i^o 



NATURE 



[April i8, 19 li 



standard, post-secondary institutions and depart- 

 ments doing advanced work might be recognised 

 as providing part of the courses for a distinct 

 technological degree which the University would 

 establish. 



By the institution of this new faculty and board, 

 6n which the local industries would be represented, 

 it has been sought to meet " the strong feeling of 

 distrust entertained towards the University and 

 centralised control by certain industrial and com- 

 mercial interests in South Wales." In relation 

 to the University this new faculty and board 

 *' should have all reasonable liberty to bring their 

 special knowledge and. experience to bear on what 

 Avill often be local problems, but they cannot 

 claim to be given a greater degree of independence 

 than that enjoyed by a constituent college. It is 

 conceivable, for example, that individuals or 

 associations may desire to place large sums of | 

 money at the disposal of the board, and that by 

 these means, or in other ways, the faculty and 

 board of technology might be able to give a bias 

 to the general development of the colleges or to 

 the character of courses for degrees which would 

 be contrary to the general principles upon which ' 

 our recommendations are framed and incon- \ 

 sistent with any real control on the part of the [ 

 University or the colleges." The Commissioners 

 utter this warning : — I 



But there is a serious danger lest short views should 

 be taken of the true function of the university, and of I 

 the nature of the contributions to the common good j 

 which it is most fitted to make. Great advances in 

 the application of science to industry have often been 1 

 made possible by the discoveries of students who had 

 no such object in view, but were impelled simply by 

 the desire to extend the bounds of knowledge and 

 solve some problem in the realm of pure science. 



With regard to the development of medical 

 studies it is recommended that the proposed 

 National School of Medicine should be organised 

 as an independent constituent college of the Uni- 

 versity governed by a council and senate of its 

 own. Towards the erection of the necessary 

 buildings the sum of 90,000?. has been promised 

 by a private donor, and the gift of a further sum 

 of 30,000!. has recently been announced for the 

 endowment of a chair of preventive medicine. 



On the financial side it is recognised that, in 

 order to carry out all the legitimate developments 

 of the work of the University and its colleges, - 

 an additional annual income of about ioo,oooZ. 

 will be necessary, to be raised by increased local 

 subscriptions and private gifts and by a propor- 

 tionate increase of the Government grant; and it 

 is held that increased remuneration and provision 

 for superannuation for the teaching staffs of the 

 colleges constitute a foremost claim on such in- 

 creased revenue. 



The principles and recommendations put for- 

 ward by the Commissioners afford an excellent 

 opportunity for renewed effort, and if the people 

 of Wales will rise to the height of their oppor- 

 tunity, higher education in science and technology 

 is assured of a bright future in the Principality. 

 NO. 2529, VOL. lOl] 



ANATOMICAL NOMENCLATURE. 

 A T a recent meeting of the Anatomical Society 

 ■^~^ of Great Britain and Ireland steps were taken 

 to clear up the chaos which has overtaken the 

 nomenclature employed by human and vertebrate 

 anatomists in this country. In 1889 the Anatomical 

 Society of Germany appointed a commission to pre- 

 pare a revised nomenclature — one which was finally 

 adopted by the society when it met at Basle in 

 1895, and hence known as the "Basle Nomina 

 Anatomica," usually spoken of as the B.N. A. 

 nomenclature. The majority of British anatomists 

 have never favoured or accepted the B.N. A. 

 nomenclature, not because of its origin, but be- 

 cause of its intrinsic defects. The French and 

 Italian anatomists also refused to adopt it. 

 Unfortunately, the Basle terminology has been 

 adopted in our leading English text-books on 

 human anatomy, while the majority of teachers 

 have continued to use the terminology which is 

 native to Britain. The result has been to intro- 

 duce a state of chaos bewildering to the pupil as 

 well as to the teacher. 



The resolution passed unanimously by the 

 Anatomical Society at its meeting in King's Col- 

 lege on March i is a definite pronouncement 

 against the adoption of the Basle nomenclature 

 by British anatomists. The terms of the resolu- 

 tion were as follows : — 



This society sees no reason for departing from the 

 use of the old nomenclature as the recognised medium 

 of description for employment in anatomical text-books 

 and departments or by medical men in general. On 

 the other hand, it thinks there are very good reasons 

 to be urged against the adoption of any other nomen- 

 clature for this purpose. 



NOTES. 



The Bakerian lecture of the Royal Society will be 

 delivered on Thursday, April 25, by Sir Charles Par- 

 sons, on " Exper'iments on the Production of 

 JDiamond. " Sir Charles Parsons will also describe 

 Jiis experiments on the formation of the diamond at the 

 eighth annual May lecture which he is to give before 

 the Institute of Metals on May 2. In view of the 

 special character of the occasion, the council of the 

 Institute of Metals has decided to make this an open 

 meeting. Persons desiring to be present should apply 

 —enclosing a stamped and addressed envelope — for 

 cards of invitation to Mr. G. Shaw Scott, 36 Victoria 

 Street, S.W.i. 



The council of the Royal Society has appointed a 

 committee to investigate and report on the possibility 

 of obtaining and replacing food materials and other 

 necessaries by the utilisation of natural products not 

 hitherto generally employed for such purposes. Sug- 

 gestions as to such products and the means of organis- 

 ing their collection should be addressed to the secre- 

 tary of the Natural Products Committee, Royal Society, 

 Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W.i. 



The secretary of the Decimal Association informs us 

 that at the annual meeting of the Associated Chambers 

 of Commerce held on April 9 and 10 a motion was 

 adopted urging the Government to pass into law the 

 Decimal Coinage Bill prepared by the Executive 

 Council of the Associated Chambers of Commerce in 



