July 21, 1921] 



NATURE 



655 



trying to get that diagram in continuation of the 

 work that 1 used to do with a class at the Caven- 

 dish Laboratory, and now 1 beheve I have suc- 

 ceeded, with the assistance of Mr. E. \\ Newn- 

 ham, of the Meteorological Office. The result is 

 not exactly in the form which is familiar to 

 readers of Maxwell, but in the form of an entropy- 

 temperature diagram such as Sir Alfred Ewing 

 uses in his work on the steam engine. With the 

 diagram it ought to be possible to make a reason- 

 able diagnosis of the ways by which air can 

 ascend from the surface, and descend again to be 

 prepared for a repetition of its cycle. We should 

 then replace by reason the guesswork which has 



hitherto done duty for it. Further, according to 

 the- diagram, the best which you can expect from 

 the steam-laden air of the equatorial region, work- 

 ing between the surface and the stratosphere under 

 favourable conditions, is a " brake-horse-power 

 efficiency of 2^ per cent." Operations conducted 

 elsewhere will have less efficiency than that. On 

 the whole, it is not very high, but the energy 

 available as indicated by the equivalent of the 

 amount of rain which falls is so enormous that 

 there is no reason to doubt the capacity of the 

 air as a steam engine to develop and maintain 

 the effects which are included in all our varied 

 experience of the air and its ways. 



Congress of the Universities of the Empire. 



THE second Congcess of the Universities of the 

 Empire, whicn met in Oxford on July 5—8, 

 was as successful as the Congress of 191 2. Higher 

 tribute could not be paid to the skill of those who 

 were responsible for its organisation. Thirty- 

 seven overseas universities were represented by 

 ninety-four delegates and twenty-two " representa- 

 tives," of whom the very large majority had come 

 to England for the express purpose of attending 

 the Congress. The total number of members, 

 including Oxford residents, was about 600. In 

 the printed list we find amongst the delegates the 

 chancellor of New Zealand, the ex-vice-chancel- 

 lor of Calcutta ; the presidents of Alberta, British 

 Columbia, Dalhousie, McGill, Queen's, Kingston, 

 Saskatchewan, and Toronto; the vice-presidents. of 

 Montreal and St. Francis Xavier ; and the princi- 

 pals of the University Colleges of Pretoria and 

 Johannesburg and of several Indian colleges. 

 When the present cost of ocean travel is taken 

 into consideration, these figures bear eloquent 

 testimony to the belief of the universities of the 

 Empire in their essential unity and to their faith 

 in their common rhission. 



In one respect the Congress of 192 1 far sur- 

 passed that of igi2 in attractiveness, and 

 probably in value also. With the greatest 

 generosity the members of the University of 

 Oxford offered the hospitality of their colleges 

 and their homes to all members of the Congress. 

 The meeting together in common rooms and in 

 the houses of their hosts gave great pleasure to 

 the men and women who had come from the most 

 distant parts of the King's Dominions. The 

 opportunities thus afforded of intercourse and of 

 informal discussion are likely to produce results 

 more important in their bearing upon the practice 

 of teaching and administration than the speeches 

 made in the South Hall of the Examination 

 Schools. 



Opportunities of consultation and of the com- 

 parison of experience are being further enlarged 

 bv the application of a scheme of visits which 

 was tried on a smaller scale and in a somewhat 

 tentative way in 191 2. For a month all dele- 

 gates from overseas are the guests of the home 



XO. 2699. VOL. 107] 



universities. Before Congress met they were 

 given the choice of visiting Reading, Bristol and 

 Cardiff, or Dublin and Belfast. Returning to 

 London, as the guests of the University, they 

 visited its schools and colleges on June 30 and 

 July I and 2. On July 4 the Government enter- 

 tained them, together with the delegates of the 

 home universities, at a luncheon over which Mr. 

 A. J. Balfour presided. On the following morning 

 they travelled by special train to Oxford, where 

 the congress was opened by the chancellor of the 

 University, Lord Curzon. From Oxford the dele- 

 gates from overseas proceeded to Cambridge and 

 thence to either Edinburgh and St. Andrews, or 

 Glasgow and Aberdeen. They will return in three 

 parties via Durham, Newcastle, or Sheffield to 

 Manchester or Liverpool, and will end their tour 

 either in Birmingham or in Leeds. 



As the proceedings of Congress have been re- 

 ported in the daily Press, it will suffice here to 

 mention only some points of special interest to 

 men of science. As was fitting at a meeting in 

 Oxford, the first session was devoted to the con- 

 sideration of the balance of studies — the place of 

 the humanities in the education of men of science, 

 and of the physical and natural sciences in 

 general education. Many wise things were said 

 by the champions of a literary education. Prof. 

 Desch and Prof. Whitehead spoke for those con- 

 cerned with the education of students of science. 

 Prof. Desch urged the necessity of including a 

 large measure of humanistic instruction and study 

 in the training of men of science, but proposed 

 that it should take a novel form. In place of 

 balancing the specialised courses in science by a 

 certain number of equally specialised courses in 

 the humanities, he would endeavour to bring the 

 two into closer relationship by making the teach- 

 ing of science historical, literary, and sociological. 

 If scientifically trained men are to take their 

 proper position in the community they must 

 have " a vision of knowledge in its true propor- 

 tions and perspective." "The most important 

 safeguard against a limited vision is to be found 

 in the historical spirit." Teachers should show 

 to their students how their sciences grew, should 



