March i6, 191 6] 



NATURE 



11 



Oxford.— The Committee for Geography will 

 shortly proceed to the appointment of a reader in geo- 

 graphv at a stipend of 300/. a year. The reader will 

 also hold the post of director of the School of Geo- 

 graphy at an additional stipend of 200/. a year. The 

 appointment is for five years from October, 1916, and 

 the holder of the post will be re-eligible. Candidates 

 are requested to send in their applications, with such 

 evidence of their qualifications as they may desire to 

 submit, to the assistant registrar, University Regis- 

 tf\-, O.xford, so as to reach him not later than Wednes- 

 day, May 31. Six copies of the application, and of 

 testimonials, should be sent, and at least one copy of 

 any published work to which it is desired to direct 

 the attention of the Board of Electors. 



The Board of trustees of the Ohio State University 

 has ratified the proposal made by President W. O. 

 Thompson for the establishment and maintenance of 

 research professorships. According to Science the plan 

 provides that men of recognised ability may be relieved 

 from teaching to devote their entire time to scientific 

 research. 



The Education Department of the County Council 

 of the West Riding of Yorkshire has arranged to hold 

 a vacation course for teachers at Bingley Training 

 College from August 2-16 next. The aim of the 

 course is to stimulate teachers and to give them oppor- 

 tunities of studying new methods of teaching various 

 subjects. The foIlowing^ courses will be included 

 among those offered : a course on education, by Prof. 

 John Adams; the teaching of handwork, by Miss 

 Suddards ; animal life, by Prof. W. Garstang ; and 

 plant life, by Dr. O. V. Darbishire. The syllabus, 

 containing time-tables and full particulars, will be 

 issued shortly, and can be obtained upon application 

 to the Education Department (Secondary Branch), 

 County Hall, Wakefield. 



As has already been reported in these columns, the 

 foundation-stone of the new Hindu University at 

 Benares was laid by Lord Hardinge, Viceroy and 

 Governor-General of India, on February 4. The issue 

 of the Pioneer Mail for February 12 contains a full 

 account of the function. In his address to the Vice- 

 roy, the Maharaja of Durbhanga said the contributions 

 of the people of India to the University funds now 

 amount to close upon one crore of rupees (666,700!.), 

 including the capitalised value of the annual grants, 

 sanctioned by ruling- princes, to which the Govern- 

 ment has added an annual grant of a lakh of rupees 

 (6667?.) The site selected for the University covers 

 more than 1200 acres. Twenty-four donors gave a 

 lakh of rupees each. Lord Hardinge, in his speech, 

 pointed out that it is the declared policy of the Govern- 

 ment of India to do all within its power and within 

 its means to multiply the number of unversities 

 throughout India, realising that the greatest boon 

 Government can give to India is the diffusion of 

 higher education through the creation of new universi- 

 ties. •' Many, many more are needed," he continued, 

 "but the new universities to be established at Dacca, 

 Benares, and Bankipore, soon to be followed, I hope, 

 by universities in Burma and the Central Provinces, 

 may be regarded as steps taken in the right direction." 

 The University is to be a teaching and residential, as 

 contrasted with an affiliating and examining univer- 

 sity. It was announced at the meeting that the Maha- 

 raja of Jodhpur had endowed a chair of technology- to 

 which Lord Hardinge's name is to b.e attached. In 

 addition to a lump sum grant, the Maharaja has pro- 

 mised an annual grant of 24,000 rupees (1334/.) for 

 tnis purpose. 



NO. 2/120. vni n*?! 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Royal Society, March 9.— Sir J. J. Thomson, presi- 

 dent, in the chair.— Prof. J. W. Mchol«on and 1. R. 

 Merton : The distribution of intensity in broadened sp* 

 trum lines. (i) Using a neutral-tinted wedge ti> 

 actual distribution of intensity in broadened spectrum 

 lines can be accurately measured. (2) With this 

 arrangement quantitative measurements of the 

 hydrogen line Ho have been made, and quantitative 

 observations of other lines of hydrogen, helium, and 

 lithium. (3) The intensity-distribution of lines, 

 broadened by condensed discharges and at high pres- 

 sures, does not follow the well-known probability law 

 known to obtain under certain specified conditions. 

 (4) The broadening of Ho is symmetrical. (5) The 

 most general characteristic of all the cur\es obtained 

 is that their curvature is away from the axis per- 

 pendicular to the wave-length scale. (6) The existence 

 of more than one component accords with the view 

 that electrical resolution of lines is the origin of their 

 broadening. (7) On the supposition of several com- 

 ponents symmetrically distributed about the centre, the 

 only general law consistent with the distribution of 

 curvature is that of a sum of linear exponential terms, 

 one for each component. (8) It is shown that in these 

 circumstances discontinuities in the slope of the curves 

 must occur. Those found in the cur\e for Ho are in 

 quantitative accordance with those expected from avail- 

 able data with respect to electrical resolution. (9) 

 Quantitative observations of H^S, H7, and the diffuse 

 series of helium and lithium confirm the view that 

 electrical resolution is the principal cause of the pheno- 

 mena. Prof. H. C. Plummer : Prof. Joly's method of 



avoiding collision at sea. This brief note adds nothing 

 to the general principle on which Prof. Joly's method 

 is founded, but aims at greater simplicit)-, both in idea 

 and practical detail, by introducing the relative speed 

 of the two ships. The speed and course of an approach- 

 ing ship being communicated by wireless, the relative 

 speed is easily obtained without calculation by a com- 

 bination of scales, which is, in fact, identical with 

 Prof. Joly's collision predictor. The one ship 

 may then be considered stationary, and the locus of 

 the' approaching ship at successive signals becomes 

 a series of concentric circles. In the case of impending 

 collision the rate of approach is a maximum along a 

 radius and equal to the relative speed. Two methods 

 are suggested for comparing the indications of the 

 signals as received with this critical speed, one involv- 

 ing the use of two direct-reading scales, the other an 

 equivalent arithmetical operation of the simplest kind. 

 . Prof. W'. G. DuflBeld : Apparatus for the determina- 

 tion of gravity at sea. The development of the form 

 of apparatus as finally adopted is described. It depend^ 

 upon balancing a column of mercun,' against the pres- 

 sure of a constant volume of air contained in a bulb. 

 The whole apparatus is maintained at as constant a 

 temperature as possible. The height of the column 

 I varies inversely as the value of gravity. The apparatus 

 j was tested on a voyage to Australia and modified in 

 i Adelaide in accordance with experience gained. It 

 was further tested during part of a return voyage 

 under ver\' unfavourable conditions; nevertheless, th 

 results indicate the suitability of this type of instrumer 

 for future observations of gravity at sea. 



j Geological Society, February 2;^. — Dr. Alfred Marker. 

 1 president, in the chair. — H. Dewey : The origin of 

 I some river-gorges in Cornwall and Devon. In North 

 1 Cornwall, near Tintagel, there is an area of peculiar 

 ' topography characterised by the presence of an upland 

 i plain or plateau. This plateau is dissected by deep 

 i gorges, with their walls scarred by potholes through 



