July 14, 1923] 



NA TURE 



73 



report on the extension of the buildings of the 

 Chemical Laboratory, showing an expenditure on 

 buildings and equipment during the last four years 

 of more than 75,000/. The annual report of the 

 Observatory Syndicate refers to work on proper 

 motions of stars, by plates exposed through the glass 

 and measured superposed film to film on old plates 

 taken with the Sheepshanks Equatorial 15 to 20 

 years ago. The chief points of interest in the report 

 of the director of the Solar Physics Observatory are 

 an account of Mr. C. T. R. Wilson's most recent work 

 on /3-ray tracks, continued investigation on the dis- 

 tribution of calcium flocculi and prominences on the 

 sun, the preparation and publication of a revised list 

 of unknown lines in celestial spectra, and work on 

 coarse diffraction spectra by crossing a prism and a 

 grating as originally suggested by Prof. Merton. 



The Jubilee Celebration of the Cambridge University 

 local lectures was celebrated on July 6-9 by a con- 

 ference on various aspects of extra-mural teaching. 



St. Andrews. — Prof. J. Read, professor of organic 

 chemistry (pure and applied) since 1916 in the Uni- 

 versity of Sydney, has been appointed to the chair of 

 chemistry and the directorship of the Chemistry 

 Research Laboratory. Prof. Read may be regarded 

 as the founder of the first school of organic chemistry 

 in the Southern Hemisphere. 



Research bureaus have, during the past three or 

 four years, been created by boards of education in 

 many large and some small cities in the United 

 States. Ten years ago there were none of these 

 organisations : now there are upwards of 45. An 

 account of the constitution and functions of a score 

 of them, published last January by the Bureau of 

 Education, Washington, shows that while in every 

 case they collect and digest facts relevant to the 

 problems with which the boards have to deal, they 

 vary widely in importance and scope. Some 

 resemble the cost-accounting department of an 

 industrial concern, others a military intelligence 

 branch, and all have something of the character of 

 the special inquiries and reports department of our 

 own Board of Education. A city in which this kind 

 of development has been most noticeable is Detroit. 

 Here a highly enterprising and influential Depart- 

 rnent of Instructional Research has been at work 

 since 1914, formulating educational policies to be 

 carried out throughout the city-school system and 

 watching their operation. It works through its own 

 staff-director, three assistants, four regular clerks, 

 from three to twelve extra clerks, and a department 

 of supervision with separate sections for health, 

 English, exact sciences, social sciences, vocational 

 education, and fine arts, and in close association with 

 a department of special education responsible for 

 psychological measurements, assignments to proper 

 classes and direction of education of " atypical " 

 children. A separate Bureau of Statistics and 

 J Reference, with five officers and eight clerks, was 

 organised in 1918. At Indianapolis the research 

 department cost in 1921-22 11,500 dollars, and " in 

 dollars and cents has more than paid its way in 

 w atching leakages in receipts and expenditures, and 

 in suggesting more efficient methods of doing things 

 with smaller expenditures." 



The West Indian Agricultural College in Trinidad, 

 which was opened on October 16, 1922, by Sir Samuel 

 Wilson, Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, has now 

 nearly completed the first academic year of its 

 existence, and this first year has been one of great 

 promise and encouragement. Via colcndi haud facilis 

 — the motto chosen for the College — is a very apt 

 one, and it is well that those in authority with 



NO. 2802, VOL. I 12] 



regard to Colonial affairs at home have come to 

 regard tropical agriculture as so serious a pursuit 

 that it has been deemed necessary to found a college 

 for the study of tropical agricultural matters. The 

 prospectus for the coming academic year has just 

 been issued, and in addition to containing information 

 as to College regulations and administration, it gives 

 detailed particulars of the various courses of instruc- 

 tion. Arrangements are made for a diploma course 

 which occupies three years and leads up to a diploma 

 in tropical agriculture. Facilities are also afforded 

 for special study by graduates of other universities 

 and colleges who desire to extend their knowledge of 

 subjects pertaining to tropical agriculture, and to 

 undertake investigations into these matters under 

 tropical conditions. Arrangements for a course in 

 sugar technology, which is one of the subjects for 

 the diploma course, are not yet fully completed, but 

 it is proposed to erect a model sugar factory without 

 delay. It is to be hoped that officers trained in 

 British colleges and universities who have been 

 selected to fill agricultural posts in the Colonies will 

 either be sent to Trinidad to take a special course 

 of study before taking up their appointments, or 

 will be given facilities for carrying out special research 

 at the College during one of their periods of leave. 

 If the College can be used for the further training 

 of our Colonial agricultural officers in the manner 

 suggested, very great benefits will accrue to agri- 

 cultural enterprises throughout the Empire. 



The Imperial Education Conference, opened by the 

 Duke of York on June 25, concluded its sittings on 

 July 6. This is the second conference officially con- 

 vened, the first having been held in 191 1. A previous 

 conference, held in 1907, was organised by the League 

 of Empire. The current conference was fully repre- 

 sentative of education within the Empire in its official 

 aspects. The Irish Free State and Northern Ireland 

 were represented for the first time. The subjects 

 discussed included the qualifications of teachers and 

 mutual recognition of teachers' training and service 

 throughout the Empire, vocational training, leaving 

 certificates, rural education, the bi-lingual problem, 

 native education, and various administrative questions. 

 On the question of school examinations. Dr. H. 

 Murray, of Nova Scotia, made the important sugges- 

 tion that certificates should state the subjects taken 

 and the percentage of marks gained in each subject, 

 the several universities being left to determine 

 whether or to what extent each certificate should be 

 accepted for matriculation. He thought that, except 

 in special subjects, the value for the Dominions and 

 India of external examinations conducted by examin- 

 ing bodies in Great Britain was apt to be overrated. 

 Mr. W. T. McCoy, of South Australia, urged the 

 establishment of a Bureau of Education for the 

 Empire. He acknowledged the excellent work done 

 by the Department of Special Inquiries of the English 

 Board of Education, but pointed out that there was 

 no book or authoritative publication which supplied 

 information and statistics of education in the Empire 

 in a handy form. To the maintenance of such a 

 Bureau, he suggested, all the dominions, colonies, and 

 dependencies should contribute. In the evenings 

 addresses were given followed by discussion, the most 

 important being by Sir Robert Baden-Powell on char- 

 acter training and a brilliant address by Sir Charles 

 Lucas on " The Island and the Empire." An educa- 

 tional exhibition was organised in the Home Office 

 Industrial Museum and Westminster Training College, 

 which was opened by Mr. Wood, president of the 

 Board of Education. Hospitality was lavishly pro- 

 vided for the delegates, including a dinner given by 

 the Government, under the presidency of Mr. Wood. 



