June lo, 1922^ 



NA TURE 



76] 



that in a sense they were keeping their second 



rntenary, since that Society went back to 171 7. 



Most of their old mathematical books were acquired 



irom that Society. Allusion was made to the in- 



\akiable services of two assistant secretaries, Mr. 



Williams, known for his studies of Chinese comet 



records, and Mr. W. H. Wesley, who had now held 



that office for 47 years ; much to their regret, illness 



]irevented him from taking part in the centenary 



clebration. Allusion was made to the Society being 



onsulted on the question of the remeasurement of 



ilie fundamental arcs in the British survey, and to 



tlie granting of the new charter in 1915, permitting 



the election of lady Fellows. 



Prof. Turner followed with a biographical address, 

 illustrated by portrait slides ; he began with Queen 

 X'ictoria, who had been their Royal Patron during 

 two-thirds of their existence. He noted that former 

 kings of Denmark and Siam had been honorary 

 members, a distinction also awarded to Caroline 

 Herschel, and several other famous lady astronomers, 

 the latest being Miss Annie Cannon. The portraits 

 included Sir W. and Sir J. Herschel, Francis Baily, 

 Daniel ]Moore, Stephen Groombridge, Mr. Colebrook, 

 Richard Taylor (first editor and printer of the 

 -Monthly Notices, and founder of the firm of Taylor 

 and Francis). 



The afternoon meeting was opened by the reading 

 of the minutes of the preparatory meeting held at 

 Freemason's Tavern, Gt. Queen St., Lincoln's Inn 

 Fields, on January 8, 1820, at which Mr. Daniel 

 Moore was chairman, the fourteen persons present 

 all signing the declaration that they would help to 

 forward the formation of the proposed Society. 



Six of the Associates present were then invited to 

 speak on their recent work. Dr. Scares spoke on the 

 systematic differences of colours of giant and dwarf 

 stars of the same type, the dwarfs being redder ; 

 lie also discussed absolute magnitude as a function 

 of galactic latitude. Prof. Stromgren spoke on 

 solutions of the three-body problem by mechanical 

 quadratures. Prof. H. Shapley spoke on his recent 

 work of finding absolute magnitudes from objective 

 prism spectra ; also on the local cluster round the sun, 

 stated to be 2000 light-years in diameter, and on the 

 recent discovery of faint Cepheid variables in the 

 Magellanic Cloud. 



Dr. Hertzsprung spoke on the Cepheid variable 

 RR Lyrae, showing that it has several superposed 

 periodicities. 



Dr. Aitken dealt with double stars, stating that his 

 special aim was to form an exhaustive catalogue of 

 all doubles down to the ninth magnitude within 

 certain limits of distance. He stated that 15 per cent, 

 of his discoveries already show orbital motion. 



Dr. St. John spoke on the absence of the lines of 

 oxygen and water vapour from the spectrum of 

 \'enus, stating that one metre thickness of each 

 would have sufficed to give a register. He mentioned 

 that the rotation of Venus is probably at least 15 

 days. The Einstein shift in the solar spectrum is 

 still engaging attention. If present it is evidently 

 partially masked by some other cause ; the shift 

 towards the red that is found is not proportional to 

 wave-length. 



The Society dined at the Criterion Restaurant in 

 the evening. Lord Balfour was the guest of honour, 

 and proposed the toast of the Society in felicitous 

 terms, the president making a suitable reply. 



On Wednesday the Fellows and Associates were 

 the guests of the British Astronomical Association. 



On Saturday, June 3, the Society was entertained 

 by the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich on the 

 occasion of the annual Visitation of the Observatory. 

 A. C. D. Crommelin. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Leeds. — An open fellowship of 200/. per annum, 

 established by the Institution of Gas Engineers, is 

 offered for the prosecution of post-graduate research 

 in gas chemistry. Applications will be received by 

 the Registrar of Leeds University until June 19. 



Liverpool. — Honorary degrees were conferred at a 

 special Congregation of the University held on May 19. 

 The Bishop (the Right Reverend Francis James 

 Chavasse), Mr. Justice Pickford (Baron Sterndale), 

 and Sir Henry Alexander Miers, vice-chancellor of 

 the University of Manchester, received the degree of 

 doctor of laws ;. Dr. L. P. Jacks, Principal of Man- 

 chester College, Oxford, and Editor of the Hibbert 

 Journal, that of doctor of letters, and Sir Charles 

 Sherrington, Waynflete professor of physiology in 

 the University of Oxford and president of the Royal 

 Society, that of doctor of laws. For eighteen years 

 Sir Charles Sherrington was the George Holt professor 

 of physiology at Liverpool, and his services to the 

 University College and University during that period 

 are now remembered with deep affection and grati- 

 tude. The degree of doctor of engineering was con- 

 ferred on Sir John A. F. Aspinall. Sir John Aspinall 

 was for years chairman of the faculty of engineering 

 at/ the University, and the present highly developed 

 condition of the series of departments that now 

 constitute the faculty is very largely due to the 

 powerful influence that he exerted on its behalf. 

 His professional career has seen the development 

 of some highly important methods of modern railway 

 transport. 



London. — The following Doctorates have been con- 

 ferred : — D.Sc. in Chemistry : Mr. G. A. R. Kon, an 

 internal student of the Imperial College — Royal College 

 of Science — for a thesis entitled " The Influence of 

 Space Conditions on the Formation of Strained 

 Rings ; The Formation and Stability of spiro- 

 compounds." D.Sc. in Cytology : Mr. J.B. Gatenby, 

 an internal student of University College, for a 

 thesis entitled " The Cytoplasmic Inclusions of the 

 ' Germ-cells : Part X. — The Gametogenesis of Sacco- 

 cirrus." D.Sc. in Physics : Mr. L. C. Martin, an 

 internal student of the Imperial College — Royal 

 College of Science, for a thesis entitled " A Physical 

 Study of Spherical Aberration." D.Sc. in Physi- 

 ology : Miss Gladys A. Hartwell, an internal student 

 of King's College for Women (Household and Social 

 Science Department) and Bedford College, for a thesis 

 entitled " Mammary Secretion." D.Sc. in Botany : 

 Mr. W. J. Hodgetts, an external student, for a thesis 

 entitled " A Study of some of the Factors controlling 

 the Periodicity of Freshwater Algae in Nature," and 

 other papers. 



Applications are invited for a Sharpey physiological 

 scholarship at University College. The scholarship is 

 of the value of 200/. Applications, with a full state- 

 ment of the candidates' academic training and a hst 

 of their publications, if any, should reach the secretary 

 of the college, Gower Street, W.C.i, not later than 

 June 15. 



A Drapers' Company's research scholarship in 

 dyeing and a research scholarship in colour chemistry, 

 tenable for the session 1922-23 at the Huddersfield 

 Technical College, are offered. The value of the first- 

 named scholarship is 100/. and remission of fees, 

 and that of the last named not more than 100/. 

 and remission of fees. All particulars and forms of 

 application may be .had from the secretary of the 

 college. 



NO. 2745, VOL. 109] 



