October 27, 192 1] 



NATURE 



-^^l 



Bloomsbury site on the part of the educational authority 

 for London, indicated by the promise of financial sup- 

 port up to a third of a million f)Ounds, the Senate felt 

 justified in accepting the Government's offer. The 

 contracts for sale were completed m January last, and 

 the actual conveyance to the commissioners of the 

 Office of Works is dated March 23. Moreover, a por- 

 tion of the site is already occupied by the Institute 

 of Historical Research, which has been presented by 

 an anonymous donor to the University at a cost of 

 about 20,000/., and has been accepted by the Senate. 

 The question of site can, therefore, scarcely be re- 

 opened with the Government on the initiative of the 

 Senate, but, should the Government wish to explore 

 the possibilities of the Holland Park site, or any 

 other site in conjunction with the University, the 

 Senate would be prepared to co-operate. 



The Senate has made the following appointments : — 

 Dr. \V. B. Tuck to the University chair of chemistrj-, 

 tenable at Middlesex Hospital Sledical School ; Dr. 

 Paul Haas to the Universitv readership in plant 

 chemistr\-, tenable at Universitv College; Rev. 

 F. A. P. Aveling to the University readership in 

 psychology, tenable at King's College; Mr. W. E. 

 Curtis to the University readership in physics, tenable 

 at King's College. 



The thanks of the Senate have been acccwded to the 

 Worshipful Company of Drapers for their renewal for 

 a further period of three vears of their grant of 500/. 

 a year to the Department of .Applied Statistics and 

 Eugenics at Universitv College. 



Dr. Charles Bolton, of the Graham Research 

 Laboratories at Universit\- College Hospital Medical 

 School, has been awarded the William Julius Mickle 

 Fellowship of 200Z. in recognition of the important 

 work in experimental medicine which he has carried 

 out during the past five years. 



The following doctorates have been conferred : 

 D.Sc. in Chemistry: Mr. C. K. Ingold, an internal 

 student, of the Imperial College, Royal College of 

 Science, for a thesis entitled "The Formation and 

 Stability of Carbon Rings"; D.Lit. : Miss K. M. 

 Westaway, an external student, for a thesis entitled 

 "The Educational Theon,- of Plutarch"; D.Sc. in 

 Chemistry : Mr. Harr>- Hepworth, an external 

 student, for a thesis entitled " Some New Researches 

 on the Grignard Reagent and other Matter "; D.Sc. 

 in Engineering: Mr. Hubert Mawson, an external 

 student, for a thesis entitled " .\nalvtical and Experi- 

 mental Investigations relating to Centrifugal Pumps 

 and Water Turbines," and other papers; D.Sc. 

 in Economics: Mr. James Stephenson, an external 

 student, for a thesis entitled "The Manufacturers' 

 Agent: His Econornic and Social Significance," and 

 other papers. 



St. Andrews. — Mr. H. W. TurnbuU has been ap- 

 pointed Regius professor of mathematics in succes- 

 sion to Sir Peter Scott Leng, who has resigned. 



The L'niversity College of Wales, .\ben,-stwyth, is 

 to receive from Sir Garrod Thomas a gift of lands 

 estimated to be worth 8000Z., the income from which 

 is to be devoted to the encouragement of post-graduate 

 work in chemistry and phvsics. 



The British Medical Journal of October 15 an- 

 nounces that Prof. Ldon Fredericq is to be presented 

 with a medallion in recognition of his distinguished 

 services as professor of physiology for fift].- vears in 

 the University of Li^ge. The presentation will take 

 place in November, when his son will take the chair 

 which Prof. Leon Fredericq has held so long. 



NO. 2713, VOL. 108] 



Calendar of Scientific Pioneers. 



October 27, 1675. Gilies Persone de Roberval died. 



— An original member of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences, Roberval held the chair of mathematics in 

 the College Royal, was an early writer on the method 

 of indivisibles, and discussed the nature of the tangent 

 and cycloid. 



October 27, 1845. Jean Charles Athanase Peltier 

 died. — Remembered for his discovery of the " Peltier 

 effect," Peltier was a French watchmaker who 

 retired from business to carry out researches in experi- 

 mental physics. 



October 27, 1905. Frederick Wollaston Hutton died. 

 — W'ith Hector, von Haast, and Hochstetter, Hutton 

 assisted to lay the foundation of the geology of New 

 Zealand. .\ soldier by profession, he served in the 

 Crimea and the Indian Mutiny, but ultimately became 

 a professor in Christchurch L'niversity. 



October 28, 1703. John Wallis died.— After render- 

 ing valuable service to the Puritans during the Civil 

 War, Wallis in 1649 was appointed Savilian professor 

 of geometn,- at Oxford, a post he held until his death. 

 His " -Arithmeiica Infinitorum " contained the germs 

 of the differential calculus. 



October 28, 1916. Cleveland Abbe died. — Foremost 

 among .American meteorologists. Abbe was first an 

 assistant in the observatories at Pulkowa and Wash- 

 ington, and then director of that at Cincinnati, where 

 in 1869 he organised meteorological reports from 

 which sprang the United States Government Weather 

 Service. 



October 29, 1783. Jean le Rond D'Alembert died. — 

 The intimate friend of A'o'taire and Diderot, D'Alem- 

 bert was admitted to the Paris .Academy of Sciences 

 in 1 74 1, and in 1772 became perpetual secretary. With 

 Clairaut and Euler he is regarded as one of the 

 greatest mathematicians of the eighteenth century. 

 His "Traite de dynamique," containing the famous 

 principle, appeared in 1743, his "'Systeme du Monde " 



in 1754- 

 October 30, 1626. Willibrord Snell van Roijan died. 



— The discoverer of the law of refraction of light 

 and the first to measure an arc of meridian by 

 triangulation, Snell, or Snellius, was a professor of 

 Leyden, where in 161 3 he succeeded his father in the 

 chair of mathematics. 



October 31, 1858. Sir William Reid died.— A mili- 

 tan,' engineer, Reid, when stationed in Barbados, 

 propounded the circular theor}' of hurricanes, and in 

 1838 published " .An .Attempt to Develop the Law of 

 Storms." 



October 31, 1867. William Parsons, Earl of Rosse, 

 died. — Resigning his seat in Parliament, Rosse frcwn 

 1834 devoted himself to science, and in 1845 completed 

 the great 6-ft. reflector at Parsonstown, with which 

 many discoveries were made. From 1848 to 1854 

 he was president of the Royal Society. 



November 1, 1915. Sir Arthur William Riicker died. 

 ■ — Riicker rendered valuable ser\'ice to scientific educa- 

 tion as a professor and administrator in Leeds and 

 in London, while as an investigator he took a leading 

 part in the magnetic survey of the British Isles. 



November 2, 1905. Rudolph Albert von Kolliker 

 died. — Of Swiss birth and descent, Kolliker passed 

 most of his life in Germany, and from 1847 

 held the chair of physiology and of microscopical 

 and comparative anatomy at Wurzburg. He greatly 

 improved microscopical technique, and especiallv en- 

 riched histology. In 1897 he was awarded the Copley 

 medal of the Roval Societv. E. C. S. 



