August 29, 1918] 



NATURE 



5^9 



Pennsylvanian petroleum consists chief!)' of a large 

 number of hydrocarbons of the paraffin series, whilst 

 naphthenes or polymethylenes are the predominant con- 

 stituents of Russian petroleum. In some descriptions 

 [of crude petroleum, notably those of the Dutch East 

 i Indies, Persia, and Burma, aromatic hydrocarbons are 

 largely present. 



These paraffins and naphthenes are very accom- 

 modating, in the sense that they readily lend them- 

 selves to conversion, by dissociation, or "cracking,'' 

 as it is termed, into other compounds of carbon and 

 hydrogen, of lower boiling-point or higher volatility, 

 which are so largely in demand at the present time 

 in the form of motor-spirit. The conversion occurs 

 when the oil is distilled under pressure or is brought 

 into contact with highly heated surfaces. The 

 'chemical changes which occur in these circumstances 

 and the constitution of the products were investigated 

 by Thorpe and Young many years ago. In 1888 \ 

 was privileged to be associated with the Fullerian pro- 

 fessor in experimental work which involved the con- 

 struction of suitable apparatus for carrying out the 

 process on a practical scale, and it was found that- 

 in order to obtain the best results it was necessary to 

 effect the condensation of the vapour also under pres- 

 sure. The process devised at that time is essentially 

 the same as that which is now very largely carried out 

 in the United States, with the object of augmenting 

 the inadequate supplies of motor-spirit normally ob- 

 tainable from the crude oil by fractional distillation. 

 Bv carrying this treatment further it is possible to 

 obtain aromatic hydrocarbons. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Stonyhurst College, Blackburn, is aiming at raising 

 2o,oooL as a war memorial, and the bulk of this sum 

 will be devoted to the erection of new science labora- 

 tories. 



Mr. S. H. .Strold, formerly demonstrator in chem- 

 istry in the School of Pharmacy, Bloomsbury Square, 

 has been appointed lecturer in pharmacy and chemistry 

 in the University of Sydney, N.S.W. 



Dr. Richard C. Maclaurin', president of Mas- 

 sachusetts Institute of Technology, has, we learn from 

 science, accepted the appointment of director of col- 

 lege training, in charge of the Students' .\rmy Train- 

 ing Corps under the U.S. War Department's Com- 

 mittee on Education and Special Training, which aims 

 at mobilising the higher institutions of learning. 



It is stated in Science that the residuary estate of 

 the late Mr. John W. Sterling, which it is estimated 

 will amount to 3,000,000/., has been left by the terms of 

 his will to Yale University. The clause which gives 

 the residue of the estate to Yale University contains 

 the following passage: — "All the r^st. residue and 

 remainder of my estate not hereinbefore efYectuallv 

 disposed of, I direct my said trustees to dispose of in 

 the manner following: To apply the same, as soon 

 after my decease as may be practicable, to the use 

 and for the benefit of Yale University, in the erection 

 in New Haven. Conn., upon land selected at its ex- 

 • nse by it with the approval of my said trustees, of 

 least one enduring, useful, and architecturally 



autiful fedifice, which will constitute a fitting 

 memorial of mv gratitude to and affection for m\' 

 (ibna mater.'" 



.\ group of large firms engaged in the principal in- 

 dustries of the Manchester district has offered to the 

 governing body of the College of Technology, Man- 

 chester, the sum of 3000I., spread over a period of 



NO. 2548, VOL. lOl] 



I five years, towards the cost of establishing a new 

 j department of industrial management, and this has 

 ; been accepted by the Manchester City Council. A 

 lecturer will shortly be appointed for this period of 

 five years, at a salary of 600/"., to conduct research 

 in the subject of industrial management, to organi-^e 

 a new department, to lecture to members of the 

 college and to the public, and to assist industrial 

 concerns in the solution of management problems. To 

 make doubly sure that the department shall keep in 

 close touch with practice, a number of managers, 

 directors, scientific experts, and others who have had 

 special experience or are responsible for impprtant 

 innovations will be invited to deliver public lectures, 

 being offered substantial fees for placing their know- 

 ledge at the disposal of their fellow-managers, and 

 thus serving to encourage enterprise and experiment 

 in matters connected with management. 



A SIGNIFICANT indication of the Government's atti- 

 tude towards higher education and of its readiness to 

 increase the State aid^o universities was given by the 

 Prime Minister in his reply to a deputation, which he 

 recently received, reptesentative of university educa- 

 tion in Wales. That the Government is prepared to 

 approach the question of grants to education in a spirit 

 totally different from that which formerly prevailed was 

 made abundantly clear by Mr. Lloyd George. In 

 Wales it is proposed that the county councils should 

 levy a penny rate for higher education, and some of 

 the councils have already decided to do so ; and the 

 Government is now asked to give a pound for each 

 pound raised locally. Before an increased grant will 

 be made, however, the University authorities must 

 draw up a scheme for the expenditure of the money, 

 and *his must receive the approval of the Government, 

 advised by the President of the Board of Education. 

 It is also laid down as an essential condition of in- 

 creased aid that the county councils shall agree to a 

 pooling of their resources," and that the county con- 

 tributions shall be made unconditionally and without 

 the claim that so much of the money shall be used 

 for founding scholarships. It is explained that any 

 increased grant made as a result of increased local 

 effort will be supplementary to the grants made for 

 the training of teachers and' for agricultural education, 

 and every indication of a desire to give much greater 

 assistance to universities was shown by the remarks 

 of the Prime Minister. The question of making pro- 

 portionate grants by the State towards capital expendi- 

 ture is under consideration. The treatment given to 

 Wales will be given to other universities also, and the 

 Prime Minister stated that every claim for increased 

 State aid on behalf of other universities would be con- 

 sidered bv the President of the Board of Education 

 " in a thoroughly liberal and enlightened spirit." 

 Special reference, it should be add*'d, was made to the 

 low scale of salaries and pensions for professors — 

 "There is no greater folly than to underpay these men. 

 apart from the' cruelty 'of it. It is stupid beyond 

 words; it is unutterably stupid "—and the University 

 of Wales is admonished, in any scheme which it may 

 submit, to do something to improve the pay and sense 

 of security of the teacher. .\s the amount of State aid 

 will depend on the amount of local contributions, it 

 is to be hoped that the country as a whole will rise to 

 a sense of its responsibilities and its privileges. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Faraday Society, July 23. — Sir Robert Hadfield. presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — J. G. .•\. Rhodin : Contributions to 

 the chemistry of aluminium and aluminium alloVs. The 

 J paper dealt with the sorting of various kinds of scrap 



