February 22, 191 2] 



NATURE 



571 



Y pared to dispose of it for the purposes suggested. Appar- 

 ently the scheme had not at the time of its publication 

 received the approval of the Senate of the University, and 

 has been launched in anticipation of that approval and of 

 support from wealthy benefactors of the University. The 

 ; site is central in position and adequate in area, while its 

 proximity to_ the British Museum is obviously a great 

 recommendation. 



Oxford.— Prof. W. Odling, F.R.S., has sent the Vice- 

 Chancelior a formal intimation of his resignation of the 

 Waynflete professorship of chemistry, to take effect from 

 the end of Trinity term, when he will have completed forty 

 years' tenure of the office. 



Dr. E. T. Whittaker, F.R.S., Royal Astronomer of 

 Ireland, has been appointed professor of mathematics in 

 the University of Edinburgh, in succession to the late Prof. 

 Chrystal. 



Mr. Clement Stephenson has offered a gift of 5000Z. 

 to the Armstrong College, Newcastle, towards the proposed 

 building_ for the new agricultural department of the college 

 for advisory work among farmers in the north-east of 

 England. The scheme of the department has been planned 

 at the invitation of the Board of Agriculture, and the gift 

 has been accepted with the cordial thanks of the council 

 of the college. 



The University of St. Andrews has decided next July to 

 confer the honorary degree of LL.D. upon Prof. 

 G. F. L. P. Cantor, professor of mathematics at the 

 Friederichs University, Halle ; Prof. G. G. Henderson, pro- 

 fessor of chemistry in Glasgow Technical College ; Prof. 

 J. P. Kuenen, of Leyden, formerly professor of physics in 

 University College, Dundee ; and Sir John Batty Tuke, 

 who for many years represented the Universities of Edin- 

 burgh and St. Andrews in Parliament. 



The Central Technical College Old Students' Association 

 appeals for subscriptions for a memorial to Prof. Ashcroft, 

 who died suddenly on December 14, 191 1. It is proposed 

 to place a tablet to his memory in the college, and to 

 assist his son, who is now about fourteen years old, to 

 follow and complete the course of training which Prof. 

 Ashcroft had planned for him. Donations should be 

 addressed to Dr. E. F. Armstrong, 98 London Road, 

 Reading, if possible before the end of this month. 



His Majesty the King has been pleased to direct that 

 th-; Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College shall 

 henceforth be known as " The Royal Technical College, 

 Glasgow." This new title will fittingly commemorate the 

 visit paid by King Edward to the college when he laid 

 thi' memorial stone of the new buildings in May, 1903. 

 Th.- buildings are now complete, and contain about seven 

 acres of floor space. Their cost, together with site and 

 equipment, amounted to more than 360,000^., all of which 

 sum, except about 90,000/. from the Scottish Education 

 Drpartment, was provided by voluntary donations. Last 

 '^^-ion there were 536 day students and 4842 evening 

 i 'nts in attendance, while the continuation classes in 

 nee affiliated to the college, and extending throughout 

 A\v'. six surrounding counties, contain more than 8600. 



U'e learn from The Sydney Morning Herald that three 

 new chairs are to be established at the University of 

 Sydney in consequence of the additional vote for the work 

 of the University sanctioned by the Legislature. The new 

 professorships deal with botany, applied chemistry, and 

 economics. The chaii of botany is required for the agri- 

 , cultural curriculum. With regard to the chair of organic 

 1 applied chemistry, it has long been felt to be desirable 

 organic chemistry and its various applications to the 

 . lucts of the country should be fully taught. The 



Kvernment has also given the University a liberal grant 

 assist the library, and has made a grant for this year 

 the provision of apparatus for the medical faculty and 

 the engineering department. The sum of 2500Z. has 

 tiset apart for the extension of the departments already 

 existing in the University, in addition to a vote to assist 

 in providing retiring allowances for old officers of the 

 University when the time comes that they are no longer 

 able to perform their duties. 



NO. 2208, VOL. 88] 



The programme for the Congress of the Universities of 

 the Empire, to be held in London this year, has now been 

 published. On the morning of July 2, Lord Rosebery, 

 Chancellor of the Universities of London and Glasgow, and 

 Lord Rector of the Universitv of St. Andrews, will take 

 the chair, and the subjects for discussion will be :— 

 (i) question of specialisation among universities ; (2) inter- 

 umversity arrangements for post-graduate and research 

 students. On the morning of Julv 3, Lord Curzon of 

 Kedleston, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, will 

 preside, and (i) the relation of universities to technical and 

 professional education and to education for the public 

 services, and (2) interchange of university teachers, will be 

 discussed. During the afternoon of the same day the 

 subject will be the problem of the universities in the East 

 in regard to their influence on character and moral ideals. 

 At the morning session on July 4, Lord Rayleigh, Chan- 

 cellor of the University of Cambridge, will' preside, and 

 the subjects discussed will be : — (i) conditions of entrance 

 to universities and the mutual recognition of entrance tests; 

 (2) action of universities in relation to the after-careers of 

 their students. In the afternoon the chairman will be 

 Lord Haldane, Chancellor of the University of Bristol, and 

 the subject of university extension and tutorial class work 

 will be introduced. At the concluding session on Julv 5, 

 Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, Chancellor of the Uni- 

 versities of Aberdeen and McGill, will preside, and the 

 subjects will be : — (i) the establishment of a Central 

 University Bureau : its constitution and functions ; (2) the 

 position of women in universities. 



At the annual dinner of the Court of the University of 

 Leeds, Lord Haldane was the principal guest. In respond- 

 ing to the toast of " The Visitors," he dealt, among other 

 important matters, with the application of science to 

 industry. Lord Haldane said, we learn from The Times, 

 that the biggest men are those who can seize rapidly on 

 the ideas which science gives and transform them into 

 practice. This is one of the things we have learnt from 

 the great German nation, which in this matter has set an 

 example to the whole world. But we never can do the 

 best merely by copying, and we have to work out things 

 according to our nationality and individuality. England 

 is working to-day on some very remarkable lines of her 

 own. In Germany one is struck by the enormous number 

 of students of the middle classes in the universities and 

 the great technical institutes. Here we have done some- 

 thing else. We may be behind in some things, but in one 

 thing we are ahead of the rest of the world, and that is 

 the way in which we have brought the influence of uni- 

 versity life to bear upon the best brains in our artisan 

 classes. The system of evening instruction, which is dis- 

 tinctive of our newer universities, is a very extraordinary 

 system, and it fits in well with the remarkable aptitude of 

 our workmen for producing, if only they get the chance, a 

 quality of goods which is at least equal to the quality pro- 

 duced by any other workmen in the world. Add science 

 to the top of that, and we need not be afraid. .Although 

 our uni%'ersities may find it a burden to carry, they are 

 doing the greatest service to the State by the splendid part 

 they play in extending the influence of learning to the 

 artisan classes. 



The current issue of The Empire Review opens with 

 an article on the Imperial College of Science and Tech- 

 nology, by Sir Alfred Keogh. K.C.B., rector of the 

 college. An excellent account is provided of the progress 

 of the college during the last three years. The greatest 

 demand upon the resources of the governors has been for 

 buildings. .As a consequence of the change in methods, the 

 old buildings occupied by the Royal School of Mines, the 

 Metallurgical and Geological Departments, have been 

 abandoned, and new buildings are now approaching com- 

 pletion. The new laboratories represent the best obtain- 

 able, and to maintain a close connection between industrial 

 opinion and academic methods, the Institution of Mining 

 and Metallurgv has been asked to form an educational 

 advisory board! and has consented to act as referees when- 

 ever doubt or difficulty may arise. In the case of the City 

 and Guilds College, the task of the governing body has 

 been easy, and their efforts have been limited to the 

 development of advanced engineering in new premises. 



