794 



NATURE 



[August 19, 1920 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Cambridge. — Last week the large theatre of the 

 School of Anatomy was the scene of an interesting 

 presentation to Dr. W. L. H. Duckworth, fellow of 

 Jesus College and senior demonstrator in anatomy, 

 on the completion of twenty-one years of devoted 

 service to the Universit}' as lecturer in physical anthro- 

 pology. This remarkable tribute to the esteem and 

 affection in which he is held was the spontaneous 

 desire of every demonstrator, assistant, and student 

 to contribute some token of appreciation of Dr. 

 Duckworth's unfailing courtesy and ever-ready help. 

 His sympathy and charm of manner have made him 

 one of the most approachable of teachers, and en- 

 deared him to all who have come in contact with him 

 during his period of service. A fine inscribed silver 

 salver was presented to Dr. Duckworth, together with 

 a book containing' the signatures of two hundred and 

 twenty subscribers, by Dr. D. Reid on August 13 in 

 the presence of the staff and students of the anatomy 

 department. In addition to his brilliant academic 

 qualities. Dr. Duckworth has shown great capacity 

 for organisation, especially during the past year, when 

 the chair of anatomy has been vacant and the entire 

 control of the anatomy department has devolved upon 

 him. 



The Dr. Jessie Macgregor prize of the Royal Col- 

 lege of Physicians, Edinburgh, has been awarded to 

 Miss Lucy Davis Cripps for her work on tetryl. 



The following- free illustrated lectures are to be 

 delivered in the Canada Building, Crystal Palace, at 

 6 p.m., under the auspices of the Institution of 

 Petroleum Technologists: — "Oil Prospecting," G. 

 Howell (September i); "Petroleum Refining," Dr. 

 A. E. Dunstan (September 8) ; " Utilisation of Vola- 

 tile Oils," Dr. W. R. Ormandy (September 15); and 

 "Utilisation of Heavy Oils," Prof. J. S. S. Brame 

 (September 22). 



A PROSPECTUS of the faculty of engineering of the 

 University of Bristol, which Is provided and main- 

 tained by the Society of Merchant Venturers In the 

 Merchant Venturers' Technical College, has just 

 reached us. Courses of study are available at the 

 colleg-e for persons Intended to engage in civil, 

 mechanical, electrical, or automobile engineering, and 

 particulars of these courses are given in the prospec- 

 tus. The ordinances and regulations relating to 

 degrees and certificates in engineering subjects are 

 included, and some particulars of the Bristol sandwich 

 system of training engineers are also given. The 

 prospectus can be obtained from the Registrar of the 

 University, Tyndall's Park, Bristol. 



The Bureau of Education, Calcutta, India, has 

 Issued its Report on Jilducatlon In British India 

 for 1918-19, abundantly Illustrated with photographs. 

 The terrible epidemic of Influenza which broke out at 

 the close of the year 1918 and carried off millions of 

 people throughout India, together with the widespread 

 failure of the crops, caused grave dislocations in the 

 schools and colleges, though it called forth all that 

 was best In the life and spirit of many of these Institu- 

 tions. The number of pupils and students In the 

 public schools and colleges on March 31, 1918, was 

 7,338,663, and in private institutions 597,914— a total 

 of 7,936,577, or 3-25 per cent, of the total population 

 of upwards of 241,000,000 in British India alone, which 

 percentage Is nearly one-third that of Russia, probably 

 the most backward country in Europe. The number of 

 pupils under instruction has risen from 300,000 in 

 i860 to nearly 8,000,000 In 1920, and the expenditure 

 NO, 2651, VOL. T05] 



has advanced from 2oo,oooi. to upwards of 9,000,000!. 

 within the same period. In 1918-19 140,000/. \va* 

 granted for agricultural education and 60,000/. for 

 technical education of a pressing nature pending the 

 Indian Industrial Commission's report. The schools 

 and colleges now number 162,330. One of the prin- 

 cipal recommendations of the Calcutta University 

 Commission, viz. the transfer of Intermediate classes 

 to the school system, has been carried out at the Patna 

 College. Many developments show that the universi- 

 ties are alive to the necessity of assisting In the com- 

 mercial and Industrial revival. Schools of economics 

 have been established in the Universities of Madras, 

 Bombay, Allahabad, and the Punjab, whilst the 

 Benares Hindu University is opening- a college of 

 mechanical and electrical engineering. Proposals for 

 new universities at Rangoon and Nagpur are being 

 completed, and sites have been acquired. A Bill was 

 Introduced in 1919 for a unitary university at Dacca. 

 New outlying colleges have been opened or proposed 

 in Bombay, Bengal, and the Punjab. Many of the 

 colleges are said to be overcrowded with youths un- 

 fitted for an academic career, which is also borne out 

 in the report of the Calcutta University Commission. 

 There is Immense work for education yet to be 

 accomplished in India. 



Societies and Academies. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences, July 26. — M. Henri Deslandres 

 in the chair. — ^The president announced the death of 

 Dr. Guyon. — G. Bigourdan : An economical means of 

 utilising the energy of tides. — Ch. Deperet : An 

 attempt at the general chronological co-ordination of 

 Quaternary time.— L. Maquenne and E. Demoussy : 

 The toxicity of Iron (towards plants) and the anti- 

 toxic properties of copper in presence of ferrous salts. 

 — F. Widal, P. Abrami, and N. lancovesco : The proof 

 of digestive haemoclasia and latent hepatlsm. Adevelop- 

 ment of the method of detecting liver trouble described 

 in an earlier communication. After the absorption of 

 a glass of milk it Is only necessary to determine the 

 fall In the arterial pressure, the lowering of the num- 

 ber of white corpuscles, the inversion of the leiicocytlc 

 coefficient, and other phenomena easily determined 

 in the laboratory to discover the functional working 

 of the liver. Numerous examples of the application 

 are given, with especial reference to the disturbances 

 caused by the administration of arsenic compounds 

 in syphilitic cases.— A, Perot : Comparison of the 

 wave-lengths of a line of the cyanogen band in the 

 light of the sun and that of a terrestrial source. The 

 solar wave-length Is greater than the terrestrial wave- 

 length, their difference in relative value being 

 (2-22 ±o-io).io-°. This difference Is reduced by a 

 correction for the descending movement of the ab- 

 sorbing centres to (i-6 + o-3).io-". The figure cal- 

 culated from Einstein's theory of generalised rela- 

 tlvitv is between the corrected and uncorrected 

 numbers. — A. Schaumasse : Discovery and observa- 

 tions of the comet 1920?) (Schaumasse). This comet 

 was discovered on July 18 at the Nice Observatory. 

 It Is about the nth magnitude, and appears as a 

 diffuse nebulosity of 2-5' diameter. It may be the 

 second periodic comet of Tempel. — G. Fayet : Probable 

 identitv of the 1920b comet (Schaumasse) with Tempel's 

 second periodic comet. — P. Chofardet : Observations 

 of the periodic comet Tempel II. (Schaumasse) 1920a. 

 made at the Observatory of Besangon with the bent 

 eauatorlal. Three positions on July 20-21 are given. 

 The comet was of about the nth magnitude. — C. 



