420 



NATURE 



fNoVEMBER 24, I92I 



It is announced that a course of instruction will 

 be given in the summer of 1922 at the Official Seed 

 Testing Station, Cambridge. The course will be 

 limited to persons who are (a) nominated by seed 

 firms who intend to offer employment to such 

 nominees in their own seed-testing stations ; or (b) 

 recommended by universities, agricultural colleges, 

 and institutions ; or (c) approved by the council of the 

 institute. An examination will be held at the con- 

 clusion of the course, and certifi^cates will be issued to 

 students who satisfy the examiners. The examination 

 will also be open to practical seed analysts who have 

 not attended the course of training. Applications for 

 entrance forms should be made to the Chief Officer, 

 Official Seed Testing Station, Cambridge, not later 

 than May i next. 



Leeds University Calendar for 1921-22 is a compact 

 volume of some 600 pages, containing particulars 

 which prospective students of the University would 

 do well to consult. Lists are given of the members 

 of the University Court, Council, Senate, Faculties, 

 and Boards of Faculties, and the professorial and 

 teaching staff. Details follow of the degrees and 

 diplomas conferred by the University, and in most 

 cases a syllabus of the work required is appended. 

 Evening courses and extension lectures are also dealt 

 with, and brief accounts are given of the origin of, 

 and regulations affecting, the various fellowships, 

 scholarships, and prizes awarded by the LIniversity. 

 A summary is given of the number of students who 

 attended courses in the University during the last two 

 sessions ; for both day and evening students an increase 

 nf about 200 on the 1919-20 figures is recorded — a sure 

 indication of progress justifying the recent appeals for 

 increased grants and donations. 



The announcement of the intended retirement of 

 Sir Philip Magnus from the Parliamentary repre- 

 sentation of the University of London at the close 

 of the present Parliament has been received with 

 much regret. Sir Philip has represented the Univer- 

 sity of London since 1906, and he has been in inti- 

 mate touch with it for upwards of fifty years, from 

 the time when it was a mere examining body, how- 

 ever distinguished and serviceable, to the present day, 

 when it is comprised of a closely co-ordinated variety 

 of teaching institutions and incorporated colleges, yet 

 still lacking a central home in which its activities 

 as a teaching and examining body can be more 

 efficiently concentrated and administered. Sir Philip 

 will be much missed on his retirement from_ Parlia- 

 ment, where his great knowledge and experience of 

 all educational matters were at the service^ of the 

 House and of those engaged in their administration 

 and promotion. He had been an active member of 

 the School Board for London, but his rnost con- 

 spicuous service lay in his capacity of director _ of 

 the technological examinations of the City and Guilds 

 of London Institute, to which position he was ap- 

 pointed in 1880, followed by his selection In i88i_ as 

 a member of the Roval Commission on Technical 

 Education. In his former capacity, bv his wise 

 measures and unfailing support, he greatly stimulated 

 the development of technical Instruction throughout 

 the United Kingdom, and as a result of the latter 

 the report of the Roval Commission created a deep 

 and widespread interest which ultimately led to the 

 enactment of the Bill for Technical Instruction of 

 i88q, which has had such beneficent effects on our 

 trade and Industrv. Sir Philip Magnus is a warm 

 advocate of manual training In all schools, and he 

 Is no less concerned that all efficient private schools 

 shall receive official recognition, believing that it is 

 the only effective way of ensuring freedom and variety 

 of subiect and method. 



NO. 2717, VOL. 108] 



Calendar of Scientific Pioneers. 



November 24, 1864. Benjamin Siliiman died.— The 



first professor of chemistry at Yale, and the founder 

 and editor of the American Journal of Science and 

 Arts, Siliiman owed his reputation mainly to his lec- 

 tures and writings on chemistry and geology. His 

 son, also Benjamin Siliiman (1816-85), was his 

 successor at Yale. 



November 25, 1884. Adolphe Wilhelm Herman Kolbe 

 died. — A pupil of Wohler, and, in 1851, the successor 

 of Bunsen at Marburg, Kolbe effected the synthesis 

 of acetic acid, the second organic compound to be 

 produced artificially, and had an important share in 

 the development of chemical theory, 



November 25, 1913. Sir Robert Stawell Ball died.— 

 Introduced to astronomv bv reading Mitchell's " Orbs 

 of Heaven," Ball, in 1874," became Royal Astronomer 

 of Ireland, and in 1892 succeeded Adams as Lown- 

 dean professor at Cambridge. A most popular lec- 

 turer and writer, Ball was also a mathematician, and 

 In 1910 pubHshed his great work on the theory of 

 screws. 



November 26, 1801. Deodat Guy Silvain Tancrede 

 Gratet de Dolomieu died.— An indefatigable student of 

 the volcanic regions of South Europe, Dolomieu is 

 counted among the pioneers of geology, and his name 

 is perpetuated by the word dolomite. 



November 26, 1885. Thomas Andrews died.— 

 Trained as a physician, Andrews held the chair of 

 chemistry in the Queen's College, Belfast, where he 

 carried out the researches in physical chemistry which 

 led to his important discovery of the existence of a 

 critical temperature above which a gas cannot be con- 

 verted into a liquid by pressure alone. 



November 26, 1896. Benjamin Apthorp Gould died. 

 —The founder of the Astronomical Journal, Gould did 

 valuable work for the United States Coast Survey, and 

 organised the Argentine National Observatory at 

 Cordoba. He was one of the first astronomers to use 

 the camera as an instrument of precision. 



November 28, 1876. Karl Ernst von Baer died.— 

 One of the greatest Russian naturalists, von Baer, in 

 1827 discovered the mammalian ovum, and by his 

 later work became the founder of comparative 

 embryologv. For manv years he was librarian to the 

 Imperial Academv of St. Petersburg. 



November 28, 1914. Johann Wilhelm Hittorf died.— 

 A student under Pliicker at Bonn, Hittorf, in 1852, be- 

 came professor of chemistry and physics in the 

 Unlversitv of Munster. He contributed to the study 

 of spectrum analysis and electrolysis, and in 1869 

 discovered the nature of kathode rays. 



November 29, 1694. Marcello Malpighi died.— 

 Malplghi has been called the first of the histologists. 

 A pioneer in microscopic anatomy, he was the first to 

 see caplllarv circulation, and did important work on 

 secreting glands and the anatomy of brain and vege- 

 table tissue. Most of his life was spent at Bologna 



November 29, 1872. IVary Someryille died.— 1 he 

 first notable woman worker in science in Great 

 Britain, Marv Somervllle, in 1831, published her 

 "Mechanism of the Heavens," based on the writings 

 of Laplace, who said that she was the only woman 

 who understood his works. 



November 30, 1603. William Gilbert died.-- 

 Physrcian to Queen Elizabeth, Gilbert is the father of 

 magnetic and electrical science. In 1600 the year he 

 became president of the College of Physicians he 

 published his " De Magnete • " ^^^ first great 

 phvsical work published in England Of h.m Drvden 

 Remarked, "Gilbert shall live till loadstone cease to 

 draw. 



