DECEMBER 4, 1913]| 
NATURE 
415 
versity of Manchester since 1885, or a period of twenty- 
eight years, and is now senior professor. An unusual 
feature of interest lay in the fact that the portrait of 
Prof. Lamb was painted by his son, Mr. Henry Lamb, 
a rising young artist. The gathering was well attended 
by the friends and colleagues of Prof. Lamb, and the 
presentation of the portrait was made by Prof. Tout 
and Prof. Rutherford on behalf of the subscribers. 
Reference was made to the remarkable success of 
Prof. Lamb as a teacher of mathematics, and to the 
importance of his original contributions to mathe- 
matical physics. The portrait was accepted on behalf 
of the University by Sir Frank Forbes Adam, the 
chairman of the council, and very appreciative refer- 
ences were made by Prof. Weiss, the Vice-Chancellor, 
and by all the speakers, to the esteem and affection 
in which Prof. Lamb is held by all his friends and 
colleagues. Letters were read from Dr. Schuster, Sir 
Joseph Larmor, the Vice-Chancellor of Leeds, and 
others, who were unable to be present at the presenta- 
tion, in which they expressed their warm appreciation 
of the services of Prof. Lamb to the University and 
to science as a teacher and original investigator. The 
hope was expressed by all the speakers that Prof. 
Lamb would long continue to carry on his work in 
the University which he has served with so much 
distinction. 
Dr. G. Owen, lecturer and demonstrator in physics 
at Liverpool University, has been appointed professor 
of physics at Auckland University College, New 
Zealand. 
Ir is stated in Science that a gift of 870,000l. to the 
Cornell Medical School has been officially announced. 
The name of the donor is withheld, but he is believed 
to be Colonel O. H. Payne, of New York City. 
Str Tuomas H. Extiorr, K.C.B., Deputy Master 
and Comptroller of the Royal Mint, will distribute 
prizes and certificates at the Sir John Cass Technical 
Institute, Aldgate, E.C., on Wednesday next, Decem- 
ber 10, and will deliver an address. There will be an 
exhibition of students’ work and apparatus in the 
laboratories and workshops. 
In the issue of Science for October 24, Prof. 
F. C. Ferry, writing under the title, ‘‘ Some Tables of 
Student Hours of Instruction,”’ gives some interesting 
facts as to the amount of work done in various 
American universities in the different faculties. By a 
*“‘student hour of instruction’’ is meant the taking | 
of a course of one hour a week by one student through 
one session. The tables included in the article show 
that in the order of the relative amount of work 
done in science and mathematics certain of the 
American universities stand in the following order :— 
Leland Stanford Junior, Princeton, Cornell, Wis- 
consin, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Wesleyan, 
Amherst, and Columbia. In general, the eastern 
universities show a greater amount of work in the 
foreign languages than the western, while the western 
show much larger numbers in science. 
In a note last week attention was directed to the 
beginning of the new buildings for the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. We notice in The Boston 
Evening Transcript of November 8, a copy of which 
has been received, that two of its large pages are 
devoted to particulars and illustrations of the new 
buildings. | Our contemporary speaks with natural 
pride of the part taken by old students of the institute 
in making it possible to provide the new buildings. 
The engineer, the architect, and many other experts 
engaged upon the work of construction are old 
students, many of whom are giving their services. 
To quote from the article :—‘ Throughout the whole 
NO. 2301, VOL. 92] 
process the institute has been aided by its own best 
product. For every portion men technically trained 
in its own departments have come to its aid, and here 
it should be understood these men are giving liberally 
what would be exceedingly costly under ordinary com- 
mercial rules.” Since the fiftieth anniversary of the 
founding of the institute, in April, 1911, 1,506,000!. 
has been received in gifts, and a considerable part of 
the money has come from old students. 
An examination of the calendar for the current 
session of the University College of North Wales 
shows that the Court of Governors spares no pains 
to keep in close touch with the special needs of the 
areas from which it more particularly draws its 
students. As typical of the arrangements made to 
demonstrate the value of higher educational institu- 
tions, it may be stated that the calendar points out 
that an important new departure has been taken by 
the authorities of the college in the appointment of 
two “advisers,” who will devote themselves to the 
investigation of special problems affecting agricul- 
ture, and the giving of scientific advice to farmers and 
others who may refer to them questions for solution. 
These appointments have been made possible by a 
| special grant made by the Board of Agriculture out 
of a sum from the Development Fund which has been 
placed at the disposal of the Board for this particular 
purpose. In addition to the instruction given in the 
college itself, a scheme of ‘out-college agricultural 
instruction"’ has been organised, and is now being 
carried out throughout the greater part of North 
Wales. This scheme is maintained by means of 
annual grants, amounting altogether to 1100l., which 
are voted by the County Councils of Anglesey, Car- 
narvonshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. It is in- 
teresting to record that the total sum subscribed for 
| all purposes since the establishment of the college is 
230,748l. 
THERE is perhaps no more healthy and hopeful sign 
of the increasing interest in education, whether 
elementary, secondary, technological, or university, 
than is to be found in the numerous conferences 
which are held from time to time by associations of 
teachers and administrators to discuss questions, not 
only concerning the administration of education and 
the relative responsibility of the central and local 
authorities, but also the subjects most suitable to the 
| various grades of education and the best methods of 
presenting them. Of these conferences that of the 
annual congress of the Irish Technical Instruction 
Association, the report of which has been recently 
issued, deserves a high place having regard to the 
| interest of the subjects considered and the high quality 
| of the papers read. 
It is especially gratifying to note 
that in Ireland, hitherto so much neglected as com- 
pared with the rest of the United Kingdom, a vigorous 
educational life has been awakened as a result of the 
efforts of enthusiasts like Sir Horace Plunkett, the 
founder of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, 
to whose zeal and intelligence is also due the estab- 
lishment of the Department of Agriculture and Tech- 
nical Instruction, which has done so much through 
the enlightened and vigorous efforts of its chief 
officials, Mr. IT. P. Gill and Mr. G. Fletcher, to 
develop technical education in Ireland. The proceed- 
ings of this, the twelfth congress, held in May last, 
under the presidency of Mr. F. C. Forth, the principal 
of the Belfast Technical Institute, extended over three 
days, and was attended by representatives from all 
parts of Ireland, including members of technical in- 
struction committees, principals and teachers of tech- 
nical schools, members of chambers of commerce, 
and officials appointed by Government departments. 
Amongst the important papers read and discussed 
