DECEMBER I0, 1903] 
NATURE 
131 
netic field on the resistance, and the increase in specific 
resistance of very thin films. Mr. Patterson, working 
in the Cavendish Laboratory, has followed out these 
lines of attack with considerable success. The results 
obtained were in agreement with the predictions of 
the theory. While we must await the result of other 
lines of research for a further knowledge of this im- 
portant question, a very promising beginning has 
already been made. 
The great mass of work published during the last 
seven years by J. J. Thomson and those working under 
him in the Cavendish Laboratory has enormously in- 
creased our knowledge of the nature of the electric 
discharge, and has worked a veritable revolution in 
ideas of the constitution of matter. When sufficient 
time has elapsed for the importance of this work, and 
of the consequences that follow from it, to be more 
accurately estimated, it is not too much to say that it 
will be recognised as marking an epoch in the history 
of physical science. 
It is now necessary to speak of a movement for the 
promotion of research that has been fraught with im- 
portant consequences to the Cavendish Laboratory 
and to Cambridge University in general. In 1895 the 
Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and 
Glasgow arranged to admit graduates from other uni- 
versities to a course of post-graduate study without 
any examination or restrictions. These advanced 
students are allowed at once the position and privileges 
of the Bachelor of Arts of the university. If the 
advanced student devotes himself entirely to research 
under some recognised teacher, he may obtain the 
degree of B.A. without examination after two years’ 
work, provided the results of the investigation sub- 
mitted are ‘‘ of distinction as a record of original re- 
search.’”’ In practice the standard of this research 
degree is equivalent to that of the degree of Doctor of 
Science in most other universities. The result of this 
wise legislation was at once made manifest. Large 
numbers of advanced students, not only from the uni- 
versities of Great Britain, but also from her colonies, 
from America, and from the Continent, have come to 
Cambridge to take advantage of her unequalled facili- 
ties for advanced work and research. In no depart- 
ment has this influx of advanced students been more 
numerous or its influence more strongly felt than in 
the Cavendish Laboratory. Attracted by the genius 
of the professor, those anxious to pursue research in 
physical science have come from all parts of the world. 
The numbers were small at first, but have steadily 
increased until this year nearly thirty young men 
have been engaged in research in the Cavendish Labor- 
atory alone. The gathering is a thoroughly cosmo- 
politan one. Here we find working together graduates 
not only of most of the universities in Great Britain, 
but also from Canada and Australasia, from the United 
States of America, with an occasional representative 
from France, Germany, and Austria. The mutual 
influence of such a number of young investigators, 
each engaged in the pursuit of science for its own 
sake, cannot be too highly estimated. Unlike some 
foreign laboratories, there is a thorough freemasonry 
among the workers in Cambridge. Beside his own 
research, a student is acquainted with that of twenty 
others working beside him. He knows their difficul- 
ties and the methods of overcoming them, and at the 
same time is able to see within a short period the 
cumulative effect of their labours. 
The influence towards research exerted by Prof. 
Thomson on all those who have worked under him is 
n> evanescent one, for his students continue to do 
good original work and to foster the spirit of investi- 
gation, whether they reside in Great Britain or in 
her colonies. As a sign of their appreciation of the 
services of J. J. Thomson, the past and present workers 
NO. 1780, VOL. 69] 
in the laboratory have had painted an excellent portrait 
of the professor, which has just been hung in the 
laboratory. 
The amount of work involved in the superintendence 
of the researches of so many students is necessarily 
very great, yet this is undertaken by Prof. Thomson 
with the utmost willingness and individual interest. 
Every morning the professor goes the round of the 
laboratory and inquires of each student the progress 
of his work. When difficulties arise he is always ready 
to give the student the benefit of his knowledge and 
experience, and to make valuable suggestions for 
future work. In the afternoon there is a social gather- 
ing for tea in the professor’s room, where he is always 
ready to discuss scientific matters or to enjoy the 
latest joke. 
Few men are capable of working so steadily and at 
such high pressure as Prof. Thomson. Besides super- 
intending the teaching and research work of the labor- 
atory and delivering courses of advanced lectures, he 
is continuously engaged in scientific investigation. 
In the preparation of his experiments he is assisted 
by Mr. Everett, whose skill in glass blowing and 
manipulation is always kindly placed at the disposal 
of the laboratory. In addition to a great amount of 
experimental work, Prof. Thomson, in conjunction 
with Prof. Poynting, has found time to publish a series 
of valuable text-books. Two works on sound and 
properties of matter have already appeared, and a 
third is in the course of preparation. At the same 
time, a volume on the discharge of electricity through 
gases has lately been published. Much of the 
work has been done by Prof. Thomson and _ his 
students in the Cavendish Laboratory, and an account 
of this important subject is awaited with much interest 
by physicists. 
Prof. Thomson has not confined his energies to 
England, but has, during his Cambridge vacations, 
twice visited the United States of America by invitation 
to deliver courses of lectures. In the first visit he gave 
a course of lectures at Princeton University which 
has been published in book form. In his second visit 
this year, he gave courses of lectures at both Yale and 
Johns Hopkins Universities. The American physicists 
are second to none in their admiration of the work 
done by Prof. Thomson, and his lectures have been 
attended in great numbers by physicists from all parts 
of the States. Anyone who has been in America must 
have been struck by the deep impression created by 
these lectures. 
The large amount of research carried on in the 
laboratory has not been allowed to interfere to an un- 
due extent with the regular teaching and practical 
courses. The Cavendish Laboratory was one of the 
first to appreciate the great importance of practical 
work in the teaching of science. The excellent labor- 
atory courses now provided for all classes of students 
are to a large extent due to the labours of Glazebrook, 
Shaw, Newall, Fitzpatrick, Wilberforce, Skinner, and 
Searle. 
Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Skinner have organised an 
elementary practical course of instruction for the 
medical students, while Mr. Searle has devised an 
admirable course of physical experiments for students 
taking the first part of the science tripos. The 
advanced course of practical instruction is at present 
supervised by Mr. C. T. R. Wilson. 
The amount of apparatus required for such a large 
number of students engaged in research has naturally 
proved a severe drain on the resources of the labor- 
atory. As in many other scientific laboratories in 
England, the funds for improving the equipment have 
been limited. The University of Cambridge has 
always been liberal in the support of science, but in 
the present state of the university funds the money to. 
