December i, 1923] 



NA TURE 



811 



through of the London-jSIanchester air-mail disaster, 

 which occurred on the same day, more especially as 

 he emphasised the safety, comfort, and exhilaration of 

 flying. Under present conditions, he stated, the cost 

 per passenger-mile could not be reduced below 8^ 

 pence, whilst the highest fare obtainable was 6 pence 

 per mile, leaving i\ pence to be covered by subsidy. 

 Freight costs per ton-mile he placed at 3s. (id. to 5s. 

 The only difficulty in the way of development, beyond 

 the economic one, is the difficulty and danger of 

 flying under conditions of poor visibility. The 

 economic range for airships is more than 1000 miles, 

 whilst that of aeroplanes is rarely more than 300 miles, 

 hence the two are complementary and should develop 

 together. 



In dealing with sea transport, Mr. Wall emphasised 

 the need for scientific research, especially in metallurgy, 

 but he stated that a very hopeful sign for future pro- 

 gress is to be found in the increasing number of 

 scientific experiments on a large scale carried out by 

 shipbuilders and engineers and sometimes by ship- 

 owners. " Experience may, and often does, pre- 

 cede the scientific treatment, but progress is much 

 more rapid when science is used to guide experience." 



The Future of the Imperial Institute. 



A WHITE Paper (Cmd. 1997), issued on November 

 -^^ 22, contains the report of the Committee 

 appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies 

 to inquire into the affairs of the Imperial Institute, 

 consequent upon financial difficulties, and also the 

 resolutions passed by the Imperial Economic Con- 

 ference on considering that report. An article com- 

 menting upon the recently published report on the 

 work of the Institute appeared in Nature of Novem- 

 ber 10, p. 677. 



The Committee considers that the collection and 

 dissemination of information in regard to raw 

 materials is the most important work carried out 

 by the Imperial Institiite at the present time. It 

 recommends that the Imperial Institute should 

 continue to function at South Kensington as a 

 clearing - house of intelligence and information, 

 equipped with laboratories for the preliminary 

 analysis and investigation of raw materials, and 

 maintaining sample rooms illustrative of Empire 

 raw materials. The collections in the Public Exhibi- 

 tion Galleries, although recognised as possessing 

 educational value, are not regarded as essential to 

 the future work of the Institute, and it is recommended 

 that the collections be discontinued, though the 

 Committee is by no means unanimous on this point, 

 as is shown by a note appended to the report. It is 

 proposed, however, that a representative selection 

 of Empire products should be made for the purpose 

 of a traveUing exhibition of an educational character, 

 and that the organisation of travelling exhibitions 

 of the staple products of the Colonies and Protect- 

 orates in appropriate trade centres should be con- 

 sidered. 



The Committee proposes reforms in the manage- 

 ment of the Institute, suggesting that it should be 

 made responsible to the Department of Overseas 

 Trade. After the completion of these reforms, the 

 Committee recommends the amalgamation of the 

 Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau and the Imperial 

 Institute. The annual expenditure of the reformed 

 Institute (including the Imperial Mineral Resources 

 Bureau) is estimated at about 40,000/., to be pro- 

 vided on a contributory basis. Failing the pro- 

 vision of this sum, which is regarded as a condition 

 precedent to the Committee's recommendations, 



an alternative scheme is proposed to retain the 

 essential functions of the present Institute, i.e. of 

 an intelligence and information bureau. 



The Committee expresses appreciation of the 

 valuable services rendered by the Director, Prof. 

 W. R. Dunstan, F.R.S., to the Institute and to the 

 Empire during the long period of his connexion with 

 the Institute, and pa^'s a tribute to the work of 

 the technical staff. Prof. Dunstan was appointed 

 Director in 1903, when he had already been for 

 eight years concerned with the work of the Institute. 



The report was submitted by H.M. Government 

 to the Imperial Economic Conference, with the 

 proposal that the main scheme of the Committee 

 should be adopted and the necessary funds guaranteed 

 for a term of years. On the recommendation of a 

 Committee appointed by the Conference, under the 

 chairmanship of Lord Salisbury, the main scheme 

 was adopted, subject to certain modifications not 

 affecting the principles involved. 



In the Times of November 23 it was announced 

 that, in view of the changes in the constitution of 

 the Imperial Institute which have been decided upon, 

 Prof. W. R. Dunstan will resign the directorship 

 of the Institute next month. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Birmingham. — Mr. Henry Barber, of Culham 

 Court, Henley-on-Thames, who was formerlv a 

 solicitor in Birmingham, has given 20,000/. for the 

 endowment of a chair of law in the University. 



Mr. H. P. Dean has been appointed assistant 

 lecturer in mechanical engineering, and Mr. M. C. 

 Johnson demonstrator in physics. 



It is hoped that Prof. F. C. Lea, who has recently 

 resigned the chair of civil engineering on being 

 appointed head of the Engineering Department of 

 the University of Sheffield, will continue to discharge 

 the duties attaching to the chair for the rest of the 

 current session. 



Cambridge. — The degree of Master of Arts, honoris 

 causa, is to be conferred upon Mr. J. B. Buxton, 

 professor of animal pathology. 



Prof. T. B. Wood has been reappointed by the 

 University as a Member of the Council of the National 

 Institute of Agricultural Botany. 



The Frazer lecture is to be delivered by the Rev. 

 John Roscoe on " Immigrants and their Influence 

 in the Lake Region of Central Africa." 



A syndicate has been appointed to obtain plans 

 and estimates for extending the School of Agriculture 

 and constructing a building for the Animal Diseases 

 Institute. 



Glasgow. — Prof. W. J. Goudie, James Watt 

 professor of the theory and practice of heat engines, 

 has given 500/. to found an ' Agnes Rhind " bursary 

 in memory of his mother, for a third-year student of 

 mechanical engineering who has the best class-record 

 in his subject. 



Mr. A. Henderson Bishop and his son have offered 

 to the University, for the new Zoological Museum, 

 the great collection of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera 

 made by his late father, Thomas G. Bishop, of 

 Dalmore, Helensburgh. The collection is contained 

 in 1 8 cabinets enclosing 700 separate boxes, and 

 numbers some thirty or forty thousand specimens. 

 All are beautifully mounted, labelled, systematically 

 arranged, and in perfect condition. The University 

 has had no difficulty in accepting the splendid gift, 

 with the condition that it shall be accessible for 

 consultation by qualified entomologists, whether they 

 belong to the University or not. 



NO. 2822. VOL. I 12] 



