June 17, 1920] 



NATURE 



505 



to be of abiding interest to naturalists and sports- 

 men. The collection consists of 550 specimens — the 

 greater part from South and East Africa— of splendid 

 heads. It also includes nineteen magnificent lion- 

 skins and a skull of the South African white rhino- 

 ceros— an extinct species — with exceptionally fine 

 horns. 



The collection of birds' eggs consists of 7010 speci- 

 mens obtained in Great Britain, Europe, and Asia 

 Minor. The great feature of the collection is that 

 Capt. Selous personally took every egg from the nest 

 himself. He would never accept any egg or clutch 

 of eggs offered to him by a friend," nor would he 

 purchase one from a dealer. 



At the summons of a friend announcing the dis- 

 coverv of some rare bird's nest he would often travel 

 ^ very long distances, e.g. from one end of the British 

 '. Isles to the other, in order that he might personally 

 identify the parent birds and personally take the eggs 

 from the nest. For this reason, no less than for the 

 amazing neatness and methodical care with which it 

 was arranged, to say nothing of hs comprehensive 

 range, the collection is. a particularly valuable one. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Birmingham.— On tiie advice of Sir John Cadman, 

 whose appointment as a technical adviser to the 

 Government on matters relating to coal and petroleum 

 is announced, the department of miijing is to be re- 

 organised and extended. In addition to the new pro- 

 fessor of mining there is to be an assistant-orofessor 

 of petroleum technology. It is hoped that Sir John 

 Cadman will still retain some connection with the 

 faculty of science. 



Prof. F. W. Burstall has been elected dean of the 

 faculty of science, to succeed Sir John Cadman. 



Cambridge.-^As briefly announced last week, a 

 scheme for endowing a school of biochemistry has 

 been approved by the High Court of Justice, and has 

 now been submitted to the University by Sir Jeremiah 

 Colman, Bart., on behalf of the trustees of the late 

 Sir William Dunn, Bart. The residuary estate of Sir 

 William Dunn was left in trust for certain charitable 

 purposes, including the alleviation of human suffering. 

 The trustees propose, with that object in view, to 

 encourage and endow with the substantial sum of 

 i6o,oooi. the- study of biochemistry, one of the funda- 

 mentar sciences of medicine, the progress of which is 

 essential to the advance of medical knowledge. 

 Having- regard to the fact that the study of bio- 

 chemistry in this country had its first beginnings in Cam- 

 bridge, and is at present being carried on there without 

 endowment under Prof. Gowland Hopkins, the trustees 

 offer the University 165,000?. to found tTie Sir William 

 Dunn School of Biochemistry. Of this sum they allot 

 25,000?. to endow a professorship and lo.oooL to 

 endow a readership in biochemistry, the balance to be 

 used in erecting and equipping an institute of bio- 

 chemistry and in providing ifunds for its maintenance 

 and upkeep and an endowment for research work. 



This munificent benefaction is a most pleasing 

 tribute to the work of Prof. Hopkins and his col- 

 leagues. 



Dr. T. G. Adami, Vice-Chancellor of Liverpoor Uni- 

 versity, has been elected honorary fellow of Jesus 

 Collecfp. 



Mr. J. E. Littletvood, Trinity College, has been 

 appointed Cayley lecturer in mathematics, and Mr. 

 T. H. Grace, Peterhousp, has been re-appointed 

 University lecturer in mathematics. 



The Special Board for Mathematics has recom- 

 mended the substitution cif thermodvnamits for 



NO. 2642, VOL. 105] 



elementary optics in Schedule .\ of Part II. of the 

 Mathematical Tripos. 



In connection with the coming meeting of the 

 British Medical Association at Cambridge, honorary 

 degrees are proposed for the Master of Pembroke, 

 Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, Jules Bordet, A. Calmettey 

 H. Cushing, S. Flexner, Piero Giacosa, Major-Gen. 

 Gorgas, Sir George Makins, Sir Patrick Manson, and 

 Sir Norman Moore. • 



Liverpool. — The council of the University has 

 appointed Mr. T. R. Wilton as lecturer in dock and 

 harbour engineering, with the title of associate- 

 professor. Mr. Wilton is closely connected with the 

 Liverpool Engineering Society, and has done valuable 

 work, for that body as hon. secretary — a position he 

 has held since 1907. He has been for some vears 

 special lecturer in dock and harbour construction at 

 the University, has carried out . important inves- 

 tigations on the movement of sand and currents, and 

 ..has also taken observations of a practical nature on 

 the Mersey. 



Mr. H. Richardson, of the Municipal College of 

 Technology, Manchester, has been appointed principal 

 of the Bradford Technical College in succession to 

 Prof. W. M. Gardner. 



The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is oper» 

 to receive until July 15 nominations for a limited 

 number of research scholarships ip agricultural 

 science, each tenable for two years, and of the annual 

 value of 2ooi. Candidates must be graduates with 

 honours in science of British universities, with evi- 

 dence of high proficiency in subjects having a direct 

 bearing on agriculture, and be nominated by a pro- 

 fessor or lecturer of a university or college. Nomina- 

 tion forms are obtainable from the General Secretary 

 of the Ministry, 72 Victoria Street, S.W.i. 



The Library Association Record for May contains a 

 paper on "Technical Libraries and Intelligence" by 

 Major W. E.' Simnet, and also an article on "The 

 Technical Library " by Mr. R. Borlase Matthews. 

 Mr. Matthews lays stress on the necessity for making 

 the most recent publications immediately available for 

 reference, and discusses the various ways in which a 

 technical library can be made accessible to readers. 

 Major Simnet, taking the subject of engineering as an 

 example, points out that there are at present in London 

 several libraries containing books and f>eriodicals 

 relating to engineering, and that this involves much 

 overlapping which might be avoided by amalgamation. 

 He also refers to the Transport Library to be formed 

 by the Ministfy of Transport. Such a library would 

 be devoted to all aspects and methods of transporta- 

 tion. The importance of an index of technical litera- 

 ture, possibly on the lines of the International Cata- 

 logue of Scientific Literature, is carefully explained by 

 Major Simnet, who recommends a combination of 

 indexing and abstracting. .\t the same time he finds 

 that pap>ers on technical subjects become out of date 

 much sooner than papers on purely scientific topics, so 

 that it is less necessary to preserve all titles of 

 technical papers in a permanent index. Major Simnet 

 gives an account of the Technical Reviexv, established 

 since the armistice to continue the work of the 

 Technical Supplement, published in igi8 under the 

 auspices of the War Office. .'Ks a further contribution 

 to the indexing of technology, the Library Associa- 

 tion Record for Mav, iq20, contains a subject-index 

 to papers published in iqiy-iq on fuel, including gas 

 and petroleum. The list is prepared bv (he editors of 

 the ''Subject Index of Periodicals," and is an example 

 of the thoroughness which their work always exhibits. 



