394 



NATURE 



[January 19, 191 1 



Durham. — Mr. P. J. Hcavvood, mathematical lecturer, 

 has been appointed to the professorship of mathematics in 

 succession to Prof. R. A. Sampson, F.R.S., who was 

 recently appointed Astronomer Royal of Scotland. 



Dr. Frederic S. Lee has been appointed head of the 

 department of physiology at Columbia University, New 

 York, on the retirement of Prof. J. G. Curtis. He has 

 been connected with the University since 1891, having 

 successively held the posts of demonstrator, adjunct pro- 

 fessor, and research professor. 



By the will of the late Mr. W. S. Steel, of Philiphaugh, 

 Selkirkshire, the sum of 5000Z. is to be set aside for the 

 establishment of " The Strang Steel Fund," the income of 

 which is to be applied for the advancement of education 

 in Selkirkshire, including the burgh of Selkirk. Mr. Steel 

 also bequeathed 5000Z. to Glasgow University to found a 

 scholarship for promoting research in any department of 

 science the University may consider desirable, and the 

 income of 2000Z. for the purchase of books for the library 

 of the University. 



The Regent Street Polytechnic, London, is being rebuilt 

 this year at a cost of 90,000/. The rebuilding fund was 

 inaugurated by a grant of 20,oooJ. from the London 

 County Council and a loan of 20,000/. from the City 

 Parochial Foundation. The 50,000/. needed to complete 

 the fund has been subscribed and promised with the excep- 

 tion of 2500/., which has been reserved so that as many 

 old members, scholars, students, &c., of the polytechnic 

 may have the opportunity of participating in the scheme. 

 Donations of i/. to 100/. may be sent to the secretary of 

 the polytechnic, 309 Regent Street. Among donations to 

 the rebuilding fund may be mentioned Lord Leith of Fyvie, 

 30,000/. ; Mr. Howard Morley, 5000/. ; and Lord Howard 

 de Walden, 3500/. 



The report of the principal of the Huddersfield Technical 

 College, read at the recent distribution of prizes to. students 

 of the institution, is a record of steady progress. Not 

 only was there during last session a substantial increase 

 in the number of both day and evening students, but also 

 in the fees paid and the grants received from the Board 

 of Education. In addition to the strictly technical part of 

 the work of the colleges, courses of instruction are pro- 

 vided which enable students to graduate at the University 

 of London. At the conclusion of his report the principal 

 suggested an enlargement of the sphere of usefulness of 

 the institution during the daytime, and consideration is 

 being given to the possibility of expanding the work of 

 the college in the following directions : — the more vigorous 

 conduct and better organisation of the day commercial 

 department ; the establishment of day classes for appren- 

 tices in various trades ; day classes in mining for workers 

 employed on night shifts ; trade schools of dressmaking, 

 millinery, or cloth mending ; and the opening of a home- 

 making centre, to be worked in conjunction with the 

 department of domestic economy. 



At the convocation of the University of Chicago on 

 December 20, 19 10, a letter from Mr. John D. Rocke- 

 feller to the president and trustees was read. In the 

 letter, which is printed in Science for December 30, Mr. 

 Rockefeller announces that he has had 2,000,000/. set 

 aside for the University of Chicago, and that it is to be 

 delivered to the University in ten equal annual instal- 

 ments, which began on January i of this year. Each 

 instalment is to bear income to the University from the 

 date of such delivery only. The letter goes on to point 

 out that Mr. Rockefeller believes that it is better for a 

 university to be supported and enlarged by the gifts of 

 many rather than by those of a single donor, and he states 

 that the University of Chicago has received in addition 

 to his own gifts more than 1,400,000/. from citizens of 

 Chicago and the West. With his latest generous gift, Mr. 

 Rockefeller says he has completed the task he set before 

 himself as regards the University ; and his letter con- 

 tains his resignation from the board of trustees, and the 

 announcement of the resignations of his personal repre- 

 sentatives. " I am acting," the letter says, "on an early 

 and permanent conviction that this great institution, being 

 the property of the people, should be controlled, con- 



NO. 2 1 51, VOL". 85] 



ducted, and supported by the people in whose generous 

 efforts for its upbuilding I have been permitted simpl}- to 

 cooperate." A resolution of appreciation of Mr. Rocke- 

 feller's generosity, adopted by the trustees, states that 

 altogether the sums received from him amount to 

 7,000,000/. The trustees, too, are able to say in their 

 resolution : — " Mr. Rockefeller has never permitted the 

 University to bear his name, and consented to be called 

 its founder only at the urgent request of the board of 

 trustees. He has never suggested the appointment or 

 removal of any professor. Whatever views may have been 

 expressed by members of the faculty, he has never indi- 

 cated either assent or dissent. He has never interfered 

 directly or indirectly with that freedom of opinion and 

 expression which is the vital breath of a university, but 

 has adhered without deviation to the principle that while 

 it is important that university professors in their con- 

 clusions be correct, it is more important that in their 

 teaching they be free." 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 

 Royal Society, January 12. — Sir A. Geikie.K.C.B,, president, 

 in the chair. — Prof. H. L. Callendar and H. Moss ; 



The absolute expansion of mercury. — Dr. R. W. Gray 

 and Sir W. Ramsay : The density of niton (radium 

 emanation) and the disintegration theory. — Prof. J. S. 

 Townsend : The charges on ions in gases, and some 

 effects that influence the motion of negative ions. The 

 experiments on charges on ions in gases which had 

 previously been made with air only have been extended to 

 oxygen, hydrogen, and carbonic acid. The value of the 

 quantity Ne for the negative ions is in all cases very near 

 the value 1-22 x io'°, which corresf>onds to a charge, c, 

 equal to the charge on a monovalent atom. The ' 

 were produced by secondary Rontgen rays, and it 

 found that when non-penetrating rays were used the v 

 of Ne for the positive ions was practically the sam' 

 for negative ions, but is much larger when the penetra; 

 rays are used, showing that in this case some of 

 positive ions have double charges. The motion of 

 negative ions is considerably changed by carefully - 

 ing the gaSes, and the results of the experiments ma} 

 used, in conjunction with the determinations of the veloci- 

 ties made by Mr. Lattey, to determine the apparent mass 

 of the negative ion, which diminishes at low pressures as 

 the electric force is increased. For a given force, the 

 pressures at which the effect of drying becomes appreciable 

 is higher in hydrogen than in oxygen, and much less in 

 carbonic acid than in the other gases. — F. W. Aston : 

 The distribution of electric force in the Crookes dark( 

 space. The method used in the investigation is one due 

 to J. J. Thomson, and consists in shooting a beam oi 

 homogeneous kathode rays transversally through the _dis-i 

 charge, and observing the deflection of the beam at variou<^ 

 points. The results so obtained are free from the v 

 serious objections which may be urged against 

 " sounding-point " methods used by previous observ 

 The electric force in the negative glow is found to 

 negligibly small, while within the Crookes dark space ^ 

 is satisfied within experimental error by the simplq 

 formula fiiD-x), where D is the length of the darl^ 

 space, X the distance from the kathode, and fi a constant 

 This result indicates the presence of a uniform charge o 

 positive electrification within that region. The distribu 

 tion is the same for all gases, pressures, and current' 

 used. By integrating the forces so obtained, the potentia 

 fall across the dark space is calculated, and is fouml 

 all cases to agree within experimental error with 

 actual potential between the electrodes. The large an. 

 abrupt fall of potential at the surface of the kathodn 

 found by other investigators is probably a result of far'" 

 methods, an explanation of which is suggested. — Dr. V 

 Shaw: The measurement of end-standards of length. 

 continuation of work published in Roy. Soc. P 

 (December i, 1905). In recent years the authoritie'- 

 the National Physical Laboratory have been required 

 measure and test end-standards with unprecedf 

 accuracy. As a result, the faults of the standards and 

 the measuring machines have come to light. In th 



