334 



NATURE 



[August 6, 1903 



young Britons — English, Scotch, and Irish — to be main- 

 tained at universities in the United States? " 



The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Mr. W. Watson Ruther- 

 ford, has received in his capacity of chairman of the uni- 

 versity committee the charter of the new University of 

 Liverpool. Since the publication t)f the first draft of the 

 charter, a clause has been added specifying that degrees 

 representing proficiency in subjects of technology shall not 

 be conferred without proper security for testing the scientific 

 and literary knowledge underlying technical considerations. 

 Mr. Rutherford has addressed a letter to the Liverpool City 

 Council suggesting that the new university " be directly 

 allied with the city, and should be free," and the letter is to 

 be considered by the council as we go to ^ress. In his 

 letter Mr. Rutherford says : — " Let the matriculation ex- 

 amination be as severe as any in the country, and let every 

 degree remain as high a standard of knowledge as that of 

 any university in the world ; but let there be no fees, no 

 financial barrier whatever to the poorest citizens of Liver- 

 pool obtaining all the advantages of the Liverpool Uni- 

 versity," and he goes on to point out that a maximum rate 

 of one penny in the pound would cover the students' fees 

 and leave a considerable margin. The letter maintains that 

 another benefit would be a sense of proprietary interest in 

 the university on the part of the citizens of all classes in 

 Liverpool, who would thereby at this juncture have not only 

 elementary, secondary, and technical instruction, but the 

 highest regions of advanced education, placed at their free 

 disposal, and would, therefore, be far more likely to take a 

 keener interest in the Liverpool University. " The objections 

 that what is not paid for is not valued, and that the course 

 proposed would discourage private munificence, are re- 

 garded by Mr. Rutherfoid as ill-founded. The experiment 

 of conducting a free' university in this country has not yet 

 been tried, and should the proposal be put into practice, the 

 results will be awaited with keen interest by all who desire 

 the spread of higher education. At the first meeting of the 

 council of the university held on Tuesday, Lord Derby, the 

 Chancellor, pledged himself to the utmost of his power to 

 help to lay the foundations of a university in which studies 

 of the arts, science, and other subjects should receive all 



•possible expansion. Mr. E. K. Muspratt was appointed 

 president, and Mr. J. W. Alsop vice-president, of the 



-university council. 



The Board of Education has published " Syllabuses and 

 Lists of Apparatus Applicable to Schools and Classes other 

 than Elementary " for next session, that of 1903-4. The 

 divisions in science and art subjects other than mathematics, 

 formerly described as Elementary Stage andf^dvanced Stage, 

 are now described as Stage i and Stage 2, and the divisions 



. in science subjects, formerly known as Honours Part i. and 

 Honours Part ii., are now described as Stage 3 and 

 Honours. We notice that the examination tables supplied 

 to mathematical candidates have been revised, and that 

 notice is given that the alternative Stage i of theoretical 

 inorganic chemistry will probably be discontinued after next 

 session's work. Section i. of the first stage of the hygiene 

 syllabus has been transferred to the subjects in which the 

 Board of Education does not hold examinations. The 

 second part of the volume is wholly devoted to two sets of 

 syllabuses, styled concise and detailed respectively, in a 



-great variety of subjects suitable for evening continuation 

 schools, but in which the Board does not hold examinations. 



New buildings, for which the sum of 8o,oooZ. is required, 

 will shortly be erected for University College, Reading. 

 Of this amount, 30,000^. has already been contributed by 

 five donors, including lo.oooZ. given by Mr. G. W. Palmer, 

 M.P., and 10,000/. by Lady Wantage. The late Lord 

 'Wantage was president of the college from 1896 to 1901. 



The " Year-book " of the Armour Institute of Technology 

 at Chicago for the session 1903-1904 contains not only full 

 particulars of the courses in mechanical, electrical, civil, 

 and chemical engineering, as well as in architecture, at 

 the College of Engineering, but also of the preliminary 

 ■studies which have been arranged at the Armour Scientific 

 .Academy, where students are prepared for the more advanced 

 work of the college. Taking into their own hands in this 

 ivay the early training of their engineering students, the 



authorities of the Armour Institute are able to provide the 

 professors with students possessing a sufficiently good 

 education to benefit by the lectures. 



The issue of Science for June 19 reprints Prof. R. H. 

 Thurston's address at the dedication of Engineering Hall, 

 Iowa State College. The subject chosen is the functions 

 of technical science in education for business and the pro- 

 fessions, and in the course of the address Prof. Thurston 

 pleads powerfully for the full recognition of the importance 

 of scientific knowledge to men whose business is in any way 

 connected with technical matters. Perhaps the part of the 

 address which will most interest the English reader is that 

 which deals with the employment of American students after 

 they have left the universities or colleges. The demand for 

 college-trained men seems to be much greater in America 

 than it is here, the " captains of industry " in that country 

 having apparently realised the value of sound theoretical 

 training in those whom they put in charge of their technical 

 manufactures. " I have a deep file of letters calling for 

 such men," says Prof. Thurston. "There is practically 

 none unemployed unless on the sick list. All the pro- 

 fessional engineering schools are thus situated. Turning 

 out a thousand or more annually, the whole output is 

 absorbed by the great industries, and immediately upon 

 leaving the doors of the college." Can English professors 

 say the same? 



NO. 1762, VOL. 68] 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Royal Societv, May 28.— ''On a Remarkable Effect 



produced bv the Momentary Relief of Great Pressure " Bv 



J. Y. Buchanan, F.R.S. 



The experiment was made first during the cruise of the 



Challenger on March 27, 1873, in lat. 21° 26' N., long. 



65° 16' W., where the depth of the sea was 2800 fathoms, 



and it was repeated on board the vacht Princesse Alice 



(H.S.H. the Prince of 

 Monaco) on March 11, 1902, 

 in lat. 43° 8' N., long. 

 19° 48/ W., where the depth 



of the sea was 3000 



fathoms. 



Fig. I shows the effect 



produced on a stout brass 



tube 13 inches long and if 



inches in diameter, which 



was perfectly cylindrical be- 

 fore it was exposed to the 



momentary relief of high 



pressure which has produced 



so deep a corrugation. In 



Fig. 2 the corresponding 



effect on a copper sphere of 



5 inches diameter is shown ; 



it takes the form of a multi- 

 tude of small creases in 



place of the single deep 



corrugation produced on the 



tube. The experiments were 



made on the sounding cord 



on board the yacht Princesse 



Alice on September 10 and 



II, 1902. The brass tube 



contained an ordinary 50 c.c. 



pipette sealed up at both 



ends, and empty except for 



the air which it contained. 



It occupied the part of the 



tube which has been so dis- 

 figured, and was kept in its 



place by a loose packing of 



cotton waste. Water had 

 free access both at top and 

 bottom. 



The copper sphere contained a small spherical glass flask 

 of I to I ^ inches in diameter, and it was kept more or less 

 in the centre of the sphere by loose cotton packing ; small 

 holes at each pole of the sphere admitted the outer water. 

 The brass tube was attached to the sounding cord and sent 



