June 28, 1900] 



NATURE 



203 



contains the local particulars of the next total eclipse of the sun, 

 which takes place on May 17, 1901. From inquiries which 

 have been made, it appears that the positions selected in the 

 eastern portion of the shadow tiack are those which are most 

 easily accessible. These are all situated in the Malay Archipe- 

 lago, with the exception of Mauritius. The durations of totality 

 at the various stations recommended are as follow : — 



Station. 



Long. 



Lat. 



Duration of 

 Totality. 



Mauritius 57 33-2 E. ... 20 6 S. ... 3 35 



Padang, Sumatra ... loo 20*5 ... o 58 ... 6 14 



Pontianak, Borneo 109 20 ... 01 ... 5 40 

 Fort Victoria, Am- 



boyna 128 11 ... 3 41 ... 4 15 



Port Moresby, New 



Guinea ... .. 147 9 ... 9 28 ... 3 19 



The elements on which the computations are based are those 

 published in \\\& Nautical Almanac for 1901. A map of the 

 region is included in the circular, by the aid of which other 

 stations than those specified may be selected if desired. 



Ancient Records of Meteor Showers.— In his report 

 for the year 1899, M- ^- Eginitis, director of the Athens 

 Observatory, gives a short account of some ancient records of 

 meteor showers which appear to be suggestively consistent with 

 the constants of several conspicuous showers of present times. 



A shower was mentioned by the patriarch Nicephore as lasting 

 all night, but no exact date is given. From the historical state- 

 ments given, however, M. Eginitis traces the epoch as the 

 autumn of the year 752. This would suggest it being a shower 

 of Andromedes, and, in fact, counting from the conspicuous 

 falls of Bielids in 1852, 1872 and 1892, the twenty years 

 interval corresponding to three periods of the comet, it is seen 

 that the year 752 would be in such a series. He thus considers 

 this apparition of 752 to have been a Bielid shower of Andro- 

 medes. 



Seven years previously to this, in 745, the appearance of a 

 great comet was recorded by Theophane and Cedrinos. 



It may be, however, that the showers of 1852 and later are not 

 from the same swarm as the shower of 752, but that they are 

 the products of slow but continual disintegration of the comet. 



Another passage in Cedrinos describes a shower in 558, also 

 occurring in the autumn. Apparently connected with this is 

 the observation of a comet in 518, the interval being almost six 

 times the periodic time of Biela's comet, so that here there 

 would appear evidence of a second series of showers, connected 

 with Biela's comet by similarity of period, but occurring at 

 different epochs from the first series mentioned. The modern 

 showers of 179S and 1838 would fall in this second group. 



Theophane in 763 and Domno Alberico in 1122 record falls 

 of shooting stars in the month of April, and these would corre- 

 spond to the present showers of Lyrid meteors. 



A shower chronicled in April 1094 by Alberico cannot be at 

 present connected with any known radiant. 



A MODERN UNIVERSITY.^ 

 II. 



'J^HE constitution of the new University of Birmingham is on 

 the simplest and broadest lines, and appears to offer scope 



or great developments in the future, some of which can hardly 

 be foreseen at the present time. 



The movement for the foundation of a university arose out of 

 the Mason Science College, founded by Sir Josiah Mason in 



1875, just a quarter of a century ago ; though it was not till five 

 years later that the college was open to receive students. In 

 1892 an amalgamation was effected with the Queen's College 

 Faculty of Medicine, and in 1897 the whole was incorporated as 

 one body under the Mason University College Act. The Senate 

 consists of twenty-seven members, and there are a large number 

 of lecturers and demonstrators ; but that it should have already 

 developed into a university is a very remarkable fact, and a 

 sign of great enterprise and energy on the part of the community 

 among which the college has done its work ; indeed, it is un- 

 likely that this rapid development could have taken place unless 

 It had been fortunate enough to secure the interest and personal 

 influence of a prominent Minister of the Crown. 



' Continued from p. 



NO. 1600, VOL. 62 J 



The Faculties of the University already provided for are 

 science, arts, medicine and commerce, but provision is made 

 for the addition of other faculties by Statute later on. Each 

 faculty holds its own meetings, and is presided over by its 

 elected dean. 



The assemblage 01 professors constitutes the ** Senate," as 

 usual. The " Council," or acting governing body under the 

 Court, consists of the deans of the faculties, five nominees of the 

 Birmingham City Council, twelve members appointed by the 

 Court of Governors, and lastly of the chief officials of the 

 University, i.e. the Chancellor, the Vice-chancellor, the Pro- 

 Vice-Chancellor, the Treasurer, the Principal, and the Vice- 

 Principal. The Court of Governors is a very widely repre- 

 sentative body, consisting of all the chief officials in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Birmingham, the head-masters of the principal 

 schools, ten of the Members of Parliament for the boroughs and 

 counties in the Midland district, a nominee of each of the other 

 English Universities (including the University of Wales), a 

 member from each of the Midland County Councils, five nomi- 

 nees by the Birmingham City Council, certain named life 

 governors and donors of certain sums, all the professors of the 

 University, six persons elected by the Guild of Graduates, three 

 by the Guild of Undergraduates, and eleven members appointed 

 by the voluntary elementary schools of the neighbourhood. 



It is hardly possible to imagine a wider basis of representation 

 than the one adopted for the Court of Governors of this. 

 University. 



Among the executive officers there is to be a Secretary, and 

 also a Registrar appointed by the Council ; the Vice-Principal and 

 one of the deans, i.e. the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, are 

 likewi.se to be appointed by the Council. There is to be a 

 Principal appointed by the Crown ; there is also to be a Vice- 

 Chancellor elected by the Court of Governors, and there is 

 to be a Chancellor ; the first Chancellor being the Right Hon. 

 Joseph Chamberlain, and the first Vice- Principal Prof. R. S. 

 Heath. 



■ Concerning the objects to which all this machinery will be 

 applied, no doubt a good deal will at the beginning ba conducted 

 on lines with which we are more or less familiar, though there 

 appears to be no desire to imitate other universities, but rather 

 a hope that it may be possible to strike out on a new line, and 

 develop a broad system of national education suited to modern 

 times, and to the practical requirements of life in an active city 

 of the British Empire. 



To this end a committee of inquiry was formed, and a depu- 

 tation sent to various colleges and universities, chiefly in the 

 United States and Canada, in order to study what was going on 

 there. This body reported to the management committee con- 

 nected with the establishment of the University of Birmingham, 

 and their report constitutes an important and informing docu- 

 ment. In it they say that : — 



" Their object has b;en the teaching of science in its appli- 

 cation to industry, and in the first place to the industries of the 

 city and district, coupled with such technical instruction in 

 handicrafts as will enable the students to complete their course 

 in the university itself." 



They classify the industries of the district as follows : — mining,, 

 metallurgy, engineering, and chemical trades, and no n-metallic 

 trades. 



They recommend that there shall be chairs of mining, 

 metallurgy, engineering, and applied chemistry. They further 

 recommend that the' students should be put through a very 

 thorough course, consisting largely no doubt of a study of 

 mathematics, physics, pure chemistry, and geology, as taught 

 at present, but finishing with a specifically technical course,, 

 making it four years in all. A shorter course would likewise be 

 permissible, but it appears would not lead to a degree. 



They say the students should be divided into two classes, 

 viz. : — 



(i) " Those taking a four-years' course in mechanical (includ- 

 ing electrical), civil or mining engineering, metallurgy or 

 applied chemistry, who would .study for a master's degree in 

 their respective subjects. At the conclusion of this course 

 facilities would be offered for further study and research to those 

 who could give the time or should wish to proceed to the 

 doctor's degree." 



(2) " Those taking a course of from one to three years in any 

 of the above subjects, with a view to the practical application 

 of the teaching to a particular industry. With such students, 

 less time could be devoted to theory, as attention would have to 



