126 



NATURE 



[November 24, 1910 



the University. The preamble of a statute providing that 

 , Greek should no longer be a compulsory subject in 

 Responsions was promulgated in Congregation, and on a 

 division was rejected by 188 to 152. The form of statute 

 was introduced on behalf of council by Mr. Matheson 

 and opposed by Dr. James, president of St. John's 

 College, and formerly headmaster of Rugby. Sir \V. 

 Anson, warden of All Souls', though not opposed to 

 making Greek optional in certain cases, spoke against 

 the proposal in its present form, a course which was also 

 taken, on similar grounds, by Dr. Gilbert Murray, regius 

 professor of Greek, and Mr. J. W. Mackail, professor of 

 poetry. Mr. Cookson advocated the passing of the 

 statute, and Prof. J. A. Smith argued on the same side. 

 Mr. E. M. Walker opposed it. There is no doubt that 

 the rejection of the preamble, which involves the loss of 

 the statute, was largely due to the objection taken by 

 Prof. Murray and the " moderate " party to the particular 

 way in which the proposal had been framed. Rightly or 

 wrongly, it was considered that no proper opportunity 

 had been allowed for a fair discussion of possible limita- 

 tions and alternatives, and the majority shrank from a 

 measure that appeared to them unnecessarily drastic. 

 Though for the present excluded by the vote of Congre- 

 gation from the programme of university reform, it " is 

 not likely that the Greek question will be allowed to rest. 

 But it must be remembered that, even if presented in a 

 form acceptable to Congregation, the measure of relief 

 has still to run the gauntlet of Convocation before be- 

 coming part of the statute law of the University. 



It is announced that an Imperial Conference on Educa- 

 tion is to be held in London next year, probably in .\pril. 

 The conference is, it is said, to take place at the invita- 

 tion of the Imperial Government, and is to be regarded 

 as an outcome of the congress held in 1907 under the 

 auspices of the League of the Empire. Delegates are 

 expected from Canada, .Australia, New Zealand, South 

 .Africa, India; and the Crown Colonies. 



The U.S. General Education Board, says Science, has 

 made conditional appropriations amounting to 145,000/., 

 distributed as follows : — Baylor L'niversity, Waco, Tex., 

 40,oooi. ; Trinity College, Durham, N.C., 30,000/. ; Uni- 

 versity of Chattanooga, Tenn., 30,000/. ; Meredith College, 

 Raleigh, N.C., 10,000/. ; Wesleyan Female College, 

 Macon, Ga., 20,000/. ; and .Amherst College, .Amherst, 

 Mass., 15,000/. From the same source we learn that 

 Wooster L niversity has received 20,000/. from Mrs. J. S. 

 Kennedy, of New York. 



As has been stated in these columns, a Congress of the 

 Universities of the Empire is to be held in London in 

 1912. On November 19 a meeting was held at the Uni- 

 versity of London, at which the Vice-Chancellors and 

 other representatives of the universities of the United 

 Kingdom were present for the purp>ose primarily of draw- 

 ing up a paper of subjects for discussion at the congress. 

 The subjects fell under the following heads : — (i) uni- 

 versity organisation ; (2) universities in their relation to 

 teachers and undergraduate students ; (3) universities in 

 their relation to post-graduate and research work ; 

 (4) universities in their relation to schools and to other 

 agencies for higher education. The draft agenda paper 

 is to be sent at once to the various universities in the 

 colonies and in India for comments and suggestions. 

 The representatives of the Home universities will meet 

 again early next summer to consider any representations 

 made by the Colonial and Indian universities, and to 

 select speakers to introduce the different topics to be 

 discussed at the congress. It has been decided to hold the 

 congress during the first week of July, 1912. We are 

 glad to know that most of the universities throughout the 

 Empire have accepted already the invitation to take part 

 in what should prove an important and historic gathering. 

 The secretary of the congress is Dr. R. D. Roberts, who 

 may be addressed at the Congress Office, University of 

 London, South Kensington, London, S.W. 



Last April Sir Henry Roscoe, F.R.S., as chairman of 

 the Appeal Committee, made a public appeal for 70,000/. 

 for providing new chemical laboratories at University 

 College, London, including the purchase of the proposed 



NO. 2143, VOL. 85] 



site in Gower Place. The death of King Edward led to 

 the postponement of the Mansion House meeting arranged, 

 and this necessity gave a check to the work of the com- 

 mittee. Sir Henry Roscoe has now made a second urgent 

 appeal, which has two objects : the first is to raise a sum 

 of 25,000/. for the acquisition of the proposed site, the 

 second to raise 45,000/. to erect the laboratories. The 

 sum of 25,000/. must be raised before December 25 next 

 if the Senate of the University is to be in a position to 

 exercise the option which it holds to purchase the site. 

 Towards this sum the committee has collected more than 

 9000/., leaving a balance of 16,000/. to be raised forth- 

 with. The appeal is addressed especially to all those who 

 realise the national importance of scientific research and 

 its bearing upon the commercial prosperity of the country, 

 to Ix)ndoners who desire to see university teaching in 

 London developed in accordance with the needs of the 

 nation, and also to the friends and admirers of Sir William 

 Ramsay, the professor of general and inorganic chemistry 

 at University College, to assist in this attempt to provide 

 new chemical laboratories by gifts which will insure the 

 acquisition of the site. It is earnestly to be hoped that 

 the comparatively small sum of 16,000/. will be forth- 

 coming before Christmas Day, so that the site adjoining 

 the college, and eminently suitable for the proposed labora- 

 tories, may be secured. It may be pointed out that iln 

 number of students of chemistry at University College 

 has increased greatly in recent years, and that the 

 accommodation available has long been inadequate. The 

 present laboratories were built in 1871, and to keep 

 pace with modern requirements and to compete on 

 something like equal terms with Continental universi- 

 ties a new building is required with up-to-date con- 

 veniences both for teaching and research. Donations 

 should be addressed to Sir Henry E. Roscoe, F.R.S.,"at 

 University College, Gower Street, London. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Roval Society, Novetiber 17. — Sir ^rch'bald Geikie, 

 K.C.B., president, followed by Mr. .A. B. Kempe, vice- 

 president, in the chair. — Harold Wager : The effect of 

 gravity upon the movements and aggregation of Eiiglena 

 viridis, Ehrb., and other micro-organisms. Euglena viridis 

 and some other micro-organisms, when placed in shallow 

 vessels or narrow tubes in the dark, become aggregated 

 into peculiar network-like patterns or more or less well- 

 defined groups. In a narrow tube, placed horizontally in 

 the dark, the aggregation takes the form of a series of 

 groups which look like green bands crossing the tube from 

 one side to the other. (Each group shows a constant cyclic 

 up and down movement, the denser central region moving 

 downwards under the influence of gravity, and a lighter 

 peripheral area consisting of organisms moving upwards, 

 mainly by their own activity. The aggregation depends 

 upon the number of organisms present, their activity, and 

 the depth of the vessel in which they are contained, and 

 may persist with its regular cyclic movements for several 

 days. The downward movement appears to be a purely 

 mechanical one, dependent upon the spyecific gravity of the 

 organism, and is not due to a stimulus which evokes a 

 physiological response, as in geotropism or geotaxis. The 

 upward movement is, on the other hand, due partly to the 

 activity of the organisms themselves, partly, no doubt, to 

 the upward currents set up in the liquid by the friction of 

 the downward-moving stream. The upward movement of 

 Euglena is more or less vertical, and appears to be con- 

 trolled, so far as the orientation of its elongate body is 

 concerned, by the action of gravity. The aggregation 

 resembles the cohesion figures produced when fine sedi- 

 ments are allowed, under certain conditions, to settle down 

 slowly in a liquid, and are probably brought about much 

 in the same way. The movements of certain micro- 

 organisms are apparently controlled, therefore, in a purely 

 mechanical fashion by gravity, combined with cohesiv 

 forces, and this is of advantage, to species which. Ilk 

 Euglena, are often found in large numbers in a confin<d 

 space, in that it prevents their accumulation in such den>< 

 masses as would be likely to interfere with their assimila- 

 tory and respiratory functions. — Miss Jean White : 1 he 



