498 



NATURE 



[April 15, 1922 



Colleges (and the collegiate, or undergraduate, 

 divisions of universities) have, we are informed, 

 come by common consent to express their entrance 

 requirements in terms of " units," a unit representing 

 " a year's study in any subject in a secondary school, 

 constituting approximately a quarter of a full year's 

 work. A four-year secondary school curriculum 

 (the normal preliminary to admission to a college) 

 should be regarded as representing not more than 

 16 units of work." Accordingly the definition of 

 requirements includes not only examination syllabuses 

 but also outlines of secondary school courses of study. 

 Accounts of some approved methods of instruction 

 and typical time-tables are added. As pointed out 

 in the article on America in the Universities Year-book, 

 1922, " a peculiarity of the American system of 

 grading, both in secondary and in higher institutions, 

 is the weight attached to the length of time spent 

 under instruction, a degree being attainable by 

 gradual accumulation of a specified number of 

 ' credits ' (certificates of definite periods of time 

 spent successfully under instruction) which thus 

 largely replace the examinations used in other 

 countries for testing the student's capacity at various 

 intervals." 



More than half of the Bulletin is devoted to 

 descriptions of 74 universities, colleges, and technical 

 and professional schools which have already been 

 frequented by foreign students or which give courses 

 likely to prove of special interest to such students. 

 The descriptions deal with courses, degrees, equip- 

 ment, expenses, strength of staffs, number of students, 

 number of foreign students, and miscellaneous items 

 of special interest to foreign students. There are 

 also statistical tables for 19 18 relating to State 

 universities and certain agricultural and mechanical 

 colleges, schools of mines, and other technological 

 schools, and a list of medical colleges rated as Class A 

 by the council on medical education of the American 

 Medical Association. A few copies of the Bulletin 

 are available at the Universities Bureau, 50 Russell 

 Square, and can be obtained on payment of is. 3^^. 

 to cover the price (15 cents) and postage. 



University and Educational Intelligence, 



Birmingham. — The University has received from 

 the Trustees of the James Watt Memorial Fund the 

 sum of 5000/. towards the establishment of a Chair 

 of Research in Mechanical Science to be known as 

 " The James Watt Chair." 



Mr. James Couper Brash has been appointed 

 professor of anatomy, to fill the vacancy occasioned 

 by the lamented death of Prof. Peter Thompson. 

 Mr. Brash held the position of acting professor 

 during the leave of absence granted to the late 

 professor. The appointment of Mr. Cyril A. Raison 

 as part-time assistant in anatomy has been confirmed 

 by the Council. 



Cambridge. — The family of the late Mr. J. IM. 

 Dodds have founded at Peterhouse a studentship to 

 be known as the J. M. Dodds studentship for the pro- 

 motion of advanced study or research in the subjects 

 of mathematics or physics. The first election will be 

 held in June 1923. 



London. — Application for grants from the Dixon 

 Fund for assisting scientific investigations must be 

 made before May 15 to the Academic Registrar, 

 University of London, South Kensington, S.W.7. 



Prof. J. A. Fleming has been compelled, on account 

 of illness, to cancel all engagements for the present, 

 and will consequently be unable to deliver the 

 course of lectures on " Modern Improvements in 

 Telephony " at University College which had been 



NO. 2737, VOL. 109] 



announced to begin on April 26. It is hoped that 

 Prof. Fleming will be able to deliver the course in 

 October. 



Manchester. — Prof. J. W. Smith has intimated 

 his intention to resign, as from the end of the present 

 session, the Chair of Systematic Surgery, which he 

 has held since 1911. The following appointments 

 have been made in the Faculty of Technology : 

 Lecturers in Mechanical Engineering, R. M. Anderson, 

 H. Threlfall ; Lecturer in Spinning, J. Winter- 

 bottom ; Demonstrators in Chemical Technology, 

 W. H. Brindley, W. Hubball, W. H. Kelly, Esther 

 Levin, and J. D. Mounfield ; Demonstrator in 

 Metallurgy, G. Mohn. 



Sheffield. — A course of five lectures on coal will 

 be given in the Department of Applied Science on 

 April 27 and successive Thursdays at 5-30 p.m. The 

 first lecture, to be delivered by Dr. Marie Stopes, will 

 deal with the palaeobotanical aspects of the constitu- 

 tion of coal ; the second, by Mr. F. S. Sinnatt, with 

 the preparation of coal for the market ; the third, by 

 Dr. R. Lessing, with the carbonisation of coal ; the 

 fourth, by Mr. M. Wynter Blyth, with the manufac- 

 ture of crude benzole; and the fifth, by Prof. J. W. 

 Cobb, with the nitrogen in coal and its recovery as 

 ammonia. 



The Education and the Parliamentary Committees 

 of the British Science Guild have had under their 

 careful consideration the recommendations of the 

 Geddes Committee so far as these affect education. 

 Their report, which has received the approval of the 

 executive committee of the Guild, embodies certain 

 proposals with the object of effecting reduction in 

 expenditure where it can be shown to be without 

 detriment to the legitimate purposes of educational 

 expenditure. They desire to suggest one or two 

 changes in such expenditure whereby economy in 

 time and money can be achieved. It is essential 

 that financial control shall be the duty of both State 

 and local education authorities. The first considera- 

 tion is, how much can be raised annually, both locally 

 and Imperially, in respect of education and its 

 ancillary needs, and next, how it can best be allocated 

 in accordance with the legitimate claims of each 

 department. The second essential is that the educa- 

 tion committee to which the administration of 

 education is delegated by the local authority shall 

 be held responsible for the use of the funds. The 

 present method of allotment of State moneys, namely 

 50 per cent, of the permitted local expenditure, is not 

 peculiar to education but prevails in other State 

 departments, and is under review with regard to its 

 continuance. It is alleged that it multiplies unduly 

 public officials, increases expense both of time and 

 money, and that it is subversive of the principle of 

 local control. The suggestion in the Geddes Com- 

 mittee's Report that the lower limit of compulsory 

 age should be raised froni five to six is commended, 

 but with the proviso that it shall be accompanied 

 by the institution of nursery schools for young 

 children under the age of six years. A modification 

 of the present scholarship system is suggested whereby 

 only children of exceptional capacity, and whose 

 parents cannot pay for their further education, shall 

 be eligible for free places and for maintenance grants, 

 available in schools of widely varying type. It is 

 recommended that the practice of duplication of 

 inspectorships should be abolished. One set of 

 inspectors would be found quite efficient. If these 

 reforms were carried out, much of the time now 

 taken by unnecessary clerical work on the part of 

 the highly paid staff of teachers and officials would 

 be saved, and their efforts be devoted to more fruitful 

 educational results. 



