there are as as many as 13,000 small bodies in every volume of space the size of the earth; each of these, such as would furnish a shooting-star visible to the naked eye. If telescopic meteors be counted, this number would be increased at least forty-fold. Professor does not regard these as the fragments of former worlds, but rather as the materials out of which worlds are forming. The In It -It has been estimated that the ocean contains 160,000 cubic miles of magnesium, a quantity which would cover the entire surface of the globe, both sea and land, to a thickness of more than eight feet. obtaining salt from sea-water, the residuum is largely magnesium. constitutes 13 per cent. of magnesian limestone, a rock found in all parts of the world in enormous quantities. Four years ago, all the chemists who had obtained it probably did not possess an ounce among them. Two years ago, its price was 112 guineas per pound. Now, owing to improvements recently introduced, magnesium wire is sold at three pence per foot. It has been suggested that when it becomes cheaper, vessels of war should be built of it; for while it is but little heavier than "heart of oak," it is as strong and tenacious as steel. -Excellent results are obtained in the economical use of coal as fuel by feeding the fire from below, and thus burning the fuel from the surface downward, instead of from below upward, as usual. The air admitted is heated somewhat by the lower strata of fuel, before it comes into contact with the hot coals, which assists in a very marked manner the complete combustion of the carbon. In a puddling-furnace, which had consumed 41 cwt. of fuel, only 20 pounds of unburned residue was found. The modifications necessary to carry out this improvement under boilers are few and inexpensive, and the results are so good that at the Gartness Works, near Glasgow (Scotland), the weekly returns show a saving of one-third. -Rev. Frederic Gardiner, by inserting a line of stakes in the ice across the Kennebec River, in the early part of February, found, in the middle of March, that there had been an expansion of the ice of over 12 feet in a breadth of 500 feet. As during this time the temperature of the water was nearly equal, the expansion must have been due to the sun's rays, which was proved by the fact that there was the least expansion on the eastern side, where the ice was partially shielded from the sun by a high bank. -Pharaoh's Serpents have been succeeded by a new scientific sensation, Zauber Photographien, or Magic Photographs. These are sold in two envelopes: the first contains pieces of white albumenized paper; the other, slips of white blotting-paper of a corresponding size. One of the former is moistened with water, and a piece of paper from the other envelope, likewise wet, is laid thereon, when a beautiful photograph is instantly developed on its albumenized surface. Photographs have, of course, been printed in the usual manner on the albumenized slips, and then decolorized with bromic or iodic acid; the other pieces of paper have been soaked in hyposulphite of soda, and the application of this reducing agent to the hidden photograph brings it to view. that -The Scientific American thus explains the "spiritual photographs," which a few years ago caused so much discussion. Photographers are acquainted with three or four different ways in which secondary images may appear in photographs. In the first place, when a sensitive glass plate has served its turn as a negative, the film of collodion is removed from it, and it may then be used for a new photograph. But it is found that unless extreme care be used some faint traces of the former picture will remain, and these may appear as a sort of ghostly attendant upon the figure forming the second picture. One photographer, in endeavoring to utilize an old plate, which had done its duty as a negative of the late Prince Consort, could not wholly erase the image; wash or rub as he might, there was always a faint ghost of the prince accompanying any subsequent photograph taken on the same plate. Dr. Phipson relates friend of his received at Brussels a box of glass plates, quite new and highly polished, each wrapped in a piece of the Independance Belge newspaper. A lady sat for her photograph taken on one of these plates, and both the photographers and the lady were astonished to see that her likeness was covered with printed characters, easily to be read-in fact, the ghost of a political article. In this case, the actinic rays had done their work before the glass was exposed in the camera. By another mode of manipulation, a photographer may produce a ghost-like effect at pleasure. A sitter is allowed to remain in the focus of the camera only half the time necessary to produce a complete photograph. He slips quietly aside, and the furniture immediately behind is then exposed to the light; as a consequence a faint or imperfectly developed photograph of the man appears, transparent or translucent, for the furniture is visible apparently through his body or head. Referring to this mode, Professor J. W. Draper, of the New York University, some time ago gave as his belief, that the day is not far distant when even the walls of our houses will give out impressions of things done. Then the things done in secret will be proclaimed upon the house-top. -The vexed question respecting the nature and properties of ozone is likely to be settled. The Paris Academy of Sciences have appointed a committee, consisting of MM. Chevreul, Dumas, Pelouze, Fenillet, Le Verrier, Becquerel, and Boussingault, to examine and report whether ozone exists in the atmosphere, and whether the so-called ozonometric papers of Schönbein indicate the presence of electrified oxygen. EDUCATIONAL INTELLIGENCE. NEW ENGLAND. MAINE.-Boston friends of Bates College, at Lewiston, promise $50,000 for the permanent fund of the college, if $20,000 more be raised for the endowment, and $10,000 for buildings. -More than $18,000 have been subscribed for the erection of the Memorial Hall at Bowdoin College. VERMONT. At a late meeting of the trustees of Norwich University, Captain Shattuck, the president pro tempore of the institution, proposed to raise $100,000 in behalf of the university. The board voted that the amount be raised, and that immediate action be taken in the matter. -The committee appointed to examine the subscription to Middlebury College announce that over $60,000 have been secured. A gentleman, already a subscriber, offers to add $10,000 to increase it to $100,600, and $10,000 more to make it $140,000. MASSACHUSETTS.-The Theological Sem nary at Andover has received, through the agency of Professor Mead, now in Berlin, the valuable library of the late Professor Niedner, the eminent successor of Neander in the chair of ecclesiastical history. The library contains some 4,000 volumes, and cost about $2,500. -The people of Andover have voted to erect a building for a high-school. Sums amounting to $15,000 have been given for that purpose by two gentlemen, and the town has added sufficient to make up $22,000. -The property left by the late Sylvanus Packard, of Boston, to Tufts College, at Medford, consists chiefly of real estate, and will probably amount to $300,000. MIDDLE STATES. NEW YORK.-The third anniversary of "The University Convocation of the State of New York" will be held at the capitol, in the city of Albany, on Tuesday, the 7th day of August next. The membership, as originally constituted, includes: 1. The members of the board of regents; 2. All instructors in colleges, academies, normal schools, and the higher departments of public schools, which are subject to the visitation of the regents; 8. The president, first vice-president, and the recording and corresponding secretaries of the New York State Teachers' Association. The officers of the convocation are a president and secretary, being respectively the chancellor and secretary of the board of regents, exofficio, and an executive committee of seven members appointed by the chancellor. The objects of the convocation, as declared at its organization, are the following: 1. To secure a better acquaintance among those engaged in the higher departments of instruction, both with each other and with the regents; 2. To secure an interchange of opinions on the best methods of instruction in both colleges and academies; and as a consequence, 3. To advance the standard of education throughout the State; 4. To adopt such common rules as may seem best fitted to promote the harmonious working of the State system of education; 5. To consult and cooperate with the regents in devising and executing such plans of education as the advancing state of the population may demand; 6. To exert a direct influence upon the people and the legislature of the State, personally, and through the press, to secure such an appreciation of a thorough system of education, together with such pecuniary aid and legislative enactments, as will place the institutions here represented in a position worthy of the population and resources of the State. -The Hon. Benjamin Chamberlain, of Randolph, has given, as a centenary offering, $50,000 for the endowment of Randolph Academy. He had previously given liberally to Genesee and Alleghany colleges. -Mr. Robert, a wealthy merchant of New York city, has purchased a tract of land on Lookout Mountain, the scene of Hooker's famous battle in the clouds. Here he has founded a boarding-school of the New England stamp. -A project is on foot among the Scandinavian Methodists to establish a school in which their young men may be trained not only in their own language, but also to study in our language the Arminian theology. Some of the Scandinavians of New York city are making liberal offers for this purpose. NEW JERSEY.-By the provisions of Sec. 12 of the "Act to establish public schools," approved April 17, 1846, certain schools, under the care of religious societies, or denominations of Christians, were entitled to receive "just and ratable proportions of the money assigned to the townships in which they are located, out of the income of the school-fund, and of such additional sum as may be raised or apportioned by said townships for the support of the public schools." During the last week of its session, the legislature passed a bill repealing this section of the act. -According to the report of the trustees of Princeton Seminary, that corporation owns real estate to the value of $118,410, and personal estate valued at $316,982.30. In addition, there are funds invested by the General Assembly (O. 8.) for its support. From these, in 1865, it derived an income of $6,158.41. The total expenses for 1865 were $24,219.25. The library contains 19,717 volumes. PENNSYLVANIA.-Alleghany College, at Meadville, is not likely to derive any advantage from Judge Culver's liberal donations. This gentleman gave the institution real estate, and erected thereon a college building costing $50,000; but he neglected to transfer the title, and the property now appears among his assets. What makes the matter worse is that the corporation, grateful for his generosity, invested in one of Mr. Culver's banks to the extent of $30,000, which will probably prove a total loss. -Mr. Pardee, a successful coal merchant in the Lehigh region, has given $100,000 to Lafayette College, at Easton. WESTERN STATES. Onо.-John B. Kesler has just secured $15,000 to the Ohio Wesleyan University. John R. Wright, of Cincinnati, proposes to give $10,000, provided the friends of the institution will complete the proposition made two years ago by Mr. Thomas Parrott, of Dayton, who bequeathed $20,000 on condition that $150,000 should be added to the endowments. About $49,000 had been raised. These gifts increase it to $74,000. MISSOURI-On page 29 of the record kept by the school commissioner of Coles county for the year 1860, which record is now in the office of the county clerk, appears the following entry: "December 3, 1860.-Revoked the certificate of A. Fetcheĺ for the following reasons (in substance), to wit: Because he voted for Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency in 1860, and circulated Black Republican campaign documents; also wrote and put up notices advising the Germans to vote for Lincoln for the Presidency; also for being a Black Republican generally, and therefore immoral, and unfit to teach the schools of the county." TENNESSEE.-In this State, the Freedmen's Aid Commissions support 19 schools with 52 teachers and 3,060 pupils. There are also 13 denominational schools, with 42 teachers and 2,835 pupils. Besides these, there are 8 schools supported entirely by the freedmen. These have 14 teachers and 950 pupils. These latter schools are very liberally sustained by the freedmen. In eight months, the tuition collected at Memphis amounted to more than $4,500. KENTUCKY.-In this State there are 8 schools for freedmen, with 28 teachers and 1,335 pupils. CALIFORNIA.-The new school-law establishes a State Board of Education, and defines clearly the duty of the superintendent. It requires every teacher to attend the teachers' institutes, which must be held at least once a year. Trustees must not only allow teachers to attend, but may make no deduction of salary for consequent absence. Each county must give $100 towards defraying the expenses of the institute. None but white children may be admitted to the public schools; but if the parents of ten Negro or Mongolian children sign a request, the trustees of the district must establish a separate school for their instruction. The law provides for the establishment of a State Normal School at San Francisco, and appropriates $8,000 per annum for its support. It makes provision for district libraries, for the support of a State educational journal, and for the establishment of State, county, and city boards of examination. The law is an excellent one, and California equals the Eastern States in educational enterprise. SOUTHERN STATES. During last year, the American Freedmen's Commission sustained 307 schools, with 778 teachers and 40,000 pupils. The contributions exceeded $700,000. Of the schools, directly or indirectly connected with the Commission, South Carolina has 129; Virginia, 104; North Carolina, 80; Tennessee, 65; Maryland, 61; Mississippi, 20; and Arkansas only 10. As it is a fundamental principle of the Freedmen's Aid Commission, that no one may be excluded from these schools on account of his color, it offers its privileges not only to the blacks but to the poor whites, who certainly are in need of enlightenment. MARYLAND.--In 1829 the Public School system was organized in Baltimore with three schools. By the end of last year the number of schools had grown to 88; the number of teachers, to 360; and the number of pupils to 16,439. The real estate is valued at $482,669.833. The total receipts last year were $282,274.81, and the expenditures $281,503.60. The salaries paid to teachers in Baltimore are scandalously small. The principal of the High School receives $1,800 and the professors 1,400. Male Grammar School principals receive $1,800, and those of Female Grammar Schools only $700. Under such circumstances, it is strange that Baltimore has any first-class teachers at all. GEORGIA.-The free schools for poor whites opened at Atlanta by E. B. Adams, agent of the A. U. C., of Pennsylvania, are crowded with pupils. Many leave private and boys serving in her Majesty's fleet. It schools and join them. LOUISIANA. The collection of the tax on the white residents for the benefit of the colored schools has been a second time stopped by order of President Johnson. MISSISSIPPI.-The accredited correspondent of the Nation says that the 70 teachers in the colored schools are required to report monthly to the Freedman's Bureau the number of pupils of mixed blood under their care. In twelve schools there are returned 287 children of pure African blood, and 777 of mixed blood. FOREIGN. ENGLAND.-After much opposition the Cambridge examinations have been regularly established, apparently with the best results. The last report of the syndicate of Cambridge University on the local examinations held throughout the country during the past winter, shows that the girls have not only proved themselves superior in the points in which it was certain they would do better than the boys, but that in mathematics also they have gained great credit. The general style of their papers was decidedly better than what the boys produced, and their answers were more to the point, with far fewer attempts at fine writing than their male competitors indulge in. Ten girls out of twelve passed a creditable examination in Latin, being especially distinguished for accuracy and good taste in translation. One hundred and twenty-six girls were examined, and the examiners gave reports which seem to answer some of the chief objections against the examinations for girls, stating no undue excitement was manifest nor any signs of weariness toward the close. -The University (Oxford) Calendar for 1866 justifies the demand for further accommodation for students in the University. It shows the names of 1,796 undergraduates against 1,589 in 1863. The matriculations have increased from 483 in 1862 to 524 in 1865. The colleges at which the increase among undergraduates has been greatest are Worcester and Christ's Church; three, All Souls', Baliol, and Exeter, are stationary; only six show any falling off. -The Senate of the University of Cambridge has declined Mr. Yates Thompson's offer to endow a lectureship on American History in that University, shackled as it was with the appointment being in the patronage of American professors. -It is said that in Manchester and its suburbs there are 50,000 children who receive no instruction whatever. -At Midsummer last an educational census was taken of 30,000 petty officers, men was found that of the petty officers 16 per cent. could read only indifferently, and more than 5 per cent. could not read at all; 23 per cent. could write only indifferently, and 7 per cent. could not write at all. Of the seamen, 26 per cent. read poorly, and 11 per cent. could not read; 83 per cent. wrote indifferently, 14 per cent. could not write at all. Of the marines, 23 per cent. could not read, and 27 per cent. could not write. Of the boys, 2 per cent. could neither read nor write. In the British army 63.67 per cent. are able to read and write. -The parliamentary grant for education for the year is £694,530 for Great Britain, and £336,180 for Ireland. The expenditure in England for 1865 was £360,636 on schools connected with the Church of England, £59,771 on schools of the British and Foreign School Society, £28,156 on Wesleyan schools, and £26,980 on Roman Catholic schools. The estimate for England and Wales for the financial year 1866-7 is, for 916,722 day scholars at 9s. 1d. each, and 50,000 night scholars at 6s. The number of teachers serving in aided schools during 1865-6 was, in England, 9,586 certified teachers, 887 assistants, and 9,356 pupil teachers. The number of elementary dayschools visited by the inspectors was 8,484, attended by 1,246,055 children, an increase of 112,764 over the preceding year. -At the late examination for admission to the normal schools, 521 male and 785 female candidates were passed. IRELAND. The Protestant University of Dublin owns landed property to the extent of 189,573 acres, valued at £92,360. Ori FRANCE.-There exists in Paris a society called "Comité des écoles Israelites de ent et du Maroc," whose object is to cooperate with the Hebrew consistories in France and England in establishing schools for Jews in the Barbary States, Egypt, and the Turkish empire. The Comité chooses teachers, prescribes the method of instruction, and forwards to each school the textbooks employed in the elementary schools of France. At Tangiers the boys' school already numbers 400 pupils, and at Tetuan a school for girls is carried on in connection with one for boys. Schools have been founded at Volo in Turkey in Europe, at Smyrna, Damascus, and Bagdad. Some have been established in Constantinople, and a large number in Egypt. -A society has just been formed in Paris with the view of providing for the old age of female teachers who possess a government diploma, without, however, having claim to a governinent pension. Besides being lodged gratuitously, these teachers will be allowed board also, or $100 a year in lieu of it; and if they prefer living with their own friends, they will still enjoy their pension of $100 a year. |