244 



NATURE 



[May 30, 19 1 8 





"The existing doctorates of the home universities 

 should, if possible, be maintained, and their present 

 standard should not be lowered." 



The words "if possible " in this resolution seem to 

 give away the case, and justify the Senate in the 

 action it has taken. 



In the paragraph of the article immediately follow- 

 ing that from which I have already quoted the writer 

 destroys the argument as to the extreme importance 

 of the establishment of the new degree. He says that 

 "university professorships will be filled everywhere 

 by men who have shown by their work and teaching 

 that they are qualified and eager to advance knowv 

 ledge in their respective subjects, and the abler 

 students will go to the abler teachers. . . . Degrees 

 have very little to do with the matter." 



This is the heart of the matter, and is exactly 

 what is implied in the second reason given by the 

 Academic Council against the establishment of a new 

 degree, namely, that " the abler students come to 

 London on account of the facilities for study, and not 

 primaril}' to get an English degree." If the writer 

 of the article will read over again the documents in 

 support of the summary of reasons given by the 

 Academic Council for and against the establishment of 

 the new degree,, he will find in the report of* the 

 Imperial Studies Committee that emphasis is laid 

 on "the opportunities of work under English scholars 

 of international reputation." These opportunities are 

 included in the facilities for study, which, in the 

 opinion of the Academic Council, do not consist 

 wholly of "museums, libraries, and laboratories." 



It should be borne in mind that the conclusions of 

 the Academic Council are in entire accordance with 

 the opinion of the members of the Imperial Studies 

 Committee, of which the chairman is Lord Bryce, and 

 which includes many members who are not only 

 acquainted with the academic point of view, but also 

 able to bring to bear on this matter their varied ex- 

 perience of public affairs, M. J. M. Hill. 



University College, London, W.C.i, May i4„ 



Having already expressed, my view in the article 

 which is criticised by Prof. Hill, I can only add that 

 America and Canada have asked for one thing, and 

 the University of London, in response to their 

 demand, has offered another. Which of the two 

 parties is supported by the more cogent reasons for 

 its action is a matter of opinion. Mine has been 

 already sufficiently expressed, and I am supported by 

 the belief that it is shared by others who are more 

 intimate with the feelings and conditions which led 

 to the original request from overseas. W. A. T.- 



May 18. 



Proposed Society of Science Students. 



For some time past we have had in mind the 

 desirabinty of the existence of a society of young 

 scientific students for mutual help.- There are no 

 doubt many enthusiastic students of science who, like 

 ourselves, have to rely chiefly on their own efforts for 

 their progress in science, and we think that, it would 

 be of great advantage to them if they could co-operate 

 in such matters as the purchase of apparatus, 

 materials, and books, and combine for mutual help. 

 There is no society which fully provides for these, 

 and we have decided, after careful consideration, to 

 endeavour to try to get into touch with some of this 

 class of students through the columns of Nature. 

 Will those students who are interested in the subject 

 please cornmunicate with Mr. P. E. Owens, 28 Jesse 

 Terrace, Castle Hill, Reading? J. A. Butler. 



P. E. OWKNS. 



NO. 2535, VOL. lOl] 



CLOUDS AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 



THE smoke and haze which commonly obscure 

 •the sky in large cities, and the otherwise 

 restricted outlook, allow the town dweller inade- 

 quate opportunities for the study of clouds, but 

 to those who live in the country, and to the 

 observant worker in a town when spending- a 

 holiday away from his native place, the ever-vary- 

 ing cloud effects form quite as attractive an 

 object of interest as the countryside itself. This 

 being so, it might be thought that in landscape 

 scenes artists would devote at least as much 

 attention to the sky and the clouds above as to- 

 the hills and valleys below. That this is not the 

 case will be painfully evident to the meteorologist, 

 or even to the ordinary intelligent observer of 

 Nature who visits the Royal Academy and makes, 

 but a cursory examination of Its walls. Let it 

 be granted at once that there are notable excep- 

 tions, but the conclusion cannot be resisted that 

 to many artists the clouds form a very subsidiary 

 part of the picture, and are put in to produce what 

 to the artist's eye is presumably a pleasing effect,, 

 but without the least regard to natural truth. 



The majority of the clouds appearing in this 

 year's exhibition belong to the strato-cumulus or 

 fracto-cumulus type, though, as , would be ex- 

 p>ected, the hard • convection cumulus, the most 

 striking of all clouds, is not neglected. Per- 

 haps the most remarkable feature is the almost 

 entire neglect of high clouds of the cirrus and 

 cirro-cumulus types, which produce some of the 

 most beautiful effects in Nature. Cirro-cumulus is- 

 shown in one or two sunset pictures, and a not 

 entirely successful attempt has been made in one 

 case to depict the sun shining feebly through an 

 alto-stratus veil; but true cirrus is almost entirely 

 unrepresented. In "The Passing of Autumn" 

 (91) the meteorologist may think that he detects 

 a fragment of false cirrus showing up against a 

 rather fine cumulus, but the remaining clouds in 

 this picture spoil what might otherwise have been 

 a successful cloud study. True cumulus should 

 surely be a cloud type which would lend itself to 

 the artist's needs without any departure from the 

 forms, provided by Nature; but in many cases 

 these clouds are given the most grotesque and 

 unreal shapes, which completely spoil the picture 

 to the observant lover of the country. On the 

 other .hand, some of the most successful clouds 

 in the exhibition appear in B. W. Leader's "The 

 Weald of Surrey " (51) and A, R. Quinton's 

 "The Road over the Downs, Sussex" (695), 

 where clouds of the cumulus and strato-cumulus 

 types are both true to Nature and blend admirably 

 with the peaceful scenes depicted. Less peaceful, 

 but with an equally admirable effect, is A. W. 

 Parsons 's " Rolling from the West" (196), where 

 similar clouds are depicted over the sea. 

 In the most prominent picture of the second 

 gallery, "Cader Idris " (87), H. Hughes-Stanton 

 includes clouds of the cumulus type which, in 

 their hard outlines and rather unnatural colour- 

 ing, are very jarring when inspected from any of 

 the nearer parts of the room ; but if the picture is 



