f^. 



NATURE 



[March 27, 19 19 



. The value 20608 for the atomic weight of lead 

 has further support in the fact that it is more nearly 

 half-way between thallium, 204, and bismuth, 208, the 

 two neighbouring elements in the periodic system, 

 than is the atomic weight 2072 possessed by ordinary 

 lead. 



{To be continued.) 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — Mr. C. E. Inglis, fellow of King's, has 

 been elected professor of mechanism and applied 

 mechanics in succession to the late Prof. Bertram 

 Hopkinson. 



Edinburgh, — A gift of io,oooi. from a donor who 

 desires to remam anonymous has been presented to 

 further progress in the study and teaching of some 

 subject related to surgery by endowing a lectureship in 

 orthopaedics. 



An offer of 15,000^. for the foundation of a chair in 

 accounting and business method has been made by 

 the following public bodies : — Edinburgh Chamber of 

 Commerce, the Edinburgh Merchant Company, Leith 

 Chamber of Commerce, Leith Shipowners' Society, 

 the Society of Accountants in Edinburgh, and the 

 Institute of Bankers in Scotland. A draft ordinance 

 for the foundation of this chair was submitted along 

 with other draft ordinances for the foundation of 

 chairs in psychiatry, forestry, and zoology. 



A proposal to purchase a site for the extension of 

 the University has been approved. 



Dr. A. E. Sprague has been appointed University 

 lecturer in actuarial science. 



Mr. A. S. Stenhouse and Major .Walter Bisset have 

 presented to the Geology Department valuable col- 

 lections of minerals, rocks, and fossils. 



Nottingham. — Prof. A. W. Kirkaldy, of Birming- 

 ham University, has been appointed professor of 

 economics and commerce at University College in 

 succession to Prof. J. A. Todd, who has accepted a 

 position under the Board of Trade. 



Oxford. — Two important professorships are at 

 present vacant in the University, and in each case 

 the electors intend to proceed to an election in Easter 

 week. These are the professorship of experimental 

 philosophy and Dr. Lee's professorship of chemistry. 

 The stipend attached to each chair is 900Z. a year. 

 Candidates are requested to send in their applications, 

 with such evidence of their qualifications as they may 

 desire to submit, to the Registrar of the University, 

 University Registry, Oxford, so as to reach him not 

 later than March 31. Ten copies of the letter of ap- 

 plication, and of any testimonials submitted, should 

 be sent. The duty of the professor of experimental 

 philosophy, who will have charge of the Clarendon 

 laboratory, will be to give instruction chiefly on 

 mechanics, sound, light, and heat. That of Dr. Lee's 

 professor of chemistry will be to give instruction 

 chiefly in inorganic and physical chemistry. 



The numbers of undergraduates during the term 

 just past have been about half the usual strength. 

 It is expected that the normal numbers will be 

 reached, and perhaps exceeded, in the term that begins 

 on April 25. 



Dr. H. Pringle, chief assistant to the professor of 

 physiology and lecturer in histology in the University 

 of Edinburgh, has been elected King's professor of 

 the Institutes of Medicine in the School of Physic in 

 Ireland. 



The New York correspondent of the Times an- 

 nounces that Yale and Princeton Universities have 



NO. 2578, VOL. 103] 



decided to abolish the principle of compulsory Latin 

 in the curriculum. It will now be possible to obtain 

 any degree without that language, with the exception 

 of the arts degree at Princeton. At all other examina- 

 tions the candidates will be permitted to offer a 

 modern language instead of Latin. Princetdn will 

 also abolish compulsory Greek in the examination 

 for an arts degree. 



On March 19 Mr. Fisher, President of the Board 

 of Education, delivered a lecture arranged by the. 

 Industrial Reconstruction Council on "The Functions 

 of Government in Relation to Education," During 

 the course of his remarks Mr. Fisher said that in 

 the near future it may be found possible to increase 

 Treasury grants to the universities and to extend 

 encouragement to scientific research in all fruitful 

 directions. We have now reached a point in educa- 

 tional development at which it is clear that the uni- 

 versities will be compelled to accept a larger measure 

 of State assistance than has hitherto been afforded 

 to them to meet the needs in certain important 

 branches of scientific development. For instance, 

 trained meteorologists are needed for aviation pur- 

 poses, trained marine physicists in connection with 

 submarines, and hydraulic engineers for the proper 

 use of our waterways. What is the solution to the 

 many problems which present themselves? Mr. 

 Fisher has come to the conclusion that it partly 

 depends upon the intelligent co-operation of the uni- 

 versities themselves, but partly that intelligent co- 

 operation must be assisted by the gentle and indirect 

 pressure exercised by the distribution of Treasury grants 

 to the universities willing to receive them; and he 

 intends, in collaboration with the Secretary for Scot- 

 land and the Chief Secretary for Ireland, to set up a 

 Committee which will distribute grants to universities 

 in the administration of which there will be some 

 opportunity to give counsel to the universities as to a 

 particular line of development in the pursuit of which 

 they are most likely to contribute to the common weal. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, March 13. — Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- 

 dent, in the chair. — Dr. A. D. Waller : Concerning 

 emotive phenomena. Part iii. : The influence of drugs 

 upon the electrical conductivity of the palm of the 

 hand.— Dr. W. L. Balls: The existence of dail\ 

 growth-rings in the cell-wall of cotton hairs. The 

 probability that such growth-rings existed had been 

 formerly deduced from studies upon the physiology 

 and environment of the cotton-plant in Egypt; but, 

 since their thickness must be sub-microscopic, direct 

 evidence was unobtainable until recently. By swelling 

 the wall in hydration following formation of cellulose 

 xanthate, by counting the layers thus magnified in 

 thickness, and by comparative studies on the fuzz- 

 hairs, it is shown that each such ring corresponds with 

 the cellulose laid down during one night's growth. 

 The existence of variation as to kind or texture of 

 cellulose thus shown to exist within the thickness ot 

 the wall, repeated some twenty-five times in the adult 

 hair, necessitates reconsideration of many chemical 

 and physical aspects of cellulose problems. 



Geological Society, March 12.— Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, 

 president, in the chair.— Lieut. E. H. Pascoe : The 

 earlv historv of the Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges. 

 From geological indications the author concludes thai 

 the first effect of the commencement of the Himalayan 

 uplift was the establishment of a great westward- 

 flowing riyer along the southern face of the range, 

 for which he proposes the name of Indobrahm. Th« 



