53S 



jVA TURE 



[September 26, 1895 



and iluring the summer, lectures aiui demonstrations are given on 

 the plots. In Norfolk there are no definite fixed stations, but 

 the use of land has been grantc<l by fanners for ex[)criinenls on 

 the effect of manures on crops grown in the ordinarj- course of 

 farming. Feeding experiments have also been conducted. 



A paper from Prof. H. W. Vogel was read, in his absence, by 

 the Secretary, dealing with the historj- of the <levelopment of 

 orthochromatic photc^raphy. Photographs were show n illustrat- 

 ing the advantages of the use of eosin-silver as a sensiliser, the 

 plates being more sensitive to the yellow rays than plates pre- 

 pared with ordinary eosin. 



Mr. C. H. Bothamley read a paper, illustrated by lantern 

 slides and specimens, on the sensitising action of dyes on 

 gelatino-bromide plates. The manner in which the dye acts 

 wus discussed, exiierimental evidence being given against 

 Abney's view that an oxidation product, formed by the action of 

 light on the dye, is the active agent in a.ssisting the reduction of 

 the silver bromide by the developer. The probabilities appear 

 more in favour of Eder's view that the dye or sensitiser absorbs 

 the energy of the light waves, and pas,ses that energy on to the 

 silver bromide with which it is associated, the silver bromide 

 being thereby decomposed, and the so-called latent image being 

 formed. 



In reply to questions by Lord liayleigh. Dr. Kohn, and Dr. 

 Harden, Mr. Bothamley said that, so far as he was aware, 

 photo-chemical action is always preceded by the absorption of 

 light- waves, and in the case of colouiless substances it is the 

 ultra-violet rays that are absorbed and do the chemical work. 

 Although the quantitative composition of the latent image is not 

 known, we have, as a matter of fact, considerable knowledge 

 as to its properties. There is no difficulty in determining the 

 alisiifbing action and the sensitisiitg effect on two contiguous 

 strips of the same plate, and therefore under strictly comijarablc 

 conditions. No relation can be traced between the fluorescence 

 of a dye and its sensitising action. 



The report of the Committee for investigating the action of 

 light upon dyed colours was read by the President. With some 

 few exceptions, all the available red, orange, and yellow colours, 

 as applied to wof)l and silk, have now been exposed. (Tables 

 are appended giving the general result of the ex|x>sure.) .\s 

 liefore, it is found that many natural dye-stuffs are by no means 

 so fast as is generally supposed, and are exceeded in this respect 

 by artificial colouring matters. 



Two papers on organic chemistry were contributed by Dr. J. 

 J. Sudborough. In the first paper, the author describes the pre- 

 paration of a monochloro-stilbene from deoxy-ljcnzoin, differing 

 from that described by Linin, as it is a solid, crystallising from 

 alcohol in large colourless plates, .-^n oily compound, corre- 

 sponding to that of Linin, has been prepared, and is Ixiing 

 further investigated. Other stilbene derivatives are described. 



In a note on the constitution of camphoric acid, the author 

 draws attention to the fact that, as regards its etherificalion, 

 camphoric acid shows a marked resemblance to some of the poly- 

 carlj'»xylic acids investigated by \'ictor Meyer and Sudborough, 

 and !o hcmi-mcllitic acid. The formulx of Armstrong and of 

 Bredt are regarded as Ijest agreeing with the behaviour of 

 camphoric acid in this respect, 



^Ir. H. J. II. I'cnton gave an account of the preparation and 



priiperties of a new organic acid obtained by oxidising tartaric 



acid under certain conditions in presence of a ferrous salt. It 



cm Ije obtained by the oxidation of moist ferrous tartrate in the 



air, and it is found lh.at this reiiction is much accelerated by 



lit;hi. The acid has l>ecn isolated, and proves to be a dibasic 



arid having ihcforniula C4II4O,, -I- 2lIj(J. It gives a licautiful 



\iolet colour with ferric salts in presence of alkali. The 



constitution of the acid is under investigation. Heated with 



wni'T it is resolved into carbon dioxide and glycollic aldehyde, 



ince |K>lymerising to form a sweet-tasting solid 



! .rmula Qll|j< )„. 



i. I itc for investigating isomeric 'naphthalene deriva- 



' that the fourteen isomeric tri-chlor derivatives have 



r.ed. 



L»r. M. Wildermann read two (papers on physical chemistry. 



In ihc first. c\jx;rimental evidence was quoted, .showing the 



' lloff"s constant, Dalton's law, iVc, for very 



In the second |>a|x:r, on the velocity of 



ii" I"" ■' ililiriuin lakes pl.ice, an attempt was 



made to ■ of erjuilibriimi from e\iK*riments 



made Inr o- ,,f solidification of phosphorus iind 



other sulisUuico. 



NO. 



1352, VOL. 52] 



Messrs. C. F. Cross and C. Smith contributed a jwper on the 

 chemical history of the Irarley plant. The work had been carried 

 out during the two years 1S94 and 1895 on the experimental 

 plots at \Voburn, and the general conclusions diuwn were tliat 

 the conditions of soil nutrition had very little influence ujion the 

 composition of the plant ; that the straw grown in wet seasons 

 had a high feeding value and conversely a low paper-making value; 

 and that the compounds known as furfuri>ids were continuously 

 assimilated to permanent tissue in a normal season, but in a 

 very dry seast>n the permanent tissue is drawn upon by the 

 growing plant for nutrient material which is ordinarily drawn 

 from the cell contents. 



THE RETIREMENT OF PROFESSORS. 



T^IIE report of the Committee appointed by the Tre-isury to 

 consider the question of the desirability of a fixed age for 

 the compulsory retirement of professors serving tmder the Crown 

 has been recently published as a Parliamentary paper. The Com- 

 mittee consisted of Lord Playfair, Lord Welby, anil Sir M. W. 

 Ridley, M.P. Mr. C. L. Davies was secretary. The report, 

 which is addressed to the Lords Commissioners of her M.ajesty's 

 Treasury, is in the following terms : — 



We have taken the evidence of i)residents and professors of 

 the (^)ueen's Colleges in relation to their retirement upon super- 

 annuation at fixed .ages, as determined by the Order in Council 

 of August 15, 1890. We are of opinion that the Commission of 

 1888, upon the report of which, to some extent, that Order in 

 Council w<-is based, did not intend that the limitations of .age 

 applied to Civil servants generally should be deemed applicable 

 to presidents and professors of colleges, who are appointed and 

 .serve under difterent conditions from those which prevail in the 

 Civil Service. 



These presidents and ]>rofessors are appointed at a malurcr 

 age, and have, by the nature of their employment at seats of 

 learning, less tendency than Civil servants to become inefficient at 

 the age of sixty-five. Indeed, up to that age it is often found that 

 their efficiency increases, by exi)erience in teaching, as their age 

 progres.ses, though undoubtedly a time does arrive when advanc- 

 ing age weakens the receptivity of the professor to new dis- 

 coveries in science, and diminishes the inclination to alter his 

 instruction in order to adapt it to these changes. W'hen this 

 occurs the students are the sufferers. In the German Univer- 

 sities this well-known degeneration of intellectual activity among 

 the .aged is partly conipenssited by the apjwintment of active young 

 " extraordinar)- professors," who, though not on the ordinary 

 stafl'of the colleges, .ire allowed to give competing lectures williin 

 their walls. In Edinburgh an extra-mural competition is encour- 

 aged, and in each Scotch University, when prolessors show 

 diminished efliciency through age, it is iheduty of the Univcr-sity 

 court to superannuate the professor umler a pension scheme, 

 which is chargeil upon a fixed Parliamentary vole for all the 

 Scotch Universities. The (,)ueen's Colleges in Ireland are in a 

 different position, for they are only to a small extent dependent 

 upon votes in Parliament, being mainly supported out of the 

 Consolidated Fund. They are, in consequence of this peculiarity, 

 in more intimate connection with the executive Government, 

 with which the presidents are in frequent communication as to 

 the working of the college and the efticiency of the professors, 

 who are appointed by the Crown and can be dismissed by the 

 Crown. The statutes which govern the Colleges also emanate 

 from the Crown, and are not, like those of other colleges, the 

 product of academic autonomy. 



Under these circumstances, we are of opinion that there 

 should be fixed rules as to superannuation of presidents jind 

 professors, and that they should be made by college statutes and 

 not by an Order in Council. 



We are of opinion that when a profes-sor reaches sixty-five 

 years of age the president of the college should l)e bound to 

 re|Kirt to the Gcjvernment the condition and efliciency of the 

 teaching. If these are and ccjulinue to be satisfactory, the pro- 

 fessor need not be superannu.ated till seventy, but at this age his 

 retirement should be ab.solute. 



In regard to presidents, we are of opinion that the age of 

 seventy should be the |>eriod of retirement, but, shoulil the 

 visitors of the college formally report that the college would 

 suffer by the loss of the experience which the prusidcnl has 

 acquired, we think that the Treasury, and not the Irish I )Hici;, 

 should have |xjwcr to continue hiin as president for a certain 



