July i, 1897] 



NA TURE 



213 



ai^e, and then she becanne stone deaf. This girl had undoubtedly 



: recollection of music,although she does not now hear any sound. 



-he wrote me a little letter, in which she declared that what 

 ., felt was viiisic, and that it awakened in her mind a conscious 

 mething that recalled what music was The others had no 

 inception of music, but they were able to appreciate the 

 lythm, and it was interesting to notice how they all, without 

 \ception, caught up the rhythm, and bobbed their heads up 

 11(1 down, keeping time with the electrical thrills in their 



inger-tips. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 

 Cambriiu-.e. — The establishment of a University Lectureship 

 in Experimental Psychology was opposed in the Senate, but 

 it has now been carried by a very large majority. 



Thirty-three men and three women have obtained a first- 



liss in the Natural Sciences Tripos, Part L In Part IL the 



ist-class includes eleven names. 



I'rof. AllbuU, F. R.S. , has been appointed to represent the 



I niversity at the International Medical Congress to be held at 



Moscow in August. 



The Harkness Scholarship in Geology and Palaeontology has 



en awarded to Mr. R. H. Kitson, of Trinity College. 



The Observatory Syndicate report that, Mr. Newall's term 



I office as Observer having expired, he has generously under- 



il<en to continue to give his services without stipend for another 



rm of five years. They think, however, that the provision of 



.1 stipend for the Newall Observer is an urgent claim on the 



funds of the University. In its present impoverished state the 



University is much indebted to Mr. Newall for his devoted and 



efficient aid in the department of physical astronomy. The 



portion of the catalogue of the Astronotntscke Gesellschaft 



allotted to Cambridge has now been published, after twenty-five 



years' work carried out for the most part by Mr. A. Graham. 



f It refers to the zone 25° to 30", and. contains the places of 



• 14,464 stars, obtained from about 47,570 observations. Anew 



photographic telescope is being made for the observatory by 



Sir Howard Grubb, and the building for its accommodation 



will be taken in hand this summer. 



The Special Board for Physics and Chemistry have, as was 

 anticipated, withdrawn their proposals that the laboratory note- 

 books of candidates for the first part of the National Sciences 

 Tripos should be submitted to the examiners. They adhere to 

 the proposal, in a modified form, as regards the second part of 

 the examination. It is, however, provided that no marks shall 

 be assigned for the note-books, the inspection of which is 

 intended simply to give some guidance to the examiners in 

 estimating the value of the practical part of the examination. 

 \ The first dissertations offered by advanced (post-graduate) 



' .students as candidates for the B.A. degree have been submitted 

 and approved. Mr. J. S. E. Townsend and Mr. E. Rutherford 

 have each offered memoirs on electrical subjects which haie 

 been honoured by publication in the Phil. Trans, of the Royal 

 Society, and the Degree Committee record their opinion that 

 the work submitted "is of distinction .as a record of original 

 research." These gentlemen have accordingly received the 

 University Certificate of Research, and the degree of Bachelor 

 of Arts, under the new regulations for graduates of other 

 Universities. 



The Hutchinson Studentship has been awarded to Mr. V. H. 

 Blackman, of St. John's College, for botanical researches on 

 Algse. The Hockin Prize for Electricity has been awarded to 

 Mr. W. A. D. Rudge, of the same college, a student in his first 

 year. 



The University of Dublin has conferred the honorary degree 

 of Doctor of Science upon Dr. Wilhelm His, Professor of 

 Anatomy in Leipzig University, and Prof. Ramsay. 



The will of the late Mr. J. H. R. Molson has been admitted 

 to probate at Montreal. It assigns 100,000 dollars to McGill 

 University, 30,000 dollars to the Frazer Institute, and 10,000 

 dollars to Bishop's College School at Lennoxville. 



On Thursday last a farewell address was presented to Prof, 

 Sollas, F.R.S., by past and present students of geology in 

 Trinity College, Dublin. Prof. Sollas is leaving Dublin for 

 Oxford, where he succeeds the late Prof. Green as professor of 

 geology. 



NO. 1444, VOL. 56] 



Endowments recently received by Rutgers College increase 

 the fund nearly 50,000 dollars, and include 5000 dollars from 

 the Vice-President of the United States ; 10,000 from .Mrs. 

 Winants, of Brooklyn ; 5000 each from Mr. Frederick Freling- 

 huysen, of Newark, and Mr. Samuel Sloan and Mr. Richard 

 Schlett, of New V'ork, with the promise of 10,000 more from 

 the latter ; and 3234 from the Alumni Association. 



In order to obtain an accurate conception of the growth of 

 Harvard University, Prof. C. S. Minot has compiled a table show- 

 ing the gifts of money to Harvard College from 1868 to 1896, and 

 he makes it the subject of a contribution to the Harvard 

 Graduate s Magazine for June. It appears from this article that 

 Harvard University has received annually during the past twenty- 

 eight years in round numbers 330,000 dollars. The educational 

 efficiency of the University has increased even faster than its 

 endowment. It is held that seven scientific departments, in 

 which the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Schools have a 

 common interest, need immediate endowment. The depart- 

 ments are: (l) anatomy (human and comparative); (2) physi- 

 ology 5 (3) histology and embryology; (4) pathology; (5) 

 bacteriology; (6) pharmacology; (7) hygiene. Each of the 

 seven departments needs to be organised on the minimum basis 

 of 300,000 dollars, making in all an endowment of 2,100,000 

 dollars. If the gifts continue as heretofo'-e, six years would 

 suffice to furnish the required amount. It is suggested that the 

 development of the seven departments mentioned would be 

 facilitated by the con.solidation of the Medical, Dental, and 

 Veterinary Schools under a single Faculty. 



The following are among recent appointments : — Mr. J. R.. 

 Campbell, of the Glasgow Technical College, to be lecturer in 

 agriculture at the Harris Institute, Preston ; Prof. W. T. 

 Engelmann, of Utrecht, to succeed the late Prof. Du Bois 

 Reymond in the chair of physiology in the University of Berlin ; 

 Dr. W. B. Pillsbury to be instructor in psychology in the 

 University of Michigan ; Dr. C. E. Seashore to be assistant 

 in psychology in the University of Iowa ; Mr. S. I. Franz 

 to be assistant in psychology in Columbia University ; Prof. 

 William S. Franklin to be professor of physics and elec- 

 trical engineering at Lehigh University ; Dr. John Marshall 

 to be professor of chemistry in the medical department of the 

 University of Pennsylvania ; Miss Bertha Stoneman to be pro- 

 fessor of botany in the Huguenot College for Women in Cape 

 Colony ; Prof. J, L. Prevost to be professor of physiology in 

 the University of Geneva ; Dr. P. Francotte to- be professor of 

 embryology and Dr. P. Strobbant professor of astronomy in the 

 University of Brussels ; Dr. J. J. Zumstein to be professor of 

 anatomy in the University of Marburg ; Dr. Fuchs, privat- 

 docent in palaeontology and director of the geological section of 

 the Natural History Museum at Munich, to be assistant pro- 

 fessor ; Dr. H. Baum, prosector and privat-docent in osteology 

 at the Dresden Technical High School, to be professor ; Dr. W. 

 Ule, privat-docent in geography at Halle, to be professor ; Dr. 

 J. J. Ptaschicky to be professor of geometry at St. Petersburg ; 

 Dr. A. O. Kihlman to be assistant professor of botany at Hel- 

 singfors ; Dr. Heim to be assistant professor of hygiene at 

 Eriangen ; Dr. Alex. Bittner to be chief geologist of the K. K. 

 geologischen Reichsanstalt at Vienna ; also, at the same insti- 

 tution, G. Geyer to be geologist, G. v. Bukowski and August 

 Rosiwal to be adjunkten, and' Dr. J. Dreger, F. Eichleiter, Dr. 

 F. V. Kerner, and Dr. J. J. Jahn to be assistants. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Physical Society, June 25. — Mr. Shelford Bid well. Presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — A paper by Mr. Sutherland, on a new theory 

 of the earth's magnetism, was taken as read. — Dr. Kuenen 

 described some experiments on critical phenomena, made in 

 continuation of a research on the condensation and critical 

 phenomena of mixtures of ethane and nitrous oxide, the results 

 of which were published last year. The author now investigates 

 mixtures of ethane and acetylene, and mixtures of ethane and 

 carbonic acid, and finds for them similar properties to those of 

 the mixtures of ethane and nitrous oxide. The first part of 

 the paper refers to the preparation of ethane, and the effect 

 of impurities on its vapour-pressure, and critical constants. 



