404 
pendulum observations to determine the difference of level 
between Dehra Dun and Mussoorie. 
Valuable results still continue to be obtained from the 
tidal observations, which extend over forty-two ports from 
Aden to Port Blair. Tide tables for forty ports are now 
published in England based on the observations of the 
Indian Survey. Several instructive tables will be found 
in the report, especially those showing the errors in the 
predicted times and heights of high and low water at the 
various stations. These tables apparently indicate a 
superiority in the automatic system of recording. 
Amongst the most interesting records of the season are 
the results obtained by a careful re-computation of Captain 
Wood’s observations for determining the position of 
Everest and other high peaks in Nepal. The more rigorous 
methods employed give a very slight difference (never 
amounting to half a second of arc) between the new and 
old determinations of the coordinate values of the stations 
of observation, which differences are reflected in a greater 
degree in the values of the peaks observed, but the correc- 
tions in altitude of the peaks observed, due to the employ- 
ment of a revised coefficient for refraction, are more marked. 
The height of Mount Everest, for instance, is reduced by 
about 300 feet (28,700 feet instead of 29,000 feet), and a 
general reduction in altitude of most of the peaks is 
apparent. This, however, must not be accepted as a final 
determination. ‘There are other factors in the computation 
of altitudes observed under extraordinary conditions still 
to be determined with more rigorous exactness, and it is 
Guite possible that the ultimate altitude of the highest 
mountain in the world may be fixed at a higher figure than 
29,000 feet rather than a lower one. 
A short statement of the progress of topographical surveys 
in Sind (with no narrative of any interest) and of riverain 
surveys in the Punjab, with a few notes on town and 
municipal surveys generally, completes the report. 
THE NEEDS OF THE UNIVERSITY O& 
CAMBRIDGE. 
EN years ago the Duke of Devonshire, as Chancellor 
of the University of Cambridge, directed attention 
to the resources and the needs of the University, and at 
the beginning of 1899 the Cambridge University Associ- 
ation was formed. The progress towards the re-endowment 
of the University, which it is the object of the association 
to promote, is described by the Chancellor in a letter of 
which a copy has been sent to us, and is here summarised. 
The sums which the Cambridge University Association 
has been able to transfer to the University amount in all 
to about 115,000]. Of this total a considerable portion was 
allotted by the donors to the building of the new medical 
school, the school of engineering, the proposed new build- 
ings of the Cavendish Laboratory, the school of agri- 
culture, the museum of archeology and ethnology, and 
to the University library, but a large proportion has been 
available for general purposes. 
Although the progress already made in the equipment 
of the several departments must be regarded with satis- 
faction, few of the other wants keenly felt in 1899 have 
yet been met, and in certain cases new wants have in- 
evitably arisen during the last seven years. In the scien- 
tific departments every year must of necessity bring new 
demands for specialisation in teaching and for the pro- 
vision of facilities for research. In some departments, 
notably those of agriculture, engineering, and chemistry, 
the number of students has greatly increased, and addi- 
tional accommodation is required. 
The greater of the immediate needs of the University 
may thus be stated. The sum of 18,0001. promised for 
the University library represents only the first instalment 
of a capital sum of 148,o00l. required. Chemistry requires 
10,0001. capital and 20001. income; physics, 12,0001. capital 
and at least 1000]. income; engineering, 10,0001. capital, 
and income and equipment for research; botany, 1o0o0o0l. 
capital and 250]. income; physiology, 10,000l. capital and 
18ool. income; agriculture, 20,0001. capital (of which 
72,0001. has been promised) and 6o0o0l. income; the medical 
school will cost at least 20,0001. to complete, and in 
NO. 1947, VOL. 75] 
NATURE 
| FEBRUARY 21, 1907 
ON ne Sea a a a ar rr 
addition a considerable sum is needed for the provision 
of instruments, &c., and a large income for additions to 
the teaching staff. Geology asks for 28col. capital and 
13001. income. A new, or at least a greatly enlarged, 
museum of zoology will shortly become necessary, and an 
income of 1500/1. is also required for this subject. Entom- 
ology, a subject of great importance in its relations to 
forestry and tropical medicine, is in need of 10,000l. 
capital. Oriental studies require 20001. income. A new 
museum of archeology and ethnology, urgently needed for 
the preservation, and for the display for the use of re- 
searchers, of the valuable collections possessed by the 
University, will cost 25,o00l., and a considerable income 
will be required for staff and maintenance. History is in 
need of Sool. income, and a sum for the provision of 
lecture rooms. Economics require 20001. income, the 
moral. sciences (including experimental psychology) 14ool. 
capital and 1250/. income. Classics require about gool. 
income, and mathematics capital for new iecture-rooms 
and 3500l. income. Law asks for 6001. income. Modern 
languages urgently require a sum sufficient to create pro- 
fessorships in at least English, French, and German (at 
present represented by two readers and a lecturer), and to 
ensure the proper representation of other modern languages. 
There are other needs, som: of them not intrinsically less 
important than those mentioned, but demanding more 
modest sums for their satisfaction. 
The disabilities arising from the low scale of existing 
salaries are common to almost every department. The 
average stipend of a professor is but 55o0l., and that of 
a university teacher, other than a professor, 250l. per 
annum, and these figures include the emoluments received 
from fellowships and from fees. The disability is increased 
by the fact that the University can set aside only 2o00l. 
per annum to form a pension fund for its forty-four pro- 
fessors, and nothing at all for other teachers. There is, in 
addition, need for the creation of many new posts. 
If the University is to retain the services of its most 
distinguished men it is imperative that the income assured 
to them, both during and after the period of active work, 
should bear comparison with what they may obtain in 
similar positions elsewhere. 
It is stated that in all a capital sum of nearly one 
million and a half, apart from any question of a pension 
fund for professors, might without extravagance be 
immediately expended on the equipment of, and on the 
provision of staff for, the University. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
CampripGe.—The professorship of agriculture in the Uni- 
versity was established in the year 1899, in consequence 
of a generous offer by the Drapers’ Company to contribute 
Sool. a year for ten years to the agricultural education 
fund, for the stipend of the professor. The Drapers’ 
Company has now signified its intention to continue its 
contribution of Sool. a year for a further period of ten 
years, dating from the year 1909, on the understanding 
that the Department of Agriculture, and the stipend of the 
professor, shall be maintained as at present. The com- 
pany has further expressed approval of a suggestion, made 
by the board of agricultural studies, that the source of the 
endowment should be indicated, as in the case of some 
other foundations, by attaching to the chair the title of 
the “ Drapers’ Professorship of Agriculture.” 
The following have been appointed members of the 
board of electors to certain professorships :—Dr. Keynes 
and Mr. W. E. Johnson, of King’s College, to that of the 
Knightsbridge professorship of moral philosophy; Mr. 
F. H. Neville, of Sidney Sussex College, to that of the 
professorship of chemistry and to that of the Jacksonian 
professorship of natural philosophy; Prof. Forsyth, to that 
of the Plumian professorship of astronomy; Prof. Howard 
Marsh, to that of the professorship of anatomy; Prof. 
S. H. Vines, to that of the professorship of botany; Dr. 
Bonney, to that of the Woodwardian professorship of 
geology and to that of the professorship of mineralogy ; 
Sir Thomas Barlow, Bart., to that of the Downing pro- 
