January 6, 1916J 



NATURE 



527 



have been received from fellows in every part of the 

 Empire. All these offers of assistance have been tabu- 

 lated and a careful record has been kept. 



In order to carry out effectively the consfderation 

 and reporting on the suggestions received, the council 

 mvited the co-operation of the following societies :— 

 Royal Agricultural Society, Biochemical Society, Society 

 of Chemical Industry, Societv of Dyers and Colorists 

 Faraday Society, Institute of Chemistry, Institute of 

 Metals, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, Pharma- 

 ceutical Society, Physical Society, Society of Public- 

 Analysts. This was loyally and readily given by all • 

 each society undertook to report on such inventions 

 as came within its own special province by means 

 of a special committee, of which it nominated six 

 members in addition to two members of the council 

 of the Chemical Society.. In this way ten committees 

 each consisting of eight members, were formed, and 

 cover the whole field of chemical activity. Each com- 

 mittee reports to the council the results of its delibera- 

 tions, and those suggestions which are considered 

 suitable are then sent on to the proper Government 

 authorities, who have expressed their high apprecia- 

 tion of the valuable assistance thus afforded them 

 I he_ society has also been instrumental in aiding the 

 Ministry of Munitions with regard to the supply of 

 chemists for the manufacture of munitions of war. 



In addition to these special committees, which deal 

 chiefly with matters of practical detail and utility a 

 general committee has been formed consisting of two 

 members elected by the Chemical Society and by 

 each of the above-mentioned societies. The object of 

 this general committee is to consider and discuss all 

 questions of general policy, not only those arising from 

 the war, but also those matters on which it is desir- 

 able to have the opinion of a body thoroughly repre- 

 sentative of every department of chemical science. 



Further, the Chemical Society has been active in con- 

 nection with the Government scheme for the organisa- 

 tion and development of scientific and- industrial re- 

 search under the auspices of the Board of Education. 

 I he president has addressed an urgent appeal to the 

 fellows to exert their energy so as to make the scheme 

 a success, and has invited them to forward to the 

 society suggestions for suitable researches, especially 

 those having a direct bearing on chemical industry 

 and Its promotion. Many valuable suggestions have 

 already been received and are under consideration by 

 the council. ATo payment of any kind is being made 

 to a.ny member of these councils or committees for 

 services rendered in connection with this work. 



Physical Society. 



The council of the Physical Society decided in June 

 last to make a register of the fellows, showing the 

 special knowledge of each and the services each would 

 be willing to perform voluntarily in connection with 

 the war. In addition to this register, and quite dis- 

 tinct from it, arrangements were made for receiving 

 from fellows any kind of scientific suggestion likely to 

 be of use in the prosecution of the war. A number 

 of suggestions have been received and have been 

 passed to the proper Government departments. 



As regards the register, a form was issued in Julv, 

 and about half the fellows of the society returned 'it 

 duly filled. Each recipient was asked details of :— (i) 

 The branches of science, or appliances, of which he 

 has special knowledge ; (2) his laboratory or workshop 

 facilities; (3) his willingness (a) to supply specialist 

 information to the council, (b) to carry out experi- 

 mental work, (c) to make models or drawings, (d) to 



The various Government departments were notified 

 in August of the existence of this register, and it was 

 made; use of by the Admiralty Inventions Board and 

 by the Metropolitan Munitions Committee. Since 

 then the society has supplied complete copies of the 

 register, classified in subjects, to all the Government 

 departments concerned and to certain other public 

 bodies. Any services rendered to the State under these 

 schemes are given without remuneration by the fellows 

 offering them. 



British Association. 



As an outcome of the Manchester meeting, the 

 British Association has invited the following gentle- 

 men to serve on a committee to consider and report 

 upon the question of fuel economy (utilisation of coal 

 and smoke prevention), from a national point of 

 view : — Prof. W. A, Bone, of the Imperial Col- 

 lege of Science and Technology, London (chairman) ; 

 Mr. E. D. Simon, chairman of the Manchester Air 

 Pollution Committee (secretary) ; Profs. P. P. Bedson 

 (Armstrong College, Newcastfe-on-Tyne), J. W. Cobb 

 and J. B. Cohen (Leeds University), H. B. Dixon 

 (Manchester University), Thomas Gray (Royal Tech- 

 nical College, Glasgow), H. S. Hele-Shaw (London), 

 L. T. O'Shea and W. P. Wynne (Sheffield University), 

 and Richard Threlfall (Birmingham), together with 

 Dr. G. T. Beilby (Glasgow), Mr. Ernest Bury, and 

 Dr. J. E. Stead (Middlesbrough and the Cleveland dis- 

 trict). The committee, which is empowered to add if 

 necessary to its members, has been selected so as to 

 include representative chemists, engineers, and tech- 

 nologists from all the principal industrial areas. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Oxford. — By the will of the late Mr. Christopher 

 Welch, of Wadham College, a well-known authority 

 on musical subjects, a large sum has been placed at 

 the disposal of the University for the endowxnent of 

 scholarships in biology. This is the most important 

 bequest of the kind that the University has received 

 for many years. The conditions under which the 

 scholarships may be gained and held, together with 

 other matters of detail, will be announced in due 

 course. The will contains the notable provision that 

 under certain contingencies the money may go to the 

 support of hospitals, but no hospital where vivisection 

 is disallowed or discountenanced is to benefit, " anti- 

 vivisectionists being enemies of the human race." 



The following courses of free advanced lectures for 

 students of the University of London and others are 

 announced: — Six lectures on " Stelar Anatomy in 

 Angiosperms " will be given at Bedford College by 

 Miss E. N. Thomas, on Mondays, beginning on 

 January 24 ; nine lectures with practical work in dyna- 

 mical meteorology will be held at the Meteorological 

 Office, South Kensington, by Sir Napier Shaw, on 

 Fridays, beginning on January 21. A practical course 

 of statistical meteorology will be available for those 

 who wish to work at that section. The fortnightly 

 meeting's at the Meteorological Office for di^ussion of 

 important contributions to meteorology, chiefly in 

 Colonial or foreign journals, will be resumed on Mon- 

 day, January 10, at 5 p.m.,, and will be continued on 

 alternate Mondays until March 20, inclusive. 



The Association of Public School Science Masters 

 met on January 4 at the London Day Training College 



give facilities to other workers, (e) to make calcula- [ in Southampton Row, and a further meeting is being 

 tions or numerical tables, (/) to make abstracts of 1 held as we go to press. The opening address bv Sir 



technical papers, (g) to make reports on recent de 

 velopments, to do clerical work, etc. 

 NO. 2410, VOL. 96] 



William Osier was on "The Fateful Years: Fifteen 

 to Seventeen." If he started from the years 1915 to 



