148 



NATURE 



[May 12, 1921 



The University of London. 

 Presentation Day. 



PRESENTATION DAY of the University of 

 London, which was held at the Albert Hall on 

 May 5, was memorable in many ways, but in two 

 especially : by the admission of the Prince of Wales 

 as an honorary graduate and by the large number of 

 successful graduates who were presented to the Vice- 

 Chancellor for their degree§. The honorary degrees 

 of the University are very jealously guarded; until 

 now the names of Kelvin and Lister have been the 

 only additions to those of the King and Queen. The 

 Prince was admitted to the degrees of Master of 

 Commerce and Doctor of Science. The Chancellor, 

 Lord Rosebery, who was prevented by illness from 

 attending, sent a message in which he made a 

 ielicitous reference to the "incomparable Prince," 

 who, he said, had merited a travelling fellowship for 

 the services he had performed in the cause of the 

 Empire. The long procession of graduates in their 

 brilliant robes was an impressive sight, and brought 

 home to the vast audience the magnitude and variety 

 of the work of the University. 



The Principal Officer of the University (Sir Cooper 

 Perry) read his report for the year 1920-21, \yhich 

 was written in his accustomed distinguished 

 style. The preamble to the effect that if the 

 "normal year" is still in the distant future, 

 the University is struggling through this "diffi- 

 cult period of strain and stress" with unim- 

 paired strength and a quickened insight into the 

 needs of the community, is fully corroborated by some 

 remarkable statistics, particularly the increase in 

 matriculations from 6638 in 1913-14 to 15,539 in 

 1920-21. The number of candidates for degrees, 1746 

 (1036 inte.rnal and 710 external), is slightly below the 

 pre-war total, but it is noteworthy that the internal 

 candidates considerably exceed the external, though in 

 1913-14 the two categories were about equal. The 

 number of internal students is now 7870, and candi- 

 . dates for the new Ph.D. degree already amount to 

 179. Except for the benefaction of the Government — 

 if such it can be called — of the site of ii^ acres in 

 Bloomsbury for new headquarters, upon the question 

 of accepting which the Senate deliberated, as the 

 Principal plaintively remarked, from May to October 

 last year, the University, apart from its colleges, has 

 not benefited greatly during the year from public or 

 private generosity; but the suf)er-benefaction of the 

 Rockefeller Foundation to University College and 

 Hospital for medical education, amounting to 

 j,25o,oooL sterling, beats all previous records in this 

 country. The obituary of the year is short, but in- 

 cludes some outstanding names — Dr. Ronald Bur- 

 rows, Lord Moulton, Lord Cozens-Hardy, Sir John 

 Macdonell, and Sir Felix Semon. 



It was originally proposed that, as last year, a 

 graduation dinner should be held at the Guildhall, but 

 in view of the existing situation this was abandoned 

 and a daylight conversazione substituted. The func- 

 tion was very successful. An interesting presentation 

 was made to the Prince by Sir Israel Gollancz on 

 behalf of graduates of the University. This took 

 the form of a beautiful fifteenth-century MS. con- 

 taining the signature of the Black Prince and a 

 variant of the historic motto " Ich dien " which throws 

 considerable light on its origin. The Prince returned 

 thanks in a happy and characteristic speech, and after, 

 wards received all the newly made graduates and other 

 members of the assembly. 



The advanced public lectures in scientific and other 

 .subjects arranged under the auspices of the University 



NO. 2689, VOL. 107] 



are extremely interesting to students and workers in 

 the various branches of knowledge with which they 

 deal. They are given for the most part by distin- 

 guished men of science and scholars who are not 

 teachers of the University, and are open to the public 

 without fee. Mr. J. H. Jeans, secretary of the Royal 

 Society, is attracting crowded audiences to King's 

 College, where he is delivering a course on cosmogony 

 and stellar evolution. Prof. Cohen, of Utrecht, is 

 announced to give two lectures (in English) at Uni- 

 versity College on the metastability of matter; Sir 

 Napier Shaw Ts delivering an historical course on 

 meteorological theory at the Meteorological Office, 

 and Prof. H. E. Armstrong two lectures on enzymes 

 in relation to plant growth at King's College. 



There has been recently an exchange of lectures in 

 medical subjects between London and the Dutch 

 universities, which has been a conspicuous success 

 and may well prove to be the beginning of a com- 

 plete scheme of exchanges. Under the scheme Dr. 

 Hamburger, the distinguished professor of physiology 

 at Groningen, will lecture at the Royal Society of 

 Medicine on permeability in physiology and pathology 

 on June 8. Dr. Kappers, the director of the Central 

 Institute for Brain Research at Amsterdam, is also 

 giving a course of four lectures on the interpretation 

 of the structure of the brain. All these lectures will 

 be delivered in English. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Cambridge. — A memorial has been presented to the 

 council of the Senate for a syndicate to be appointed 

 to consider possible alterations in the Mathematical 

 and Natural Sciences Triposes with the object of 

 facilitating the acquisition by candidates in one sub- 

 ject of a knowledge of the other. 



It is proposed to appoint Prof. H. Lamb, now in 

 residence in Cambridge, to an honorary University 

 lectureship to be called the Rayleigh lectureship in 

 mathematics. 



The Humphry Owen Jones lectureship in physical 

 chemistry is to be revived. 



Mr. L. A. Pars has been elected to a fellowship at 

 Jesus College. 



London. — The following advanced lectures in 

 physiology and medicine are announced : — A course of 

 eight lectures on " Metabolism of Cholesterol and the 

 Sterols," by Mr. J. A. Gardner, at the London 

 (R.F.H.) School of Medicine for Women, at 5 p.m. on 

 Tuesdays, May 17, 24, 31, June 7, 14, 21, 28, and 

 Julv 5, 1921. A course of eigHt lectures on "Experi- 

 mental Studies in Vegetable Physiology and Vegetable 

 Electricity," by Dr. A. D. Waller and Mr. J. C. 

 Waller, in the Physiological Laboratory of the 

 University, South Kensington, S.W.7, at 5.15 p.m. 

 on Wednesdays, May 18, 25, June i, 8, 15, 22, 29, 

 and July 6. A course of four lectures on " The Inter- 

 pretation of the Structure of the Brain," by Dr. C. U. 

 Ariens Kappers (director of the Central Institute for 

 Brain Research, Amsterdam), in the Department of 

 Anatomy, University College, at 5 p.m. on May 13, 

 17, 19, and 20. These courses are addressed to ad- 

 vanced students of the University and to others in- 

 terested in the subject. Admission is free, without 

 ticket. 



The semi-general election of members of the 

 Senate for the period 1921-25 has resulted in the 

 appointment of the following representatives of 

 science : — Bv Convocation : G. D. Dunkerley, Sir 

 Philip Magnus, Bart., M.P., and Dr. R. M. Walmsley. 

 Faculty of Science : Prof. A. Dendy and Prof. A.N. 



