44 



NA TURE 



[Mav 9, 1 90 1 



The degree of D.Sc. has been conferred upon Prof. A. H. 

 Church, F. R.S., in recognition of his contributions to chemical 

 and niineralogical science. 



No honorary degrees will be conferred at the Enca-nia this 

 year. 



.Mr. J. L. Myres and Dr. H. R. Mill have been appointed 

 examiners for the newly-instituted diploma in geography. 



The following grants have been made from the Craven 

 University Fund : — 100/. to Mr. D. G. Hogarth to enable him 

 to continue his researches in Crete ; So/, to Mr. T. Ashby 

 towards the cost of publishing the results of his researches in 

 the Campagna Romana. 



Mr. J. Passmore Edwards has given to the University the 

 sum of 1675.'. for the promotion of the study of English litera- 

 ture in its connection with the classical literatures of Greece and 

 Rome. 



Scholarships in natural science are advertised for Merton 

 College, New College and non-collegiate students on June 18. 



The new Radclift'e Library (presented to the University by 

 the Draper's Company) and the new Pathological Laboratory 

 are approaching completion. The latter and the pathological 

 collections deposited in the University Museum will be, probably, 

 placed under the charge of the reader in pathology, Dr. Ritchie. 



The Junior Scientific Club held their 224th meeting on 

 Wednesday, May i. The papers read were; "Experiences 

 in South African Hospitals," G. H. H. Almond (Hertford) : 

 " Organic Compounds of Phosphorus," S. P. Grundy (Balliol). 



Cambridge;. — The new Board of Agricultural Studies in their 

 annual report give a favourable account of their first year's 

 working. The number of students attending the special courses 

 of instruction is thirty-nine. The experimental farm is in working 

 order, and no less than thirty-two special experiments on crops, 

 stock, manures, &c., are being conducted in various local stations 

 at the instance of neighbouring county councils. The Board of 

 Agriculture has this year made a grant of 1000/. in aid of the 

 work of the department. The special examination in agricultural 

 science for the B.A. degree, and the examinations for the 

 University Diploma in -Vgriculture, begin on May 29 and extend 

 to June S. 



The Vice-Chancellor will represent the University at the 

 meeting of universities and learned societies in connection with 

 the millenary commemoration of King Alfred the Great at 

 Winchester, to be held this summer. 



Prof. AUbutt and Prof. Sims Woodhead will represent the' 

 University at the British Congress on Tuberculosis to be held in 

 London next July. 



The following external examiners, among others, have 

 been appointed by the Council of the University of Birming- 

 ham. We notice with regret the absence of Astronomy from 

 the subjects. Mathematics, Prof. Horace Lamb, F. R.S. ; 

 Physics, Prof. T- J. Thomson, F. R.S. ; Chemistry, Prof. H. 

 McLeod, F.R.S. ; Zoology, Dr. S. F. Harmer, F.R.S. ; 

 Botany, Prof. Reynolds Green, F.R.S. ; Geology, Prof. T. G. 

 Bonney, F.R.S.; Anatomy, Prof. Alex. Macalister, F.R.S.; 

 Physiology, Prof. J. G. McRendrick, F.R.S.; Pathology, 

 Prof. G. Sims Woodhead ; Medicine, Dr. Donald MacAlister ; 

 Public Health, Dr. George Reid. 



The -Association of American Universities has recommended 

 the fourteen universities in the United States to extend the 

 Christmas vacation every year to include the first week in 

 January, in order to permit scientific men to attend annual 

 meetings then instead of in the summer. Science says ; 

 "Columbia University has the honourable distinction of being 

 the first to adopt the important innovation, and has already 

 changed its calendar for 1901-1902, setting free the week of 

 January first for convocation purposes. It is expected that 

 several other universities also will soon announce their adherence 

 to the plan, and it is hoped that in a short time the majority 

 of American and Canadian universities will adopt the recom- 

 mendation under consideration." 



The Technical Education Board of the London County 

 Council is offering for competition five senior county scholar- 

 ships of the value of 60/. a year for three years, together with 

 payment of tuition fees up to 30/. a year. The scholarships are 

 open to young men and young women who are resident within 

 the administrative County of London, and whose parents are 

 in receipt of an income not exceeding 400/. a year ; and they 

 are tenable at Universities, University colleges, or technical 



colleges, whether in England or on the Continent. Candidates 

 must be under twenty-two years of age on May I, preference 

 being given to those who are under nineteen years of age. In 

 addition to the senior county scholarships the Board offers a 

 limited number of free places at University College, King's 

 College and Bedford College, London. The scholarships and 

 grants of free places are awarded, not on the result of an ex- 

 amination, but on a consideration of the past record and 

 achievements of the candidates. Application forms may be 

 obtained from the secretary of the Technical Education Board, 

 116, St. Martin's Lane. W.C, to whom they should be returned 

 not later than Monday, May 13. 



The Education Bill of the Government was introduced into 

 the House of Commons on Tuesday, and was read a first time. 

 The object of the Bill is to establish in every part of England 

 and Wales a local education authority for the supervision of 

 educational work of all grades ; and it is hoped that this • 

 authority will ultimately have control over all schools within 

 its area of influence, whether elementary, secondatyor technical. 

 The proposal of the Government is to make county and borough 

 councils, acting through statutory committees, the educational 

 authorities, and it is hoped that small counties will combine to 

 form an education area. The new education committee will 

 have no power of rating, but will merely spend the money 

 placed at its disposal by the county council. This money will be 

 derived chiefly from the local ta.sation receipts, so that the com- 

 mittees will become the successors of those at present responsible 

 for technical instruction. A county council will also have the 

 power of levying a rate, limited to 21/., either upon the whole 

 county or upon any part of it for which it might be desirable 

 to make provision, and the sum so raised will be entrusted to 

 the education committee. School Boards and School Board 

 rates are not touched by the Bill, but their ultimate absorption 

 by the new educational authorities is contemplated. 



The Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Education for the 

 year 189S-99 has been received. Much of this bulky volume is 

 taken up with tables referring to the condition and progress of 

 various branches of education, but there are also a number of 

 interesting articles and summaries. A detailed statistical ac- 

 count is given of the institutions for higher education in the 

 United States. A table is given showing the number of students 

 in higher education to every million persons in the United 

 States. In the year 1S72 there were 852 of such students to 

 1,000,000 people, and in 1898-99 the proportion had risen to 

 1874 college students per million. In the year 1898-99 the 

 total number of students in collegiate, graduate and professional 

 departments of institutions for higher education and in profes- 

 sional schools was 147,164, of which 43,913 were enrolled as 

 professional students in law, medicine and theology, leaving 

 103,251 students reported as pursuing studies in the liberal arts 

 and applied science. The number of degrees conferred on men 

 after passing through a recognised course was 10,794, •ifl o" 

 women 4293. The total value of property possessed by institu- 

 tions for higher education amounted to more than seventy 

 million pounds. The endowment funds amounted to thirty-one 

 m.illion pounds, and the remainder represented the value of 

 grounds, buildings, &c., used for instruction and research. The 

 total income for the year covered by the report, excluding 

 benefactions, amounted to about six million pounds. The gifts 

 and bequests reported as having been received during the year 

 reached the magnificent total of nearly five million pounds. 



We are glad to notice another movement lor the extension of 

 facilities for higher education. A short time ago a council was 

 formed to consider the possibility of establishing a University 

 College for North Staffordshire, and to promote interest in the 

 educational needs of the district. The executive committee 

 now leport that the chairman of the council, Mr. Alfred S. 

 Bolton, has purchased, as a site for the College, about three 

 acres of land in a good position at Stoke-on-Trent, and has thus 

 given generous aid to the educational cause of North Stafford -_ 

 shire. Principal Oliver Lodge has become a vice-president of 

 the council in order to show that the scheme has the sympathy 

 and good wishes of the University of Birmingham. It was 

 pointed out by the committee which first started the inquiry into 

 higher education in North Staffordshire that " The nature of the 

 local industries demands special scientific instruction of a more 

 systematic and thorough character than is at present provided 

 anywhere in the district, and foreign competition by nations 

 recognising the practical advantages of such instruction will 



NO. 1645, VOL. 64] 



