404 



NATURE 



[May 27, 1920 



blast-furnaces and coke-ovens exceed the require- 

 ments of the blast-furnaces, he regards it as probable 

 that in cases where coke-ovens, blast-furnaces, and 

 steelworks are grouped together sufficient gas will 

 be available to do all the heating at the steelworks 

 without using any raw coal. 



(2) Electric. Furnaces. — The electro-thermal steel fur- 

 nace, which up to 19 14 had produced only a very 

 small proportion even of the higher gfrades of steel, 

 was developed with great rapidity in this country 

 during- the war. Germany led in this branch of the 

 industry, and most of the German electric steel was 

 made by refining basic Bessemer steel. Furnaces of 

 30 tons capacity were used for this purpose. The 

 U.S.A., Italy, and France were all ahead of England 

 in production. To-day the U.S.A. leads, followed by 

 Germany and England. It is stated, however, that 

 the actual number of furnaces and the amount of power 

 used are greater in England than in Germany. By the 

 end of 19 18 nO' fewer than about 140 furnaces of all 

 types were in use in this country, with a production of 

 150,000 tons per annum. During: the war the output 

 in these furnaces was principally used for making 

 steel for bullet-proof plates, aeroplanes, motor-cars, 

 armour-piercing- shells, and steel helmets. Stainless 

 steel is being- made in increasing quantities, as are 

 also nickel-chromium and other alloy steels. The 

 significant statement is made that on the Tyne electro- 

 thermal steel is being- manufactured at a price which 

 can compete with the acid open-hearth steel, since cheap 

 power is available from coke-oven gas. A great ad- 

 vance is foreshadowed in Dr. Stead's reference to 

 the melting of steel in vacuo. Mr. Albert Hiorth, of 

 Christiania, has designed an induction furnace of 

 this type in which the steel is melted and then cooled. 

 Afterwards it is removed and cut up into sections 

 for forg-ings. It is stated that in this wav steel free 

 from honevcomb and gases is obtained. While it is 

 probable that this process is likely to be, for the pre- 

 sent, applied onlv to the highest qualities of steel, ex- 

 perience mav indicate the desirability of its extension 

 to other varieties later on. 



(3) Technical Educaiion. — Dr. Stead finally puts in a 

 powerful olea for the better education of the technical 

 staffs and workmen engag^ed in the industry. He 

 mentions that many years ag-o he discussed and for- 

 mulated a scheme with the late Mr. Andrew Carnegie 

 wherebv there was to be established in everv indus- 

 trial centre an institute which could be used as the 

 headquarters of local technical societies, consisting- 

 of metallurgists, engineers, electricians, chemists, 

 and others. At this centre proceedings of technical 

 societies and all technical publications were to be 

 assembled. Indexes of subject-matter would be pre- 

 pared by a competent staff, and supplied to the 

 g-eneral managers of the various industries. After 

 many years' discussion a step in this direction has 

 been taken in the Middlesbrough district. Suitable 

 premises have been obtained, which are being re- 

 constructed to meet local requirements. The sum of 

 about io,oooZ. has been subscribed, and there are 

 promises of annual subscriptions. This, however, is 

 only a beg-inning, and Dr. Stead, who has nothing 

 if not vision, contemplates an annual contribution 

 from the iron and steel industry for the purpose of 

 making the scheme adequate. He suggests a con- 

 tribution of o-i per cent, on the capital invested, or 

 I per cent, on the actual dividends. Taking- the 

 former at, roughly, about 250,000,000!., the annual 

 charg-e would be 250,000!. A fund of this magnitude 

 should be suflficient in his opinion to enable technical 

 institutes to be established and maintained in the 

 eight princioal iron- and steel-making districts and in 



NO. 2639, VOL. 105] 



London, and to carry on their work with a " fair 

 degree of efficiency. " It is to be hoped that this 

 suggestion of Dr. Stead's will be vigorously taken 

 up by his council, and a serious attempt made to 

 bring- it to fruition. H, C. H. Carpenter. 



The University of London. 



Government Offer of a Site. 



A T a meeting- of the Senate of the Universitv of 

 ■^"*- London, held on May 18, the Vice-Chancellor, 

 Dr. Russell Wells, reported that the Chancellor, the 

 Earl of Rosebery, had received from the President 

 of the Board of Education, Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, 

 a communication in the following terms, dated 

 April 7 : — 



" The Government have watched with sympathetic 

 interest the efforts which the universities have been 

 making to fit themselves for the task that the period 

 of reconstruction imposes on them, and to take 

 advantage of the opportunities for extending their 

 usefulness which are offered by the steadily growing 

 public recognition of the national importance of a 

 good system of university education. Nowhere are 

 the opportunities more favourable than in London ; 

 for as the capital city of the Empire, with the un- 

 matched facilities for manv branches of study and 

 research which its great national collections, hospitals, 

 and public institutions provide, London has alwavs 

 attracted a large number of students, not only from 

 all parts of the United Kingdom, but also from over-' 

 seas. The war has deepened the general sense of 

 Imperial and international solidarity and has spread 

 more widelv an understanding of the mutual benefits 

 which the different peoples derive from drawing closer 

 the_ relations between their educational systems; and 

 it is accordingly to be anticipated that in the near 

 future many more university students will be coming 

 to London from our Dominions and Colonies and 

 from foreign countries. This will inevitably place a 

 very serious strain upon the teaching resources of 

 the Universitv of London and will add considerably 

 to the alreadv grave difficulties of org-anisation bv 

 which the University has long been confronted. The 

 Government have, during- the past \-ear, sanctioned 

 large increases in the grani to the teaching institu- 

 tions included in the Universitv of London, as in 

 the grants 'to the other universities and collee^es 

 throughout the country, and no doubt these addi- 

 tional grants should go some way towards enabling 

 the University to meet its increased responsibilities. 

 The mere increase of the erants to individual colleges 

 will not, however, by itself dispose of the special 

 problem which London University has to solve, and 

 the Government are accordinsrlv prepared to take a 

 further steo which thev consider likely to prove of 

 verv material assistance to the University at this 

 critical stage of its develooment. 



" It has seemed to the Government that this i<; a 

 suitable time at which to make an offer which thev 

 have long had under consideration and which th^v 

 think should heln to remove a good many of the 

 administrative difficulties involved in the housing- 

 of the University headquarter^ in the Imperial 

 Institute at South Kensington. The Government are 

 now in a position to acquire a site of about iif acres 

 behind the British Museum, and thev offer to devote 

 it gratis and in perpetuitv to the provision of a site 

 for new headquarters of the Universitv and for colleges 

 and institutions connected with it, including King's 

 College, whose premises in the Strand are now 



