42{ 



NA TURE 



[March 2, 1905 



various kinds of shelter screens are described. The 

 coniferous and deciduous nurseries are for obvious reasons 

 treated separately. 



This batch of literature gives some idea of the value of 

 the work which the United States Bureau of Forestry is 

 doing, and, on the whole, its value to the country cannot 

 be over-estimated. 



PROGRESSIVE BUDDHISM.' 

 'X'HE handsomely got-up and well-printed review, Buddhism, 

 is an interesting sign of the times. The Buddhist 

 community is apparently realising that it is advisable, so far 

 as possible, to bring itself into line with modern develop- 

 ments, and to the monthly periodicals appearing in Ceylon, 

 Japan, and (strange to say) San Francisco, has now added 

 this quarterly journal appearing in Burma. 



The present venture is edited by Ananda Maitreya, the 

 name, in religion, of a Scotchman who has entered the 

 Buddhist Order ; and he has secured the cooperation for this 

 number not only of Indian, Burmese, and Sinhalese, but also 

 of American and English writers. 



In the editor's article on "The New Civilisation," he 

 maintains that the new civilisation which is beginning, in a 

 way that no ancient civilisation did, to permeate mankind 

 should be heartily welcomed by Buddhists as being based on 

 that conception of the inviolable sequence of cause and effect, 

 of the reign of law, which was, indeed, the main tenet in the 

 teaching of the Buddha. And he ventures on a glowing 

 prophesy of what the future of humanity will be when this 

 conception of law, claimed by him as a special mark of 

 Buddhist teaching, shall have worked out its effect in the 

 daily lives of men by an increased deference to knowledge, 

 and to the men of knowledge, by the growth of a spirit of 

 wide toleration and humanity. The courageous optimism 

 of this article is in striking contrast with ideas usually held 

 about Buddhist teaching ; but it is interesting to see how 

 thoroughly the party represented by this newest Buddhist 

 journal is in sympathy with the teachings and the spirit of 

 science. 



Dr. Paul Carus, of Chicago, follows with an article on 

 " The Philosophy of Buddhism," in which he claims that the 

 latest, as well as the earliest, Buddhism, rests upon the be- 

 lief in a universal reign of law, and on the idea that nothing 

 is but everything becomes. Mr. Chandra Das has an in- 

 teresting historical paper on the foundation of Lhassa, and 

 Mr. Tau Seng Ko another on the introduction of Buddhism 

 into Burma, each of them writing with special expert know- 

 ledge of his subject. There are shorter articles by other 

 writers, paragraphs of notes and news, and some scholarly 

 reviews. The journal would be useful to those who desire 

 to follow the tendencies in the forward movement among the 

 Buddhist commu^nities ; whether it is entitled to speak for all 

 Buddhists is another matter. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



CAMBRIDGE. — Mr. A. W. Hill, of King's College, has 

 been appointed University lecturer in botany until Michael- 

 mas, 1909. 



The degree of Sc.D. honoris causa is to be conferred on 

 Prof. E. B. Tylor, of Oxford, at a congregation held to-day. 

 At the same congregation Mr. J. W. Willis, director of the 

 Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, Ceylon, will proceed by 

 proxy to the saine degree. 



Mr. C. Shearer, advanced student of Trinity College, has 

 been re-nbminated to the university table at the zoological 

 station at Naples. 



The Board of Geographical Studies his published the 

 following schedule for the special examination in geography 

 and for part i. of the examination for the diploma in 

 geography : — (i) Physical Geograpliy. — Form and motions 

 of the earth. Elementary climatology and oceanography. 

 Typical forms of land configuration, their distribution and 

 modes of formation. (2) Historical and Political Geography. 



The historical development and political partition of the 



' " liuddhism." .^n llluslrated Quarterly Review. Vol. i.. No. 4. 

 ;v x.\ii4-i7o. (Rangoon : Hauthrawaddy Pres.^;, 1904.) 



NO. 1844, VOL. 7 l] 



different regions of the world, with a consideration of the 

 influence of their physical features. A more detailed know- 

 ledge of the geography of a selected region (for 1905 and 

 1906, Europe). (3) Economic and Commercial Geography. — 

 The economic growth of the different regions of the world, 

 and the main lines of commerce and communication by land 

 and sea in past and present times. A more detailed know- 

 ledge of a selected region (for 1905 and 1906, Europe). 

 (4) Cartography. — The construction and use of maps. A 

 general knowledge of the methods of exploratory surveying : 

 plane tabling, latitudes and azimuths by the sun, latitude 

 and azimuth traverses, route traverses and compass sketch- 

 ing. Heights by barometer and boiling-point thermometer. 

 The candidate will be examined orally and practically on 

 maps and on the ordinary surveying instruments. Any 

 candidate who can produce a sketch made by himself of a 

 route traversed by compass, and checked by observations 

 for latitude and azimuth with the necessary computations, 

 will be examined thereon and will receive special credit for 

 good work. (5) History of Geographical Discovery. — The 

 outlines of the history of geographical discovery, with special 

 questions on a selected region or period (for 1905 and 1906, 

 The Fifteenth Century). (6) Elements of Ethnology. — The 

 principal races of mankind, their migrations and present 

 distribution. 



London. — At the annual meeting of University College 

 on February 22, the following resolution, moved by Lord 

 Reay, on behalf of the council, was unanimously adopted : — 

 That the Bill now submitted, entitled " A Bill for Trans- 

 ferring University College, London, to the University of 

 London and for other matters connected therewith and for 

 Amending the University of I-nndon Act, 1898," be and the 

 same is hereby approved subject to such additions, altera- 

 tions, and variations as Parliament may think fit to make 

 therein. 



Dr. Michele Cantone, of Pavia, is to succeed Prof. E. 

 Villari as professor of physics and director of the physical 

 laboratory at Naples. .\t Gottingen, Prof. F. Dolezalek has 

 been appointed head of the department of physical and 

 electrical chemistry. Dr. H. Kneser has been appointed 

 professor of mathematics at Breslau. Dr. Ludwig Claisen 

 late professor of chemistry at Kiel, has been appointed 

 honorary professor at Berlin, and Dr. Karl Stbckl professor 

 of mathematics and physics at Passau. 



In his last report President Eliot recommends, says 

 .'Science, the collection of 500,000/. as an endowment for the 

 college of Harvard University, and it is said that the alumni 

 are making efforts to collect this sum before the next com- 

 mencement day. The class of 1880 expects to contribute 

 20,000;. on the occasion of its twenty-fifth anniversary. 

 From the same source we learn that Mr. .Andrew Carnegie 

 has given to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy 

 25,000?. toward rebuilding the main building which was 

 burned last June. He has also given 20,000/. to Tufts 

 College for the erection of a library building. 



The committee appointed by the Prince of Wales, as 

 president of King Edward's Hospital Fund, to inquire into 

 the financial relations between the hospitals and medical 

 schools has now issued its report. The committee has formed, 

 it is to be noted with satisfaction, the opinion that a broad 

 line of distinction ought to be drawn between the pre- 

 liminary and intermediate studies of a medical student on 

 one hand, and the final studios on the other ; and that whilst 

 the final studies can be pursued with advantage only within 

 the walls of a hospital, the earlier scientific studies have 

 no real relation with a hospital, and are pursued more 

 properly in an institution of university character. The 

 committee expresses satisfaction that the statutes of the 

 University of London direct the Senate to " use its best 

 endeavours whenever practicable to secure such common 

 courses of instruction for internal medical students in the 

 preliminary and intermediate portion of their studies under 

 appointed or recognised teachers at one or more centres." 

 To do this effectively will mean a great expenditure, and 

 the .Senate of the university is appealing for funds to 

 assist it in carrying out the work. The conclusions 

 arrived at by the commiltee appointed by the Prince of Wales 

 shiiuld prove of advantage both to ihi' hospil;ils and to the 



