i6 



NATURE 



[March 6, 19 19 



ante, and in countries where it is barely adequate for 

 agriculture any diminution of it is a serious matter, 

 Eind. such cases call for careful investigation. 

 ' The war has given a great impulse to meteorology 

 by showing its possibilities to all, and aviation has 

 made, and is still making, more and more demands 

 upon it for information of every kind. Co-ordination 

 between the services of each country and effective co- 

 operation between the meteorologists in all parts of 

 the Empire are the first essentials for meeting quickly 

 and adequately the demands which will be made. 



The "Manual of Meteorology" which Sir Napier 

 Shaw has in hand will be of the greatest value in 

 the work before us, for it will place in the hands 

 of every meteorologist and student of meteorology 

 a masterly treatise on those aspects of our science 

 which he has studied for years, and of which he is the 

 ;irknowledged exponent. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



, Birmingham. — At the annual meeting of the Court 

 of Governors of the University, held on February 27, 

 the Principal, Sir Oliver Lodge, announced his inten- 

 tion of resigning his post at the end of the present 

 session. He said that, having passed the age-limit of 

 the professorial staff, he wished to make way for a 

 younger and more ambitious man, who would begin 

 his duties with the period of reconstruction. He 

 himself intended to devote the remainder of his 

 life to the study of the aether of space in both its 

 physical and psychical aspects. In seconding a resolu- 

 tion, of deep regret, proposed by the Vice-Chancellor, 

 Sir Richard Threlfall spoke in warmly appreciative 

 terms of Sir Oliver Lodge's scientific work, especially 

 in electrolysis, in the electrical deposition of smoke, 

 and in wireless telegraphy, which had been of very 

 great benefit to industry and to the world at large. 



Sir Oliver Lodge, who took office nineteen years 

 ago as first Principal of the University, has rendered 

 invaluable service both to the University and to the 

 city, and the close connection between the two which 

 now exists is perhaps the best tribute to his work as 

 head of the former. When the University first came 

 into existence, as the result of the efforts of a very 

 small but far-sighted body of men, it is not too much 

 to say that the great majority of the citizens regarded 

 it as a very unnecessary and entirely useless institu- 

 tion, which for some obscure reason Mr. Joseph 

 Chamberlain considered a subject of vital importance 

 to the city. To-day, however, this attitude has 

 changed, and the I'niversity has become an integral 

 part of the civic life of the city. This change, the 

 magnitude and significance of which can be fully ap- 

 preciated only by those who have witnessed it, is due 

 in a very large measure to the personality and activity 

 of Sir Oliver Lodge. He has not only convinced the 

 public of the material advantage to be derived from 

 having in its midst a centre of scientific teaching 

 and research, but has also unceasingly insisted on 

 the value of the humane studies to the life of the 

 community. He has, in fact, taken a large and 

 honourable share in laying well and truly the founda- 

 tions of higher education in Birmingharn. 



Cambridge. — Dr. J. B. Hurry has offered to increase 

 the value of the Michael Foster research studentship 

 in physiology, founded by him in 1912, and tenable 

 biennially, from a hundred guineas to 200L A gift 

 of three successive sums of looL, to be paid at in- 

 tervals of six months, has been offered for the assist- 

 ance of research in the zoological laboratory by a 

 benefactor who desires to remain anonvmous. 



NO. 2575, VOL. 103] 



Mr. W. M. Smart, of Trinity College, has been 

 apfiointed chief assistant at the observatory. 



The professorship of mechanism and applied 

 mechanics, which was held by the late Prof. Bernard 

 Hopkinson, has been formally declared vacant, and 

 candidates are requested to communicate with the 

 Vice-Chancellor on or before Monday, March 17. 



London-.— The tenth annual report of the Military 

 Education Committee of the University (for the year 

 1 9 18), which has been presented to the Senate, re'fers 

 with gratification to the letter from the King in 

 which his Majesty sent an assurance of the interest 

 with which he had learnt that the University of 

 London Officers Training Corps continued "to up- 

 hold the record of splendid services which it has 

 rendei'ed in the past." The number of commissions 

 granted to cadets and ex-cadets of the University of 

 London O.T.C., and to other graduates and students 

 recommended by the committee, increased during the 

 year from 4040 to 4413. First commissions in the 

 Army, Navy, or Air Force have been granted to 

 4101 former cadets. Of these officers 584 have fallen 

 in the war. The number of distinctions gained by 

 former cadets up to the end of 1918 is 1175, including 

 V.C., 4; D.S.O., 39 (including three with a bar); 

 Military Cross, 442 (including three with two bars and 

 twenty-nine with one bar); Croix de Guerre, 21; 

 Medaille Militaire, i ; mentioned in despatches, 480 

 (mentioned four times, 3; thrice, 16; twice, 56). A 

 roll of war service for the University of London 

 O.T.C. is being prepared, and will be published as 

 soon as possible. 



A sum of about 5133Z. has been accepted ,bv 

 the^ Senate on the bequest of the late Dr. William 

 Julius Mickle for the establishment, in honour of his 

 great-grandfather, William Julius Mickle, the poet, of 

 an annual fellowship to be awarded to graduates of 

 the University resident in London who have specially 

 distinguished themselves in the advancement of 

 medical art or science. 



Oxford. — On March 4 the preamble of a statute 

 making Greek optional in Responsions passed Con- 

 gregation by 123 votes to 63. The statute was intro- 

 duced by Mr. E. Barker, of New College, supported 

 by the Regius professor of Greek, and opposed by 

 the Regius professor of divinity and Mr. E. M. 

 Walker, of Queen's. If the statute passes Convoca- 

 tion in its present form, natural science will be 

 brought into Responsions for the first time, either 

 this subject or mathematics, or a combination of the 

 two, being rhade compulsory. 



Under section 28 of the Education Act, 1918, which 

 the Board of Education has now announced will come 

 into operation on April i, the persons responsible 

 for the cpnduct of schools and educational institutions 

 in England and Wales are, subject to certain excep- 

 tions, required to send to the Board of Education, 

 Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, 

 S.W.7, before July i, the name and address and a 

 short description of the school or institution. The 

 information is not required from the following 

 schools and educational institutions : — (i) Schools and 

 educational institutions in receipt of. grants from the 

 Board of Education or the Bqard of Agriculture. 

 (2) Elementary schools certified by the Board of 

 Education as efficient. (3) Secondary schools recog- 

 nised as efficient under the Board's regulations. 

 (4) Universities and university colleges. (5) Poor Law 

 schools and schools certified under Part IV. of the 

 Children Act, 1908. (6) Educational establishments 

 under the administration of the _ Army Council or of 

 the Admiralty. The responsibility for giving the 



