446 



NATURE 



[February i. 



oi .-III indopendont invcKtigntor. Il.ul lii^ work 'On the 

 Relative Atomic Weights of Nitrogen and Sulphur ' bf*n 

 presented in Leipzig, I should gindly have accepted it, not 

 only as n dcH'tor'ii dissrrtntion, but also as a sufficient 



3ualifiration for the position of university lecturer (Privat- 

 uzcnt). 



" (Signed) VV11.11BLM OsTWALU." 



Prof. 1 h. \^ . Ki( hards wrote: — 



"■ Ihe investigations of Mr. F. P. Burt seem to me to 

 present many points of interest, and to indicate n high 

 order of experimental ability. In view of the fact that a 

 large proportion of the work wos done by Mr. Burt him- 

 self, even when he was assisted by collaborators, the sum 

 total of his papers apijoars to me to present more than the 

 equivalent of a thesis for the doctor's degree in the best 

 universities in America. It must be remembered, however, 

 that a thesis is only a part of our requirement. 



" (S'xfined) Theo. W. Richards." 



Copies of these letters were sent to the Senate of the 

 University of London in July, 191 1, together with a letter, 

 the last sentence of which is : — " Since it appears to me 

 (and my opinion is shared by Profs. Dixon and Collie) that 

 an error of judgment has been made in Mr. Burt's case, 

 we would respectfully urge you to reconsider his claims." 



On October 18, 1911, the Senate passed the following 

 resolution : — 



"That, having considered the communication from Sir 

 William Ramsay of July 10, 191 1, and having heard a 

 report from the examiners, the Senate arc not prepared to 

 vary the decision at which they have arrived." 



.As it was impossible to believe that the Senate attached 

 more importance to the decision of their examiners on the 

 merits of the thesis than to the verdict of special experts, 

 the inference was obvious that they considered that the 

 work, or a sufficient proportion of it, had not been done 

 by the candidate. Perhaps this view was partly justified 

 by the terms in which Mr. Burt had thanked all those to 

 whom he supposed himself indebted during the progress of 

 his research ; his expressions were, to say the least, 

 generous. 



The Regulation for External Students (Blue Book, 

 Univ. of Lond. Calendar, p. 294) is : — " If the Disserta- 

 tion or Thesis be approved by the Examiners, the Candi- 

 date shall be required to present himself ... to be further 

 tested either orally or practically, or by printed papers, or 

 by all these methods. ..." But in certain circumstances 

 the candidate may be exempted. 



It was therefore within the powers of the examiners to 

 have interviewed the candidate, to have asked him the 

 nature of the assistance which he acknowledged, and to 

 have obtained from him the names of the persons assisting 

 him, and, should his word have been doubted, to have 

 written to them inquiring as to the extent and nature of 

 the help given. This was not done. Hence it appeared 

 necessary to obtain from all those who knew of Mr. Burt's 

 research testimony as to the share they had had in it. 

 Prof. Travers, Prof. Usher, Prof. Francis, and Dr. Whyt- 

 law Gray all testified most emphatically that the share which 

 they had borne in the work was insignificant, and that 

 the work was in every sense of the word original. Prof. 

 Dixon, in whose laboratory Mr. Burt is now assistant, 

 although not iiaving been in contact with Mr. Burt during 

 the progress of his thesis research, voluntarily wrote to 

 me expressing the opinion that work in which Mr. Burt 

 is at present engaged is being done " in a masterly 

 manner," and that he has " no doubt as to the capacity, 

 manipulative skill, foresight, and patience which Burt 

 possesses to carry out such work." 



Copies of these letters were sent to the Senate on 

 November 27, iqii. and they were again requested to re- 

 consider their decision not to admit Mr. Burt "to be 

 further tested." On January 25, 1912, the Senate re- 

 solved : — " That the Senate decline to reopen the question 

 of the rejection of the D.Sc. candidate referred to." 



.After this final refusal no course remains but to make 

 public the facts of the case. And this I do. not so much in 

 justice to Mr. Burt, but in order to raise the much larger 

 question as to whether it is proper that a system in which 

 such injustice can be perpetrated should continue to exist. 

 I am led to understand that complaints are not infrequent 

 that candidates of undoubted merit, not only in the faculty 



NO. 2205, VOL. 88] 



of Kcienre, but in other faculties, have had their tbes* 



rcjectf^J without sufficient reason. There is one instanc 

 at least, of a thesis which, after summary rejection, x\ • 

 subsequently published in l>ook form, and which x> 

 the highest encomiums from the Press and from 1 

 persons of eminence in the subject treat*^. On 1 ; 

 " internal " side of the University I am unaware of an 

 complaint having bi-en made, for much more care 

 bestowed; and besides, the teachers, who arc a!- 

 examiners, are acquainted with the candidates' abttifi' 

 from frequent personal communication, and oftet^ 

 daily contact. 



There can be no doubt that such misc.'u ' ' 



are to be attributed, at least in part, to li 



University. With few candidates s«>nie >o „. 



ance on the part of the examiners witli their nv 

 possible, but with increase of numbers control Ih 

 impossible. Moreover, there is a growing reluctanu: • 

 the part of men of established reputation to accept tl 

 post of examiners; the work is hurried, it is badly pai' 

 and it is a thankless task. The fact is that the day 

 " external " examinations is past ; the system is 

 anachronism ; and I think that the case which has b* • 

 presented furnishes an irrefutable argument why tli 

 system should be abandoned. A degree is in essence 

 testimonial ; and a testimonial from a corporat<* brw' 

 depends for its value on the eminence of the p 

 able of forming a judgment on the merits of : 

 and on their opportunities for forming a corret i ju.. 

 Where the examiners are not eminent, and wlv 

 opportunity of forming a judgment has not been g^ 

 has not been taken, the degree is worthless, a: 

 corporate body awarding it should cease to exist. 



\V. RAi! ^. 



I'niversity College, Gower Street, I.,ondon, W.C. 



Are Eyes ever Autophanous .' 



Those who read Colonel Herschel's letter in Natukk of 

 January 18 may be interested in some observations which 

 I made during the summer upon the sight and eyes of 

 cats. Whereas in men and monkeys the retina is back 

 by black pigment, as a photographer backs a plate wlv 

 his camera is to be directed towards a window, in alm< 

 all other mammals it rests on a brightly burnished la\ 

 of cellular or fibrous tissue, the tapetum. It is this min 

 which throws the light back to an observer who star 

 between the animal and the source of light. The eye 

 at the same time a camera focussed to form an im.i^ 

 of the observer on its sensitive screen and a lant- 

 focussed to project ligTit upon the observer. Such 1 

 arrangement appears to a photographer fatal to the forii, 

 tion of an image sharp in line and dot. 



Many explanations of the function of the tapetum h.i 

 been offered, but none, to my thinking, satisfactory. I 

 me it has long seemed that its only purpose can be 

 render the eye sensitive to movement, as distinguish 

 from form. I studied my cats as they hunted field-mii 

 One of them would crouch for hours in front of a hed:^ 

 Seated at a moderate distance. I was able on sever 

 occasions to see the catch, a single spring in the dif 

 tion of the mouse, whether it moved at the spot at wh'' 

 the cat appeared to be staring or considerably to o; 

 side or the other of the axis of her head. For moveni' 

 her vision was perfect. If, as she roamed about the law 

 a daddy-longlegs shook a blade of grass, she spr.n 

 towards it. But to stationary objects she paid sr.r 

 attention. In various places I fixed a dead mouse in 

 natural an attitude as I could make it assume with t 

 aid of wires and wooden pegs. If the cat passed d- 

 to it she would stop to smell it. perhaps to pat it. \ 

 she never showed any sign of regarding it as somethi 

 to be caught. In hunting for birds, on the other hai 

 her whole method was reversed. Cautiously climbing, ^i 

 would study a dead leaf with the utmost care, afraid 

 move lest she should disturb a possible victim. 



It seemed to me that the upper and lower halves of th-^ 

 retina functioned in different ways. I therefore examined 

 the eyes of several cats. When perfectly fresh, the interior 

 of the eyeball, seen under a dissecting microscope, is one 

 of the most marvellously beautiful obects that can be 

 conceived. The opalescent retina rests on a silver mirror 



