192 



NATURE 



[February 9, 1922 



London. — The three following courses of free public 

 lectures are announced: — "The Crystallisation of 

 Metals," by Col. N. T. Belaiew, at the Royal School 

 of Mines, South Kensington, S.W.y, on Tuesdays, 

 February 21 and 28 and March 7 and 14, at 5.30 ; 

 "Some Recent Developments in Pharmacology," by 

 Dr. H. H. Dale, at the London (Royal Free Hospital) 

 School of Medicine for Women, Hunter Street, W.C.i, 

 on Wednesdays, February 22 and March i, 8, and 15, 

 at 5; and "Certain Aspects of Fresh-water Algal 

 Biology," by Prof. F. E. Fritch, at the East London 

 College, on Wednesdays, February 15 and 22 and 

 March i, 8, 15, and 22, at 4. 



Oxford. — An examination for a natural science 

 scholarship at Keble College is to be held on 

 March 14. The annual value is 80Z., with 2oi. extra 

 for laboratory fees. Applications should be made to 

 Dr. Hatchett Jackson, Keble College, Oxford. 



Prof. T. Mather is retiring from the chair of elec- 

 trical engineering in the City and Guilds (Engineering) 

 College at the end of the present session after more 

 than thirty-seven years' service in the college, first as 

 assistant to the late Prof. Ayrton and then as his 

 successor. 



The Association of Heads of Departments in Pure 

 and Applied Science in Technical Institutions has 

 forwarded a letter to the London County Council 

 Education Commiftee directing attention to some 

 anomalies arising from the revised scales of salaries 

 following on the Burnham Report. It is pointed out 

 that on the new scales the salaries of an assistant will 

 rise automatically to a maximum which approximates 

 to that of the head of a department, a state of aflfairs 

 which gives_ an assistant little incentive to work for 

 higher appointments involving additional responsibili- 

 ties and qualifications. 



A PAMPHLET entitled. "The Handicap/' has been 

 issued by the University of Glasgow as an appeal 

 for support in an attempt to develop what may be 

 termed the social, as opposed to the academic, side of 

 university training in Glasgow. Benefactors in the 

 past have contributed generously for the provision of 

 professorships, scholarships, and "laboratories — as much 

 as i8o,oooZ. has been given for such purposes during 

 the past five years— but few have thought of pro- 

 viding for the well-being of the student outside the 

 classroom. A notable exception was Dr. John 

 M'Intyre, who, in 1889, presented a Students' Union 

 to _ the university, but in spite of extensions, this 

 building cannot accommodate more than 500 of the 

 3300 men students now in Glasgow. Another step 

 towards the provision of a liberal education might 

 be achieved bv an extension of the hostel svstem in 

 the hope of caiDturing some of the spirit of the older 

 residential universities. At the present time hostel 

 accommodation can be found for 40 men and qo 

 women, while 1016 men and 310 women students 

 have to find such lodgings as are available in the 

 city. It is for providing hostels and contributing 

 in other ways to the welfare of the student that 

 the appeal is being launched ; grants and gifts 

 amounting to some 40,000/. have already been pro- 

 mised, but it is considered that 150,000?. is reallv 

 required. Contributions, which should be forwarded 

 to Dr. A. E. Clapperton, secretary of the University 

 Cotirt. Glasgow, are therefore earnestly solicited^ and 

 it is hoped that a generous response will be forth- 

 coming, particularly from the graduates and alumni 

 of the university. 



NO. 2728, VOL. 109] 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers. 



February 10, 1886. Edward Williams died. — First 

 forge and mill master at the Dowlais Iron Works, 

 South Wales, where under Menelaus he rolled the 

 first steel rails from an ingot supplied by Bessemer, 

 Williams was afterwards connected with the Cleve- 

 land iron trade at Middlesbrough, and for ten years 

 was manager to Bolckow and Vaughan. He assisted, 

 in founding the Iron and Steel Institute, and in 

 1879-81 served, as president. 



February 10, 1912. Louis Delaunay Belleville died — 

 From the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Navale 

 Delaunay Belleville in 1867 entered the Belleville 

 Engineering Works in Paris, and there brought out 

 his well-known water-tube boiler for steamships. 

 First fitted in French despatch vessels and cruisers 

 it was afterwards extensively adopted in the French, 

 Russian, and British Navies, allowing of the use of 

 very high steam-pressures. Its use in our own Navy 

 led to a vigorous controversy, and the Belleville boiler 

 has since been superseded by others of simpler con- 

 struction. 



February 11, 1907. Leon Serpollet died — A great 

 French automobilist and a pioneer of the modern 

 steam car, Serpollet brought out an improved form 

 of flash boiler which in 1887 he used in a steam- 

 propelled tri-car. Four years later he was the first 

 to obtain authority to run his cars in the streets of 

 Paris. His statue stands in the Rue Brunei. 



February 12, 1874. Sir Francis Pettit Smith died — 

 The most prominent among the many inventors of 

 screw propellers. Smith began life as a farmer. His 

 patent was taken out in May, 1836, and during the 

 next two years his screw was tried in the Francis 

 Smith and the Archimedes. The success of the latter 

 led Brunei to adopt screw propulsion for his trans- 

 Atlantic liner, the Great Britain, while the Admiralty 

 ordered the building of the H.M.S. Rattler, the first 

 screw-driven man-o'-war. In 1845 the screw was 

 adopted for all war-vessels. Smith remained Adviser 

 to the Admiralty for a few years, and from i860 

 until his death was curator of the Patent Office 

 Museum. 



February 13, 1824. Pierre Louis Guinaud died — An 

 improver of the manufacture of optical glass, Guinaud 

 was a Swiss clockmaker. He was the first on the 

 Continent to make flint-glass discs suitable for 

 achromatic telescopes, and his success led to his co- 

 operation for some years with Fraunhofer at Munich. 

 Guinaud 's methods were communicated by his son 

 to Bontemps, who about 1848 was engaged by Chance, 

 of Birmingham. 



February 13, 1913. John Fritz died — One of the 

 great pioneers of the American steel industry, Fritz 

 was born in Pennsylvania in 1822, his father being 

 a native of Germany. He was intimately connected 

 with the introduction of the Bessemer process into 

 America, in 1857 erected the first three-high mill 

 ever seen, and three years later became general 

 superintendent of the Bethlehem Company. The John 

 Fritz medal of the United Engineering Societies was 

 founded in 1902. 



February 14, 1831. Henry Maudslay died — ^The 

 founder of the firm of Maudslay, Sons, and Field, 

 which during last century held a pre-eminent 

 place among the builders of machinery for steam- 

 ships, Maudslav, after working under Bramah, set 

 up for himself in London, and in 1810 opened the 

 works at Westminster Bridge Road. He patented a 

 "table engine," built some of the earliest marine 

 engines, constructed measuring machines, and im- 

 proved machine tools. Many well-known mechanical 

 engineers were trained in his shops. E. C. S. 



