May 6, 1920] 



NATURE 



313 



I homson, Sir Joseph Larmor, Sir J, G. Frazer, Prof. 

 James Ward, Mr. C. M. Doughty, and Prof. Bergson. 



The Sheepshanks exhibition in astronomy has been 

 awarded to E. S. Pearson, scholar of Trinity College. 



The first examination for the diploma in medical 

 radiology and electrology will be held on July 27 

 next. 



Mr. H. Hamshaw Thomas has been re-appointed 

 curator of the Botanical Museum. 



London. — A course of eight lectures on " Nutri- 

 tion," by Prof. E. Mellanby, at King's College for 

 Women, Campden Hill Road, Kensington, VV.8, 

 was begun on Monday, May 3, and will be con- 

 tinued at 5 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, May 10, 

 II, 17, 18, and 31 and June i. Another course of 

 eight lectures on "The Biochemistry of Sterols " will 

 be given by Mr. J. A. Gardner in' the Physiological 

 Laboratory of the University, South Kensington, 

 S.VV.7, at 5 p.m., on Tuesdays, May iS and 25, 

 June I, 8, 15, 22, and 29, and July 6. The lectures 

 are addressed to advanced students of the University 

 and to others interested in the subject. Admission is 

 free, without ticket. 



At University College, on Wednesday next. 

 May 12, at 5.30, Dr. Charles Singer will deliver a 

 public inaugural lecture, as lecturer in the history of 

 medicine, on "Greek Science and Modern Science: 

 A Comparison and a Contrast." The chair will be 

 taken by Sir Robert Hadfield, Bart. 



Oxford. — On May 4 Convocation passed a decree 

 gratefully accepting the offer of Mr. Edward Whitley, 

 of Trinity College; of a sum of io,oooI. towards the 

 endowment of a professorship of biochemistry, and 

 providing that the first appointment of a professor 

 shall be made by Mr. Whitley, subject to the approval 

 of the Vice-Chancellor and the professors of medicine, 

 phvsiology, chemistry, and pharmacology. 



By another decree Convocation expressed its thanks 

 to the British Dyestuffs Corporation for its muni- 

 ficent donation of 5000/. towards the cost of extending 

 the organic chemical laboratory. 



These gifts to the University are most timely and 

 welcome. The opportunity thus afforded for the study 

 of the important subject of biochemistry in the Uni- 

 versity is likely to have far-reaching results; while 

 increased accommodation for the department of 

 organic chemistry has for some time past been 

 urgently needed. 



The chairman and directors of the Cunard Steam- 

 ship Company have decided to contribute io,oooI. to 

 the appeal fund of the University of Liverpool. 



The Hon. Sir Charles A. Smith, for many years 

 Controller and Auditor-General of Cape Colony, who 

 died a year ago, bequeathed 15,000^. to the Master 

 and fellows of St. Peter's (Peterhouse) College, Cam- 

 bridge, " for the advancement of education and 

 learning, the fund to be associated with his nam^^." 



We are glad to learn that the appeal of the College 

 of Technology, Manchester, for 150,000^. for the ex- 

 tension of its building:! is meeting with a satisfactory 

 response. The total amount subscribed for the 

 extension of university education in Manchester in- 

 cludes the subscriptions to this fund as well as the 

 175,000!. or thereabouts subscribed in response to the 

 appeal for 500,000!. for faculties other than technology. 



Notice is given by the University of Bristol of the 

 impending award of the Vincent Stuckey Lean 

 scholarship in botany. The scholarship, value 36/. 

 and tenable for one year, is open to graduates of any 

 university on the understanding that the successful 

 candidate undertakes research work in botany in the 

 University. Applications must be made on or before 

 May 22 to the registrar of the University of Bristol. 

 NO. 2636, VOL. 105] 



When the University of Bristol Was established in 

 1909 the city possessed one of the best-equipped 

 engineering faculties in the United Kingdom; but 

 since then great improvements have taken place in 

 many other universities, and the time has come when, 

 in order to hold its own, the Bristol engineering 

 faculty needs further equipment. The Merchant Ven- 

 turers, in whose college the faculty is provided and 

 maintained, have decided, therefore, to undertake con- 

 siderable extensions. The total cost of the alterations 

 and additions will amount to about ii,oooI., and it is 

 hoped that a considerable part of the extensions will 

 be available for use during next session, when the 

 number of advanced students in the faculty will be 

 very greatly increased. Last term there were 1340 

 students in the faculty of engineering— 271 in the day- 

 time and 1069 in the evening. 



The scientific and efficient use of steel and other 

 metals, both in mechanical and structural engineering, 

 depends on the collaboration of the metallurgist and 

 the engineer. The examination of metals under a 

 microscope is, perhaps, a matter for the metallurgist 

 rather than the engineer, but this branch of testing of 

 materials has now become of such importance that it 

 is essential that the engineer should be able to follow 

 the methods employed and to judge something of the 

 properties of a material from photomicrographs. Most 



I engineers have some detailed knowledge of the 

 mechanical tests which should be carried out before a 



I particular material is used in construction, but there 

 are large numbers who are not in touch with modern 

 work on metallography. We have pleasure, therefore, 

 in directing attention to six lectures on " Metallography 

 for Engineers," by Dr. W. Rosenhain, which have 

 been arranged to be given at King's College, Strand, 

 W C 2, on Thursdays at 6 o'clock, commencing on 

 Thursdav, May 13. The lectures form part of the post- 

 ctraduate' work of the engineering department of the 

 college. Thev are, however, open to all students and 

 engineers. The oost-graduate courses for engineers at 

 King's College deserve to be widely known. During 

 this session the lectures have included courses on 

 "Metrologv and Engineering Standardisation, by 

 Mr. J E Sears ; " Central Station Practice,' by Mr. 

 C H. Wordingham; and "Irrigation, by Mr. 

 n' F. Mackenzie. Arrangements have alreadv been 

 made for similar courses next session, and full par- 

 ticulars of these can be obtained from the secretary 

 of the college. 



Societies and Academies. 

 London. 

 Royal Society, April 22.— Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- 

 dent in the chair.-H. W. Hilllar : Experiments on 

 the pressure-wave thrown out by submarine explo- 

 sions A method is described for determining the 

 lime-pressure curve at a given point in water in he 

 neighbourhood of an exploded charge. T^e method 

 depends, 'in principle, on measuring the growing 

 velocity of a short steel piston exposed at one end to 

 pressure in water. This method was applied in a 

 comprehensive deep-water investigation of Pf^^^ure- 

 waves springing from a great variety of charges 

 Comparisons were made between various kind, of 

 explosive, including gunpowder, which gives results 

 remarkably different from those yielded by high- 

 explosives. The general behaviour o the pressure- 

 wave was found to approximate closely to that ot a 

 sound-wave. Its velocity was measured directly and 

 found not to differ sensibly from that of sound in 

 sea-water (4900 ft. sec). The pressure falls off in 



