September i8, 1919] 



NATURE 



67 



d-egree, or 120,006 in the whole sky. He estimates 

 that the number of stars with sensiljle proper, motion 

 would increase as the square of the time-interval, so 

 that with a century interval there would be 2,000,000 

 proper motions. 



It is explained in the article that the proper motions 

 found by photography are not absolute, since they 

 take no account of the systematic drift of the region 

 of the sky, due to the solar motion. At present 

 photography does not appear to be capable of giving 

 absolute proper motions without the aid of the transit 

 circle. It is necessary to determine absolute places 

 and proper motions of a sufficient number of refer- 

 ence stars on each plate to enable them to be deduced 

 for the remaining stars. 



IRRIGATIVN IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 

 'IT' HE admirable record of agricultural progress 

 ^ achieved under British control in Egypt offers 

 every incentive to further exertions, with a view to 

 increase the productivity of a country so rich in 

 latent possibilities. It is interesting, therefore, to 

 note the resumption of irrigation undertakings, which 

 have been temporarily suspended during the war. 

 During the last generation the Nile has undergone 

 drastic engineering treatment, and now, no longer 

 free to give vent to irregular and wasteful discharges, 

 its valuable waters, conserved and controlled by 

 artificial works, are increasingly administered on 

 systematic lines and directed to those localities where 

 their beneficial influence can be most effectively 

 exercised. 



The pioneer dam of Mougel Bey, just below Cairo, 

 restored and raised to a higher degree of utility by 

 the late Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff, the barrages at 

 Asyut, Esna,. and Zifta, and the bolder and more 

 imposing structure at Aswan, are now being followed 

 by other works which will, no doubt, produce results 

 as noteworthy and important. 



The schemes at present in hand include three 

 separate projects relating to different sections of the 

 river. There is a scheme for the development of the 

 Gezirah plain of the Sudan on the Blue Nile, just 

 south of Khartoum ; another for the benefit of Egypt 

 proper by utilising the flood-waters of the White 

 Nile; and a third scheme of drainage improvement 

 for the deltaic region included in the provinces of 

 Gharbieh and Beheira, lying below Cairo. 



The Blue Nile scheme consists of a dam at 

 Makwar, about five miles south of Sennar and 

 175 miles south of Khartoum, with a canal, some 

 forty miles in length, leading from just above the 

 dam to the district to be irrigated, which is a remark- 

 ably level and treeless plain some 300,000 feddans in 

 extent (a feddSn is 104 acre). The cotton, which it 

 is capable of producing, will be raised as a winter 

 crop, absorbing the river winter supply without inter- 

 fering with the summer discharge. The dam will 

 be a work of some magnitude, withstanding, when 

 completed, a head of 40 ft. of water, and capable of 

 coping with a discharge of some 1,250,000 gallons 

 per second in a river subject to sudden and extreme^ 

 fluctuations. 



The White Nile scheme is, fundamentally, a 

 drvelopment of the Aswan undertaking, which has 

 "ow reached the limit of its effective utility. In 



1 16 the demands of the area under cultivation ex- 

 ceeded the available supply- It is, accordingly, pro- 

 posed to construct an auxiliary reservoir dam at 

 Gebel-el-Auli, or Gebel Aoli, on the White Nile, 

 capable of impounding an adequate summer sunply of 

 water for Egvpt, and at the same time reducfng the 

 excessive flood-waters of the main Nile. This scheme 

 has been the subiect of certain criticisms by Sir 



N'O. 2603, VOL TO4] 



William Willcocks, whose own proposal was briefly 

 referred to in the Notes column of Nature for May 22 

 last. A subsidiary work is the formation of a channel 

 from the Blue Nile above Sennar, so that the 

 superfluous water from that reservoir may be con- 

 veyed to the Gebel-el-Auli reservoir. The Gebel-el- 

 Auli dam will have a pressure-head of 23 ft. 



The increased water supply to Lower Egypt, due to 

 the Aswan reservoir, has severely taxed the drainage 

 channels of the provinces of Gharbieh and Beheira, 

 forming the alluvial plain between Cairo and the sea. 

 It is necessary to find some measure of relief, and a 

 solution of the problem is sought in the construction 

 of large pumping installations on the borders of Lake 

 Mareotis and Lake Borollos. 



Interesting details of the engineering features of 

 the various projects are given in a series of articles 

 recently published in the Engineer, from which most 

 of the foregoing particulars are taken. 



Brysson Cunningham. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Stock of the value of 300,000!. has been presented 

 to the University of California by Mr. E. F. Searles, 

 of San Francisco. 



It is announced that Yale University will receive 

 from the estate of the late Mr. J. W. Sterling 

 approximately 3,600,000!., or about 600,000!. more 

 than had been anticipated. 



Announcement is made in the Times that Mr. 

 Balfour is to be nominated for election as Chancellor 

 of Cambridge University, in succession to his brother- 

 in-law, the late Lord Rayleigh. 



Dr. T. Stuart, formerly professor of mathematics 

 in Hongkong University, has been appointed lecturer 

 in mathematics, and Mr. G. Mavor, formerly of the 

 Gillingham Technical Institute, lecturer in mechanical 

 engineering at the Loughborough Technical College. 



The sum of loooZ. has been given to the applied 

 science department of Sheffield University by Mr. 

 J. D. Brunton, of Musselburgh, for the annual award 

 of a medal and premium for the best metallurgical 

 research work done at the University during the year. 



Dr. J. F. Gemmxll, lecturer in embryology. Uni- 

 versity of Glasgow, and in zoology at Glasgow Pro- 

 vincial Training College, has been appointed to the 

 chair of natural history at University College, 

 Dundee, in succession to Prof. D'Arcy W. Thompson. 



The Edith Barnard memorial fellowship in 

 chemistry in the University of Chicago has been 

 endowed through the gift of 600!. by the mother, 

 brother, colleagues, and friends of Edith E. Barnard, 

 a former instructor in chemistry in the University. 

 The fellowship has been temporarily maintained since 

 1916, but it has now been placed upon a permanent 

 basis. 



The ■ Commission for the Relief of Belgium is 

 placing at the disposal of the country the sum of 

 6,000,000!., which is to be devoted to university educa- 

 tion, and will facilitate access to the universities for 

 children of the poorer classes. The Universities of 

 Brussels, Louvain, Ghent, and Lifege are each to 

 receive 13 per cent, of the money, the School of Mines 

 at Mons 3 per cent., and the Colonial School 6 per 

 cent. 



A COURSE of training in industrial chemistry will 

 begin at the Northern Polytechnic Institute, Hol- 

 loway, N.7, on September 22. The course is open to 

 the general public, and is adapted to the requirements 

 of demobilised men who desire to qualify for positions 



