February 19, 1920] 



NATURE 



68 t 



expanded tightly against the bore of the container, and 

 remains fluid-tight even though the leather should be 

 carbonised by the heat. The bottom pole is elec- 

 trically insulated from the container by vulcanised 

 fibre washers and a rubber cup-ring, which is pro- 

 tected from the heat by magnesite stemming. 



The current is conveyed from the container to the 

 top pole-piece of the conductor by pads of copper 

 gauze, which can slide easily against the bore of the 

 container and allow for the expansion of the con- 

 ductor. Experiments on liquids with this container 

 under 4400 atmospheres gave the same results as my 

 former experiments under 2200 atmospheres. 



Fig. 2 shows the container arranged to melt graphite 

 under pressure by resistance heating. Here the charge 

 is graphite, and is divided by the bridge or ring made 

 of pressed calcined magnesia or of titanium oxide. 

 The bore of the container is electrically insulated from 

 the graphite by layers of asbestos, millboard, and 

 mica. 



(To be continued.) 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



CAMBRIDGE. — Notice has been given that there will 

 be an examination for the recently instituted diploma 

 in psychological medicine : Part i. next October, 

 part ii. next December. 



Oxford. — On Tuesday, February 17, the preamble 

 of a statute providing that women may be matriculated 

 and admitted to degrees in the University passed 

 Congregation without a division. 



The report recently issued of the Committee for 

 Rural Economy shows a large increase in the number 

 of students. The Michaelmas term began with 

 200 students, of whom 123 were working at agri- 

 culture and 77 at forestry. Lectures have been given 

 on various subjects connected with agriculture, in- 

 cluding courses on forest and agricultural botany, live- 

 stock, principles of cultivation, soils and manures, 

 together with the history of agriculture and agricul- 

 tural economics. Practical laboratory work has been 

 provided, and classes have been held at the University 

 farm. 



A vote will be taken in Convocation on the question 

 of Greek in Responsions on Tuesday, March 2. No 

 further amendment being now possible, the statute 

 will have to be passed or rejected as it now stands. 

 Many will regret that the chance of an agreed statute 

 was lost by the opposition of those who objected to 

 the retention of the Greek language as a preliminary 

 requirement even for the final literary and classical 

 examinations. The defenders of Greek were willing 

 to grant exemption to all students of natural science 

 or mathematics, as well as to all passmen, but this 

 concession failed to satisfy their opponents. 



bridge on Technical Schools and their Part in relation 

 to Adult Education, Dr. R. S. Clay on Scholarships, 

 and -Mr. II. J. Taylor on Day Continuation Schools. 



The following scholarships will be offered for 

 competition by the Institution of Naval .Archi- 

 tects this year: — Naval Architecture: Vickers 

 (i5oi. per annum), Hawthorn Leslie (150?. per annum),. 

 John Samuel White {lool. per annum), and Denny 

 i (75/. per annum). Marine Engineering: R. L. Scott 

 (i5oi. per annum) and Denny (75/. per annum). These 

 scholarships are open to' British apprentices or 

 students, and are tenable (subject to the regulations 

 governing each scholarship) for three years at one or 

 all of the following educational establishments : — • 

 Glasgow University, Durham University (.Armstrong 

 College), Liverpool University, Royal Naval College 

 (Greenwich), and City and Guilds (Engineering) Col- 

 lege (London). Full particulars may be obtained 

 from the Secretary, Institution of Naval .Architects, 

 5 .Adelphi Terrace, London, W.C.2. 



.An inaugural lecture on "The Universities and the 

 Training of Teachers," delivered at Oxford last 

 October by Mr. F. J. R. Hendy, the Director of 

 Training in the University, has been published by 

 the Clarendon Press in pamphlet form. Mr. Hendy 

 deals brieflv with the conditions of the new Education 

 ■Act and the qualities which will be required for those 

 who are to carry out its provisions for senior elemen- 

 tary, secondary, and continuation schools. In par- 

 ticular, he dwells on the necessity for teachers of a 

 wider and less specialised knowledge, men and women 

 who can take all but the highest work in two, or 

 even three, kindred subjects. The valuable influence 

 of the form-master is something which has tended to 

 disappear from secondary education in recent years, 

 and it should be one of the duties of the training col- 

 leges to restore it, at the same time avoiding the 

 danger of superficiality by dividing the subjects of 

 study verticallv rather than horizontally, so that, 

 instead of going half-way in two or three honours 

 subjects, a student should go the whole way in a 

 section of each. Some suggestive remarks are made 

 on the subjects of method and psychology, words 

 frequently used, but often misused ; also on the im- 

 mense growth of the administrative side of educa- 

 tional work and the comparatively small expansion 

 of the professional or teaching side. The University 

 Press has done a good service in putting this lecture 

 within the reach of all concerned with the supply of 

 men and women for the teaching profession. 



•A COURSE of three free public lectures on Fermat's 

 last theorem will be given by Mr. L. J. Mordell at the 

 Birkbeck College on March 10, 17, and 24 at , o'clock. 

 Tickets of admission are obtainable from the secre- 

 tary of the college. 



The annual meeting of the Association of Technical 

 Institutions will be held on Friday and Saturdav, 

 February 27 and 28, at the Cordwainers' Hall, 

 London, E.C. The proceedings will commence at 

 10.30 on the Friday morning, when the president- 

 elect, the Marquess of Crewe, will deliver his presi- 

 dential address. Resolutions will be submitted dealing 

 with pensions and salaries for teachers in technical 

 institutions, and papers will be read by Mr. .A. Mans- 



NO. 2625, VOL. 104] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 

 Geological Society, Februarv 4. — Mr. G. W. 

 Lamplugh, president, in the chair. — J. A. Douglas : 

 (Jeological sections through the .Andes of Peru anct 

 Bolivia : ii., from the Port of Mollendo to the Inam- 

 bari River. The paper gives a description of a geo- 

 logical section across the .Andes of southern Peru, 

 from the port of Mollendo to the Inambari River, a 

 tributarv of the Madre de Dios. The deflection of the 

 Pacific "coast-line of South .America north of .Arica 

 towards the north-west brings to light a zone of 

 ancient granite and gneiss comparable with the rocks 

 of the coastal Cordillera of Chile. These rocks are 

 shown to be of "alkaline" type, and are contrasted 

 with the " calcic " granodiorites forming the batho- 

 litic core of the western Corrfillera. It is suggested 

 that their formation preceded the uplift of the folded 

 chains. The Jurassic zone of northern Chile has been 

 almost entirelv stripped from the underlying plutonic 

 core, but its continuation has been proved at more 



