246 



NATURE 



[October 29, 19 14 



seeds of Nipa now abound in the waters of the Ganges, 

 the seeds of their Tertiary predecessors floated in the 

 river by which the muddy sediments were deposited 

 that now form the London clay. The subtropical flora 

 of England was gradually modified and partially exter- 

 minated as the result of changes in physical conditions 

 which culminated in the Ice age. 



It has long been known that in many parts of the 

 British coast there are exposed at low tide stretches of 

 peaty soil containing stumps of forest trees ; these 

 submerged forests, or Noah's Woods as they have 

 been locally named, in reference to their supposed 

 connection with the Deluge, point to a higher level 

 of the land subsequent to the Glacial period. It is 

 probable that at the time represented by the oldest 

 submerged forest the whole of the southern part of 

 the North Sea " was an alluvial flat connecting Britain 

 with Holland and Denmark, and to some extent with 

 France." ^ The prevalence of the oak indicates a 

 mild climate : the fauna and flora as preserved in the 

 submerged forests are described by Mr. Clement Reid 

 as poor and monotonous, characteristic of a period 

 of transition between the Ice age and the climatic 

 conditions of modern times. In the alternate succes- 

 sion of old forest-beds and estuarine silts we have an 

 epitome of changing level and fluctuating climates, 

 in part at least during the Neolithic age and extend- 

 ing into the period when man used polished flinf 

 implements ; the Arctic plants had disappeared, and 

 at a later stage, as the climate improved, more 

 southern species were able to establish themselves on 

 British soil. 



The testing of climate by means of fossil plants 

 becomes easier the nearer we approach the present 

 era ; the greater the contrast between the floras of 

 the past and those of the present the more hazardous 

 it is to draw conclusions as to temperature. It is 

 from a careful study of the anatomical characters of 

 extinct plants that we are enabled to form opinions, 

 not so much as to temperature, but as to the relation 

 of the plants to water and light as indicated by those 

 structural features which in recent species afford the 

 safest index of external conditions. As our knowledge 

 of recent plants increases and we learn more about 

 the operation of the several factors concerned in the 

 moulding of structure, the better able we shall be to 

 speak with confidence as to the conditions under which 

 they lived and extracted from the atmosphere the 

 carbon from which we now regain the energy origin- 

 ally absorbed as sunlight by the green leaves of 

 Palaeozoic plants. As additional facts accumulate with 

 regard to the geographical distribution of the plants 

 of former ages we shall be in a better position to 

 confirm or to modify the conclusions based on the 

 material now available as to the comparative 

 uniformity of climatic conditions in the Jurassic 

 period. Much of the palaeobotanist's work necessarilv 

 consists in the collection and identification of material 

 preserved in sedimentary rocks, but one o'f his aims 

 should be to acquire such knowledge of the present 

 relation between plants and their habitats as may 

 enable him to interpret with greater confidence the 

 botanical records of former ages. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Lord Kitchener has been elected rector of the 

 University of Edinburgh by the unanimous vote of the 

 students. 



Dr. Sydney Chapman, who was elected a fellow of 

 Trinity College, Cambridge, last year, has now been 

 appointed to the staff of the college as lecturer in 



- " Submerged Forests." Clement Reid. 



NO. 2348, VOL. 94] 



applied mathematics, and has resigned his position as 

 chief assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 

 Mr. John Jackson, Trinity College, Cambridge, has 

 succeeded him at Greenwich. 



A COPY of the new issue of "The Cambridge Pocket 

 Diary, 1914-15 " has been received from the Cam- 

 bridge University Press. The diary appeals especially 

 to teachers and students in institutions of higher 

 education, because it covers the academic year instead 

 .of following the ordinary calendar. 



By the will of the late Mr, William Gibson the sum 

 of io,oooZ. is bequeathed to Queen's College, Belfast, 

 upon trust for investment and to form a " Gibson 

 Scholarship Fund," of which the income is to be 

 applied in the encouragement of education in agricul- 

 ture by the establishment of Gibson Scholarships for 

 resident undergraduates of the college, being sons of 

 farmers in the counties of Down or .Antrim. 



The Manchester School of Technology possesses 

 particulars of more than 550 students who were in 

 attendance, at the college during the academic year 

 1913-14 and are now serving in various branches of 

 his Majesty's forces. With a view to the completion 

 of a roll of honour, which shall also include the names 

 of past students engaged upon military service, the 

 registrar will be glad to receive any information from 

 such persons themselves or from their relatives or 

 friends. 



The Martell Scholarship in Naval Architecture has 

 been awarded by the council of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects to Mr. F. J. A. Pound, H.M. Dockyard, 

 Portsmouth, who is now proceeding to the Royal 

 Naval College, Greenwich. The scholarship is of the 

 value of looZ. per annum, and tenable for three years. 

 The fund which is being raised in connection with 

 the Institution of Naval Architects as a memorial to 

 Sir William White has now reached a total of nearly 

 3000?., and it has been decided to devote the principal 

 part of the fund to the establishment of a scholarship 

 for research work in naval architecture, particulars of 

 which will be announced in due couise. 



It is announced in Science that Baker University, 

 Baldwin, Kan., has completed its 100,000/. endowment 

 fund, of which the general education board of New 

 York gave io,oooZ. The rest was contributed by 

 10,000 persons, the largest gift from any one of them 

 being 5000Z. The people of Baldwin, a town of 1200 

 population, gave 9000/. Central College, Fayette, 

 Mo., too, our contemporary says, has completed a 

 campaign to increase the productive endowment of 

 the college by 6o,oooZ. Of this amount the general 

 educational board contributed 15,000/. This fund in- 

 creases the endowment of Central College to ioo,oooZ. 

 The grounds, buildings, and equipment are valued at 

 6o,oooi. 



.\n interesting indication of the effect of the war on 

 American universities, says the Scientific American, is 

 afforded in a statement given out recently from the 

 chemistry department at Columbia University. 

 According to that department, students who prior to 

 the war had arranged to go to Germany to study now 

 seek information as to the courses afforded in the 

 United States, and it was estimated that when the 

 University opened, the registration at Columbia in all 

 of its departments would be materially increased 

 through the students who cannot pursue their studies 

 abroad. One of the courses which is especially attract- 

 ing those who had contemplated a winter at the 

 German institutions is that afforded in industrial 

 chemistry. 



The following free Chadwick Public Lectures will 

 be delivered in London during the months Novem- 

 ber, 1914, to January, 1915 : — November 14, 21, and 



