November io, 1910] 



NATURE 



ton or Newnham Colleges who have acquitted them- 

 ;_lves so as to have deserved honours and have fulfilled the 

 conditions respecting length of residence which members of 

 the university are required to fulfil before being admitted 

 to a degree. The annual value of the studentship is looZ. 

 The student, during his or her tenure of the studentship, 

 shall prosecute original research in bio-chemistry, and shall 

 not engage in such other work as in the opinion of those 

 entrusted with the administration of the fund would 

 seriously interfere with his or her original inquiries. The 

 appointment will be for one or two years, at the option of 

 the managers. 



Notice is given that a prize of 50Z. out of the Gordon- 

 Wigan fund will be awarded at the end of the Easter 

 term, 191 1, for a research in chemistrv', of sufficient 

 merit, carried out in the University of Cambridge. 

 Candidates for the prize must have taken Part I. of a 

 Tripos examination, and be under the standing of M.A. 

 The research may be in any branch of chemistry. The 

 dissertation, with the details of the research, must be sent 

 to the professor of chemistry not later than June 10, 191 1. 



The local examinations and lectures syndicate is about 



') appoint an assistant secretary for examinations. The 



son appointed will be expected to enter on his duties not 



r than January i, 191 1. The appointment will be made 



the first instance for the period ending March 31, 1912, 



a stipend of 400J. a year. The post will after that date 



DC held during the pleasure of the syndicate, and the stipend 



will bf* raised by annual increments of 25/. to 500Z. 



Graduates of the university who desire to offer themselves 



as candidates are requested to send their names to Dr. 



Keynes, Syndicate Buildings, so as to reach him not later 



than 9 a.m. on Monday, November 21. 



The \'ice-Chancellor gives notice, on behalf of the 

 Board of Geographical Studies, that Mr. R. T. Giinther 

 has consented to deliver a lecture in Cambridge on Friday, 

 November 11, at 5 p.m., on " Earth Movements of the 

 Italian Coast." The lecture will be given in the Sedgwick 

 Museum, and will be illustrated by lantern slides. Members 

 of the University and others are invited. 



The Regius professor of physic gives notice that Prof. 

 Osier has consented to deliver a lecture on November 17, 

 at 5 p.m., in the large theatre of the medical schools, on 

 ^ledical Education in France." 



( )XFORD. — The congregation of the University of Oxford 

 nad before it on November 8 the first of the important 

 series of statutes framed by the Hebdomadal Council, in 

 pursuance of the comprehensive scheme of reform initiated 

 by the Chancellor, Viscount Curzon. The adoption of the 

 statute, which deals with the constitution and powers of 

 the boards of faculties, including that of mathematics and 

 natural science, was advocated by the President of 

 Magdalen, the Master of University College, and Prof. 

 Geldart. Its provisions were sharply criticised by the 

 Warden of All Souls and the Master' of Balliol, and its 

 rejection was recommended by Prof. Holland and the 

 President of Corpus. The preamble was carried in a full 

 house by a majority of rather more than two to one ; but 

 there is no doubt that strong efforts will be made to modify 

 the effects of the statute by amendment, especially those 

 of its provisions which deal with the composition of the 

 electorate and with the control exercised by the University 

 and colleges respectively over the subjects and methods of 

 instruction. 



The tenancy of the well-known house in Broad Street, 

 long the residence of Sir Henrv Acland, has lately been 

 acquired for the Oxford School 'of Geography. When the 

 necessary arrangements have been completed, the house 

 will contain a library, reading-room, and collections of 

 maps, views, and models. Part of the premises will be 

 fitted up for the use of the Beit lecturer in colonial history 

 (Mf. W. L. Grant), and accommodation will be provided 

 for purposes of general geographical instruction and 

 research. The whole will be under the direction of Prof. 

 ^" ): . Herbertson. This much-needed development of the 

 facilities for geographical studies in the Universitv has been 

 made possible by the generosity of Mr. Bailey, of' Johannes- 

 burg, who has given 500Z. towards the adaptation of the 

 house, and has promised 250?. a year for five years towards 

 >ts maintenance. 



XO. 2141. VOL. 85] 



.Mr. O. G. S. Crawford, of Keble College, has been 

 appointed junior demonstrator in geography for one year. 



Mr. G. C. Robson, formerly exhibitioner of New College, 

 has been elected to the vacant Naples biological scholarship 

 lately held by Mr. J. S. Huxley, of Balliol College. 



Mr. Selwyn Image, of New College, who has recently 

 delivered his inaugural lecture as Slade professor of fine 

 art, is a well-known student of the microlepidoptera, and 

 is at present a member of the council of the Entomological 

 Society of London. The seal of the society, which is a 

 work of great artistic merit, was designed by the new 

 Slade professor. 



To encourage further interest in the subject of oceano- 

 giaphy, it has been decided to invite the members of Dr. 

 Bruce 's class in geography at the summer school at St. 

 Andrews this year to write essays on certain aspects of 

 oceanography, and to submit them at the end of next 

 spring. The essays are to be on one or other of the follow- 

 ing subjects : — (a) on the effects of wind, temperature, and 

 salinity on the circulation of the ocean, or (h) on the ques- 

 tion of continental connections. The competition is only 

 open to members of Dr. Bruce 's class, and the essays must 

 be lodged with the director of studies on the last day of 

 April, 191 1. Two prizes will be awarded, viz. two sets of 

 the report on " The Scientific Result of the Voyage of the 

 s.y. Scotia during the Years 1902, 1903, 1904." The two 

 successful essays will be published either by the Scottish 

 Oceanographical Laboratory or in the Scottish Geo- 

 graphical Magazine. 



The Electrical Review in its issue of October 21 directs 

 attention to the great falling off in attendance at the even- 

 ing, classes of our technical schools which occurs during 

 the course of each winter session. It contrasts the eager- 

 ness of the prospective student in consulting the teachers 

 as to his course, in buying the text-books, and in making 

 all his arrangements for strenuous work during the forth- 

 coming winter evenings, with his tired and weary look and 

 his vain attempt to follow the explanations given by his 

 class teacher three months later. For this change, sheer 

 fatigue and inability to stand the strain of perpetual day 

 and evening work are responsible, and the Review charges 

 the evening-school authorities with attempting too much 

 and demanding attendance on the part of students for four 

 or five evenings per week. It points out that undue strain 

 can only be prevented by a reduction of the evenings of 

 attendance to two, or in exceptional cases to three, per 

 week, and urges the authorities to take this step as a 

 means of improving both day and evening work of the 

 students who attend their evening classes. 



The Duke of Connaught on November 5 laid the 

 foundation-stone of the new University Hall of the Cape 

 University. The council of the University presented an 

 address, in which the hope was expressed that the union 

 now accomplished in South Africa would lead to the con- 

 version of the present Cape University into a teaching 

 university for the whole of South Africa, by incorporating 

 existing institutions of higher education as constituent 

 colleges, and by creating chairs for those subjects for which 

 no single college could provide. In replying, the Duke of 

 Connaught said he trusted that the funds necessary to 

 convert the Cape University into a great teaching university 

 would be forthcoming. At a university luncheon held on 

 the same day, Mr. Malan, L^nion Minister of Education, 

 announced that Mr. Otto Beit had agreed to divert the 

 sum of 20o,oooZ., bequeathed by the late Mr. Alfred Beit 

 for the foundation of a university at Johannesburg, to the 

 creation of a great teaching university at Groote Schuur, 

 the estate of the late Mr. Cecil Rhodes outside Cape Town. 

 It was also announced that Sir Julius Wernher has 

 promised to make up the amount to a total of 500,000!. 



A NEW engineering laboratory was opened at the 

 Darlington Technical College on October 20 by the Hon. 

 C. A. Parsons, F.R.S. During the course of his address 

 Mr. Parsons said that in the early part of last century 

 engineering was principally guided by traditional rule and 

 trade knowledge, handed down from father to son and 

 from master to apprentice. Engineering has gradually 

 assumed a more important place, its field of operations has 

 become wider and more complex, and it has becom.e 



