March 30, 191 1] 



NATURE 



165 



markable optical effects of the twinning of right- ixnd left- 

 handed quartz were also demonstrated, culminating in the 

 interesting case of lamination twinning of amethyst ; and 

 interesting conclusions were drawn as to the chemical 

 nature of the racemic, pseudo-racemic, and truly inactive 

 varieties of substances showing the optically active forms. 



It was made clear during these lectures how important 

 crystallography is to chemistry. This importance has, 

 however, been yet further enhanced by the recent work of 

 Pope and Barlow, who have shown that the fundamental 

 chemical property of valency is intimately connected with 

 crystalline structure ; for if we assume, as there is ground 

 for doing, that the atoms present in a crystal may be 

 ' epresented by their spheres of influence arranged in con- 

 act, according to the particular type of homogeneous struc- 

 ture displayed, then the volumes of these spheres of 

 influence are proportional in any one compound to the 

 fundamental chemical valency of the atoms. This theory, 

 when taken in conjunction with the lecturer's work on 

 isomorphous series, in which the progression of the crystal 

 properties was shown to follow that of the atomic weights 

 of the interchangeable elements of the same family group 

 forming the series, embraces the whole field of chemistry, 

 the theory of Pope and Barlow relating to the horizontal 

 progression and the generalisation concerning isomorphous 

 series corresponding to the vertical progression of the 

 periodic law of Mendel^eff. The importance of crystallo- 

 graphy to chemistry is thus not only paramount, but 

 fundamental. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



It is announced that Miss Mary Anne Ewart, who died 

 on February 19, left 20,000^. to Newnham College, Cam- 

 bridge, for scholarships for the benefit of women students 

 studying there, and io,oooZ. to Somerville College, Oxford, 

 for like purposes. 



A SHORT time ago announcement was made that the late 

 M. A. Loutreuil had left the sum of 284,000/. for the 

 promotion of science in France. Of this amount, 

 ioo,oooL was bequeathed to the University of Paris upon 

 condition that the provincial universities also should benefit 

 by the annual revenue derived from this sum. A message 

 from Paris, published in The Times of March 29, states 

 that a committee consisting of the Vice-Rector of the 

 Sorbonne and a representative of the faculty of Science 

 of each of the provincial universities will decide the dis- 

 tribution of the revenue from the legacy, and will com- 

 municate its decisions to the council of the University of 

 Paris. According to the terms of the will, the revenue of 

 the gift is to be devoted to the encouragement of scientific 

 studies, the equipment of laboratories, the formation of a 

 library, and the foundation of additional lectureships on 

 scientific subjects. 



The president's address to the members of the Institu- 

 tion of Mechanical Engineers was delivered on March 16. 

 Mr. Ellington considered questions relating to the qualifi- 

 cations for membership ; the Institution of Civil Engineers 

 has already attained to a position such that it is difiicult 

 for civil engineers who are outside that body to obtain 

 positions of responsibility. That the Institution of 

 Mechanic.'il Engineers is the proper body to secure the 

 same standing for mechanical engineers is undoubted. Mr. 

 Ellington insists on knowledge and experience in both 

 theory and practice of mechanical engineering as essentials 

 for admission, and would favour examinations for entrance 

 •to the grade of associate member. The council of the 

 institution has always closely scrutinised the educational 

 training and practical experience of candidates for member- 

 ship, and properly conducted examinations would provide 

 a desirable standard of entrance into the profession. 



The sum of 1400/., says Science, has been received by 

 the University of Michigan from the estate of Emma J. 

 Cole, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, to constitute a scholar- 

 Ship fund for griiduate students in botany. From the same 

 source we learn that the regents of the University of 

 Wisconsin have accepted as a trust the sUm of 6o<3oL for 

 the establishment and maintenance of a chair to be known 

 as the Carl Schurz memorial professorship. The chair is 



NO. 2 161, VOL. 86] 



to be filled by professors from the universities of Germany. 

 The present fund will make it possible to secure a German 

 professor for one semester every second year. President 

 Van Hise has been authorised to open negotiations with 

 German authorities with the view of establishing a system 

 of exchange professors between German universities and 

 the University of Wisconsin. The establishment of the 

 Carl Schurz professorship will be celebrated on March 31. 

 The speakers on that occasion will include the two German 

 exchange professors now in the States, Dr. Max Fried- 

 laender, of the University of Berlin, now at Harvard, and 

 Prof. Ernst Daenell, of the University of Kiel, Kaiser 

 Wilhelm professor at Columbia. 



The trustees of the A.K. Travelling Fellowships will 

 shortly elect two fellows. These fellowships, for which 

 both men and women are eligible, are each of the value 

 of 660Z., are awarded annually, and, as has been explained 

 in these columns, were established for the purpose of 

 enabling the fellows to travel round the world. The trust 

 is administered at the University of London. The appoint- 

 ments are made by a board of trustees, and candidates 

 are nominated by the Vice-Chancellors of each of the 

 universities of the United Kingdom, the president of the 

 Royal Society, and the president of the British Academy, 

 but the trustees are not required to confine their election 

 to these nominees. The only conditions for candidature 

 are that candidates shall be British subjects and graduates 

 of, or persons who have passed all the examinations re- 

 quired for a degree in, some university of the United 

 Kingdom. An incorrect impression exists that persons to 

 be nominated as candidates must be members of the teach- 

 ing profession in one of its grades. The founder's object 

 in establishing the fellowships is in no sense to further 

 any special Hne of research, but to enable intellectual men 

 to enter into personal contact with men and countries they 

 might never have known. The English fellowships are 

 part of a general scheme for the establishment of similar 

 foundations in various countries, and endowments have 

 been made already for this purpose in France, Germany, 

 Japan, and the United States. 



The third annual report of the governing body of the 

 Imperial College of Science and Technology deals with the 

 work for the year ending July 31, 19 10, and shows that 

 the activities of the college were much extended during 

 that period. The building extensions were pushed forward, 

 and some are now nearly complete. The workshops of 

 the City and Guilds College have been extended, at a cost 

 of 8000/. to the City Guilds Institute, to provide for the 

 development of the course of instruction in railway 

 engineering commenced . two years ago. We notice that 

 the Bessemer memorial committee has decided to provide 

 10,000/. to assist in equipping the mining and metallurgical 

 laboratories, and the laboratory so furnished will be called 

 the Bessemer Laboratory, and in it a statue of the late 

 Sir Henry Bessemer will be erected. The governing body 

 has secured the services of leading men of large experi- 

 ence in connection with great industrial concerns of the 

 country, or of men with special knowledge, for the pur- 

 pose of giving short courses of advanced lectures on such 

 branches of science as press for immediate study. 

 Financial considerations prevented the full and immediate 

 realisation of the department of chemical technology re- 

 commended by the Advisory Board concerned with this 

 subject, but a beginning has been made, so far as is 

 practicable, in the existing buildings. Great attention has 

 been given by the governing body to the provision of 

 facilities for the study of the relation of the biological 

 sciences to the industries, and funds have been set aside 

 for the foundation of a chair of plant physiology and 

 pathology, and it is hoped that resources will be forth- 

 coming for its permanent endowment. A complete scheme 

 of scientific instruction and research in aeronautics has 

 been drawn up, and much work has been done in pro- 

 viding facilities for such study. The approved budget for 

 1910-H for the Imperial College as a whole estinvates a 

 revenue of 59,006/., and an expenditure of 67,374/. — * 

 deficit of 8368/., while the estimated effect of capital com- 

 mitments (buildings, &c.) will be to reduce the unappro- 

 priated capital to 100,935/. 



In the issue of Science for March i<i. I'lof. Rudolf 

 Tombo, Jan., deals with the statistics of students at 



