November 25, 191 5] 



NATURE 



359 



iren 3'ears in the agricultural department of the Uni- 

 sity of Leeds, and were well illustrated by lantern 

 ides. Results were quoted showing a direct correla- 

 m between the degree of atmospheric pollution and 

 activity of plant-growth, the chemical composition 

 the plant, the activity of the plant enzymes, and 

 vitality of the seed produced. 

 The meetings were well attended throughout, and 

 Ithe limited tmie available for discussion was fully 

 jutilised. The proceedings furnished, indeed, abundant 

 [evidence that, despite the special circumstances of the 

 Jyear, the steady development of the section is being 

 Iwell maintained. 



IMIERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Lo.NDON. — The Senate of the University passed the 

 followinjj resolution at its meeting on November 17 : — 

 "That the Senate desire to express to Lady Riicker 

 and her family their deep sympathy upon the death of 

 Sir Arthur Riicker, who upon the reconstitution of 

 the University in 1901 was appointed its first principal, 

 and to assure them of their profound appreciation of 

 the great services he rendered to the University during 

 his seven years' tenure of that office." 



Oxford. — In the annual report recently issued by 

 the Uommittee for (ieography, after a sympathetic 

 reference to the death of Prof. Herbertson, facts are 

 given showing the steady progress of the school. 

 This is evidenced not only by the increasing number 

 of regular students, but also by the rapid growth of 

 the collections of maps, books, and other apparatus 

 bearing on the subject of geography. The emergency 

 created by the death of the professor has been met for 

 the time "by the appointment as acting-director of Mr. 

 H. O. Beckit, of Halliol College. Special provision 

 for the wants of different ranks of H.M. Forces 

 training at Oxford has been afforded by lectures and 

 other teaching on the geography of the western war 

 area, the influence of the geography of Greece, and 

 militarv map-reading. These were given by the pro- 

 fessor, Mr. Beckit, Prof. J. L. Myres, and Mr. Ken- 

 drew. Mr. A. G. Ogilvie, junior demonstrator, is 

 attached to the staff of the Mediterranean Expedi- 

 tionary Force in a geographical capacity. The report 

 contains also a grateful acknowledgment of the pro- 

 posal by the family of Prof. Herbertson to present 

 to the school the considerable number of books lent 

 by him to the library. 



It is announced in the issue of Science for Novem- 

 ber 5 that Mr. J. J. Hill has presented 25,000!. to 

 Harvard L'niversity to be added to the endowment of 

 the professorship in the Harvard graduate school of 

 business administration which bears his naine. The 

 James J. Hill professorship of transportation was 

 founded by a gift of 25,000/., announced at the begin- 

 ning of this session. The General Education Board 

 announces that 2o,oooL has been given to Carlton 

 College, Northfield, .Minn., toward a fund of 8o,oooi. ; 

 io,o(H^l. to Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., toward a 

 fund of 40,000/. ; 40.000/. to Lafayette (^ollege, Easton, 

 Pa., toward a fund of 200,000/. ; and 5000/. to Kala- 

 mazoo College, Kalamazoo, Mich., toward a fund of 

 20,000/. 



In the course of the academic year 1914-15 a new 

 department was established on a permanent basis in 

 ilie Mellon Institute of Industrial Research of the 

 I'niversitv of Pittsburgh, namely, a Department of 

 Research' in Pure Chemistry. The headship of this 

 department is to be known as the Willard Gibbs 

 professorship of research in pure chemistry, "ever to 



NO. 2404, VOL. 96] 



proclaim the ideal which the incumbents of the chair 

 and the groups of research workers to be associated 

 with them will be expected to follow." It constitutes 

 a chaiP in the graduate school of the University of 

 Pittsburgh, as well as in the Mellon Institute. Dr. 

 M. A. Rosanoff, who built up and for years was head of 

 the graduate department ot chemistry in Clark Univer- 

 sity, was formally inaugurated as the first permanent 

 incumbent of this professorship, at a meeting held in 

 the assembly hall of the Mellon Institute on October 

 26. Addresses were given bv Profs. J. McKeen Cattell 

 and M. T. Bogert, both of Columbia University, and 

 bv Dr. Rosanoff, followed bv a reception and an 

 inspection of the xMellon Institute. Chancellor S. H 

 McCormick presided at the meeting. He explained 

 I the circumstances connected with the establishm<Mit ()f 

 ' the chair, and thanked the donors whose generosity 

 had made possible the endowment, of \yhich the 

 income, amounting to 1000/. per annum, is to con- 

 stitute the salary of the incumbent of the chair. 



The calendar for 1915-16 of King's College, Lon- 

 don, contains detailed particulars of the courses ()t 

 study provided in the various departments of the insti- 

 tution. The work at King's College in connection 

 with the Universitv of London consists of (i) Univer- 

 sity of London King's College, with faculties of arts, 

 laws, science, and engineering ; (2) King s College 

 Theological Department ; and (3) University of Lo"<^"" 

 King's College for Women. In the case of the Col- 

 lege for Women, the arts and science departments 

 were transferred to King's College, Strand, ast 

 January, and the Household and Social Science De- 

 partment is now situated at Campden Hill, London, 

 VV. The faculty of engineering provides a systematic 

 course of study of universitv character for those in- 

 tending to devote themselves to engin wring. It is 

 so arranged as to give preparation for those wishing 

 to take a degree in engintM.'ring at the University of 

 London, and the diploma of the college. Owing to the 

 removal of the Strand School, the engineering depart- 

 ment has obtained additional accommodation. For 

 electrical engineering a new lecture theatre and rooms 

 for research, including wireless telegraphy, are pro- 

 vided. The new rooms are now ready for use, and 

 the laboratories are well equipped with boilers, steam 

 engines gas engine, steam turbine, refrigerating and 

 other experimental plant. The scientific principles 

 which underlie all branches of engineering, together 

 with the methods of applying those principles, are 

 taught in carefullv arranged and graduated courses. 

 A noteworthv section of the calendar ^Movides a list 

 of original papers and publications issued by the 

 various departments of the college during the year 

 I9IVI4' it fiJ"^ to some nine full pages, and is excel- 

 lent evidence of the facilities for research provided by 

 the authorities. 



In March last, Mr. Asquith, in moving the second 

 reading of a Bill to give emergency powers to univer- 

 sitv authorities, said :— " In no sphere of our national 

 life has the war produced a greater change than in our 

 two ancient Universities." Two recent articles in the 

 Morning Post deal with some of the effects of the 

 war on higher education, and serve excellently to 

 demonstrate that not Oxford and Cambridge alone 

 have responded patriotically and abundantly to the call 

 to arms, but the newer universities have taken uj) the 

 burden with equal manliness and eneri?y. We have 

 no doubt that when Scottish, Welsh, and Irish univer- 

 sities and those in more distant jjarts of the Empire 

 are dealt with the author will be able to record an 

 equally glorious response. The most conspicuous 

 result of the war from the point of view of Oxford 

 University has been the immense reduction in the 

 number of undergraduates and of resident fellows of 



