FEBRUARY 25, 1897 | 
NATURE 
405 
rupees at 1,000,000/., up to the end of 1895, as far as the report 
goes. A sum of 293 millions of pounds had been expended on 
the construction of 37 works, which brought ina net revenue 
of 4°32 per cent. on the total capital expended, although some 
of the works were not then completed. Of these, the Madras 
canals paid 6°75 per cent. ; the Sind, 6 per cent. ; the North- 
western Provinces, 5°22 per cent. ; the Punjab, 4°33 per cent. ; 
Deccan and Goojerat, 1°18 jper cent. ; and Bengal, less than 
one-tenth per cent. The general deductions to be drawn from 
the figures given in the report are that, while these irrigation 
canals have been of inestimable value to the productive resources 
of India, and in mitigating the direful effects of famines, the 
expenditure has at the same time proved very remunerative ; 
and that though the Bengal and Bombay canals have been un- 
remunerative, and are never likely to pay, still the works in 
the other provinces have more than compensated for these 
losses. The results from minor works, or those constructed 
out of revenue, are even more satisfactory. Seventy of these 
works have cost about 3,000,000/., and irrigate 2,194,441 acres, 
the net revenue yielding 12°61 percent. onthe outlay. The annual 
allotments for these works have in recent years been 360,000/., 
of which about 240,000/. is expended on up-keep. In view of 
their remunerative character and immense benefit to the natives, 
the policy of expending large sums in relief works, and extend- 
ing the system of irrigation in seasons of drought, as is now 
being done, must commend itself as being sound legislation. 
There is a third class of canals, known as ** protective” works, 
the cost of which is charged to the funds set apart for protec- 
tion from, or the mitigation of, famines. These have cost about 
2,000,000/. They are principally designed to provide against 
seasons of drought. Up to the present they have only brought 
in a return of f per cent. on the outlay, They cannot, how- 
ever, be looked at from a commercial standpoint, but rather 
on their value in years of drought ; whereas the year to which 
the return relates was one of considerable rainfall. If, during 
the present season of drought, they have aided in mitigating 
the effect that otherwise would have followed in the districts 
where they are situated, they will have accomplished the object 
for which they were constructed, although they may not prove 
commercially productive. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
CAMBRIDGE.—Mr. W. F. Sedgwick, bracketed Senior 
Wrangler, 1894, has been elected to an Isaac Newton Student- 
ship in Astronomy. 
The General Board of Studies has published the proposed 
regulations for the admission of Advanced Students to certain 
Triposes. In general the standard to be required from such 
students is that.of a second class in Part ii. of the Tripos. In 
Natural Sciences a first class in a single subject of Part ii. will 
be expected. 
The Board of Supervision for Indian Civil Service students is 
about to be formally constituted a Special Board of Studies, 
with the same status and privileges as the other Special Boards. 
Honorary degrees are to be conferred, at the congregation on 
March 11, on the French Ambassador (Baron de Courcel) and 
the American Ambassador (Mr. Bayard), and also on Dr. Zahn 
of Berlin, and Prof. Klein of Gottingen. Dr. Nansen cannot 
attend on that day, and will accordingly be admitted on 
March 16. 
The following have been appointed Electors to the respective 
professorships mentioned. Plumian of Astronomy, Prof. H. 
H. Turner; Anatomy, Sir W. H. Flower; Downing of Medi- 
cine; Dr. S. Ringer; Cavendish of Physics, Prof. A. W. 
Riicker ; Mechanism and Applied Mechanics, Sir F. J. Bram- 
well; Surgery, Prof, Allbutt ; Pathology, Dr. D. MacAlister, 
THE Hartley College, Southampton, has received a valuable 
addition to its library in the form of a complete series of the 
‘* Challenger Reports,” presented by the Government at the 
representation of the Royal Society. 
AT a meeting of the London County Council on Tuesday, 
the recommendation of the Technical Education Board, asking 
the Council for the sum of £150,000 from the Customs and 
Excise dues, for the purpose of technical education in London 
during the year 1897-98, was agreed to, 
NO. 1426, VOL. 55 | 
AT the last meeting of the Council of Bedford College, 
London, the following resolution was passed unanimously : 
“*That the Council and Teaching Staff of Bedford College, 
London, express the earnest hope that Her Majesty’s Govern- 
ment will at an early date again introduce a Bill for the 
creation of a Statutory Commission for the reconstitution of the 
University of London on the lines indicated by Lord Cowper’s 
Commission, and assure the Government that such a measure 
will have their active support.” 
Sczece announces the following gifts to education in the 
United States :—The will of the late Mrs. Horatio Lyon, of 
Springfield, Mass., gives, among other public bequests, 10,000 
dols. to Monson Academy, 10,000 dols. to Pomona College, 
and 10,000 dols. to Menden Free Library.—Harvard University 
has received from Mr. J. Howard Nichols 5000 dols. to be used 
to found a new scholarship, preference being given to a student 
from the State of Alabama.—The will of the late Charles 
Willard, of Battle Creek, Mich., leaves 40,000 dols. to the Bap- 
tist College at Kalamazoo, Mich., and 40,000 dols. for a library 
building for the city schools at Battle Creek, Mich. 
WE are glad to see that the University colleges are to be 
given an additional grant by the Government. The increase 
was announced in the House of Commons on Monday, when 
Sir W. Houldsworth (Manchester, N.W.) asked the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer whether any report had yet been received 
from the Commissioners appointed by him to visit the University 
colleges which received a Government grant, and, if so, 
whether there was any prospect of these colleges, or any of 
them, receiving an augmented grant in the next financial year. 
The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied to the first question in 
the affirmative, and he pointed out that an additional grant of 
49500 for the University Colleges appears in the Civil Service 
Estimates, 
THE Fournal of School Geography, the first number of which 
has just been published at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 
should be a real source of help and a valuable geographical aid to 
teachers in elementary and secondary schools. The aim of the 
new periodical is to present the newest and best geographical 
information in such a form that it can be readily used for 
teaching purposes, The responsible editor is Prof. Richard E. 
Dodge, Teachers’ College, New York City, and associated with 
him are Prof. W. M. Davis, Mr. C. W. Hayes, Prof. H. B. 
Kummel, Dean McMurry, and Mr. R. de C. Ward. Natural 
science, physical geography, geology, physiography, pedagogy, 
and climatology are thus all represented upon the editorial staff, 
so that attention to all the phases of the broad science of 
geography is ensured. The new journal should be of great 
assistance in advancing geographical knowledge, and in making 
the study of the earth a means of developing the habit ot 
observation. 
THE following are among recent appointments :—Prof, 
Francis E. Lloyd to be professor of biology in the Teachers’ 
College, New York ; Dr. Alexander P. Anderson to be pro- 
fessor of botany at Clemson College, S.C. ; Postmaster-General 
Mr. L. Wilson to be president of the Washington and Lee 
University at Lexington, Kentucky; Dr. Chr. Nussbaum to be 
professor of hygiene in the Technical High School at Hanover ; 
Dr E. Wiechert, privat-docent in mathematical physics at 
K6nigsberg, to be titular professor; Dr. J. Liznar to be pro- 
fessor of meteorology at Vienna; Hon. James Wilson, director 
of the Iowa Agricultural Station and professor of agriculture in 
the Iowa Agricultural College, to be Secretary of Agriculture in 
the United States; Dr. L. A. Bauer to be assistant professor of 
mathematics and mathematical physics in the University of 
Cincinnati; Dr. L. F. Barker to be assistant professor of 
anatomy in the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore). 
In a valuable and well-considered report upon the work 
accomplished last year, under the auspices of the Technical 
Education Committee of the Derbyshire County Council, Mr. 
Percy Hawkridge shows that in his county a very great develop- 
ment of classes for industrial students has taken place since the 
advent of the County Council into the educational field. In 
1890-91 there were 700 students attending elementary science 
classes in Derbyshire; in 1891-92, when the County Council 
education scheme came into force, there were 1325 students ; 
and in 1894-95 the number was 2342. This great development 
has taken place although classes not connected with local 
