November 14. 1918 



NATURE 



209 



cylinder i>l oxygen arriving .it station 



sampled ;m<l analysed. Ii advises, lor use under- 

 ;./, onlj such cylinders as contain 98 percent. 

 or more, and foi surface work (practices, etc. 

 such .is contain more than 97 per cent. The 

 »er of hydrogen in electrolyticallj prepared 

 oxygen is also pointed out. 



The Committee recommends the prohibition of 

 the use oi anj breathing apparatus in mines under 



the foal Mines Act unless Trie apparatus he "ol 



a type for the time being approved !>\ the Secre- 

 tary of Siaie." The necessity For this is very 

 evident to anyone who has had practical know- 

 ledge of the very serious condition in which some 

 ratus is supplied, and for which the makers 

 entirelj responsible. The Committee also 

 ises that an inspector should be appointed "to 



advise the Chief Inspector of Mines as to the 

 ol these apparatus," and to see thai the 

 regulations regarding operations are 



properly carried out. 



M,m\ other interesting and valuable recom- 

 lations are m de ; thi fers of existing 



atus and means for overcoming these are 

 pointed out, and the training of rescue brig; 

 methods of signalling, 1 ["he report 



is most instructive and interesting, and will well 

 time -pent in its 

 In most disti icts tl 1 omposed 



of volunteers from each 1 are willing 



their lives in the work of resi ue or recovery 

 in the event of any form of mine disaster. Work- 

 coal mines at the besl is always atte 

 2559, VOL. 102] 



with a certain amount of risk to life and limb. 

 \ltci an explosion or fire this risk is increased 

 considerably. It is onl) just, therefore, that the con- 

 struction of the apparatus itsell should he such as 

 to involve the least possible risk to the wearer, 

 and that claims made by makers for their appa- 

 ratus should he capable of complete justification. 



The work of the Mine Resi ue Apparatus Re- 

 search Committee and the publication ol its reports 

 will he one of the best means of realising this aim. 



J. I- G. 



INTERCHANGE OF UNIVERSITY 

 STUDENTS. 



WHEN in March last Mr. Balfour proposed 

 that a mission consisting of representatives 

 .of the universities of the United Kingdom should 

 1m sent to the United States, he did the cause o! 

 university education notable service. To the 

 members of the conference convened at the 

 Foreign Office, Mr. Balfour described, on the basis 

 of his own recent experience, the influence which 

 university opinion carries in all matters of policy, 

 whether domestic or international, of our great 

 Allv. He then laid emphasis upon the need for 

 the creation by British universities of oppor- 

 tunities of corporate expression. He advocated 

 the establishment of a representative body which 

 would be able to speak for the universities as a 

 whole. 



To the conference which had already been 

 .ailed for the next day by the Universities Bureau 

 of the British Empire was remitted the responsi- 

 bility of selecting" a group of men and women to 

 visit the United States. The " Balfour Mission" 

 reached the far side of the Atlantic some two or 

 three weeks ago. Accounts of its proceedings and 

 of the distinguished welcome which the delegates 

 are receiving in all the chief universities of the 

 American continent on both sides of the border 

 have appeared in the papers from time to time. 



Acting upon Mr. Balfour's suggestion that our 

 universities should find means of giving ex- 

 pression to their collective views, a Standing Com- 

 mittee, consisting of all their executive heads - 

 vice-chancellors or principals, as the case may 

 be — was appointed by the conference for purposes 

 ol consultation and mutual counsel. Whether in 

 constitution this committee remains as at present, 

 or whether in the future some other and more 

 direct method of sell" ting its members be devised, 

 the universities have, through the delegates whom 

 they sent to the conference, agreed to the institu- 

 tion of "a Senate of the Senates," to use a phrase 

 adopled by Mr. Balfour. They have taken a step 

 which is likely to have a profoundly important 

 effect upon their usefulness and prestige. 



One of the main objects of the mission is to 



il students. In the Middle 



\ges .1 studenl was free to migrate from one 



university to another in search of the most eminent 



ers of the faculty of his choice. Like his 



sors, who had hv gradt Lired their 



jus uliitjiu- docendi, he was matriculated in the 



