DECEMBER II, 1913 
NATURE 
439 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
CampripGz.—Mr. F. Horton,.of St. John’s College, 
has been approved by the General Board of Studies 
for the degree of doctor of science. 
Science announces that an anonymous gift of 
20,000l. has been made to Wellesley College. The 
money was given towards the 200,0001. fund which 
the college is trying to raise as an endowment. The 
total amount obtained thus far is go0,60ol. 
AmonG the scientific lectures arranged for advanced 
students of the University of London during the spring 
term of 1914 are a course of four lectures on carbo- 
hydrate fermentation at King’s College, by Prof. A. 
Harden, University professor of biochemistry, at 4.30 
p-m., on Mondays, beginning on January 26; and a 
course of eight lectures on physiological effects of 
anesthetics and narcotics, at Guy’s Hospital, by Dr. 
M. S. Pembrey and Mr. J. H. Ryffel, at 4 p.m., on 
Thursdays, beginning on January 22. The lectures, 
which will be illustrated by experiments, are addressed 
to advanced students of the University and to others 
interested in the subjects. Admission is free, without 
ticket. 
Tue annual report for the session 1912-13 of the 
Royal Technical College. Glasgow, has now been 
circulated. The total number of individual students 
enrolled was 5069, of whom 610 were day students. 
The higher work of the college continues to grow in 
volume and in standard. The roll of students included 
135 graduates of the four Scottish universities and of 
the Universities of Cambridge, London, Manchester, 
Allahabad, and Calcutta. The arrangements for the 
affiliation of the college to the University of Glasgow 
have been completed, and the ordinance of the Univer- 
sity Court giving effect to the affiliation received the 
approval of his Majesty in Council on March 7, 1913. 
The report gives particulars of twenty-nine works and 
papers published during the session by members of 
the college. Details are supplied of the extensions 
and developments in the various departments of the 
college and of the continued interest shown by the 
manufacturers and merchants of the district in the 
work of the college. 
Tue Institute of Chemistry has issued in pamphlet 
fcrm a full report of a conference of professors of 
chemistry held on October 17 last to consider the 
relation of the qualifications of the institute to those 
of other educational institutions; the general question 
of the training of professional chemists; and the work 
of the institute in matters of professional interest in 
all branches. The members of the conference in- 
cluded the officers and members of the council of the 
institute, the board of examiners, professors of chem- 
istry in universities and colleges recognised for the 
training of candidates for the associateship of the 
institute, and in other well-known colleges and tech- 
nical schools. The pamphlet contains a preliminary 
statement by the president of the institute, Prof. R. 
Meldola, submitted as a basis for discussion and 
circulated among members before the conference, 
notes received from members before the day of the 
conference, the report of the conference itself, and 
expressions of opinion since received. The symposium 
is of great interest to chemists as bringing, together 
- authoritative views on the training and qualifications 
of professional chemists. 
Own Friday, December 5, the London Teachers’ 
Association held a meeting to discuss a report to be 
NO. 2302, VOL. 92] 
made by its education committee on the child and the 
kinematograph. The report will be based on the per- 
sonal observations of the members of the committee 
of visits to picture palaces, on the results of their 
experience with children, and on the written composi- 
tions of 1300 children of Standard III. and upwards 
on the picture palace. Mr. Albert Smith, chairman 
of the education committee, considered the subject as 
regards its moral, physical, and educational effects on 
the child. Its physical effect was to produce a great 
frequency of headaches and to increase the number of 
children demanding eye treatment; its effect on char- 
acter building was bad; the educational aspect showed 
that the results in a child’s mind was “utter, hope- 
less, desperate confusion.’’ Two things were needed, 
an efficient film censorship for all films shown to 
children and the establishment of educational condi- 
tions so that teachers should control films to be used 
in school work. In Germany the drawbacks of the 
kinematograph were minimised by proper restrictions. 
Dr. Garnett said that the London County Council 
had postponed consideration of this matter for six 
months. He had doubts whether the kinematograph 
would be of use in the teaching of history, geography, 
and industries, but he certainly thought it was of 
considerable use in the teaching of science, on account 
of the time-control. 
Tne annual prize distribution of the Northampton 
Polytechnic, London, E.C., was held on Friday, 
December 5, when the prizes were distributed by Mr. 
Cyril S. Cobb, the chairman of the London County 
Council. In his report, the principal, after giving 
details of the work of the institute, referred particu- 
larly to the delay in the erection of the technical optics 
annexe and its serious effect upon the unique work 
of the polytechnic in this subject. Mr. Cobb, in his 
address to the students, expressed his regret at the 
scheme having been apparently pigeon-holed at the 
Education Office of the council, and promised to 
unearth it with a view to a definite answer being 
given to the requests of the governing body in view 
of the great importance, both to the metropolis and 
the nation, of carefully planned developments in tech- 
nological education in optics. Mr. Cobb also dwelt 
upon the necessity for employers, the apprenticeship 
system being practically dead, giving facilities for 
their apprentices and younger workmen to attend 
technical classes, remarking that if such facilities 
were not given the time might not be far distant when 
| attendance at such classes might be made compulsory. 
In the laboratories of the polytechnic an interesting 
scientific development in electric furnace work was 
the subject of a lecturette given by Mr. S. Field, the 
head of the technical chemistry department, with prac- 
tical demonstrations by Mr. E. Kilburn Scott, another 
member of the staff, and the inventor of a new type 
of electric furnace. The furnace is a flame are fur- 
nace, working at high voltages, the three arcs of a 
three-phase system being produced at the same point 
in one furnace. Air under pressure is blown, as 
usual, through the arc, and the nitrous oxide pro- 
duced is absorbed in appropriate towers, but incident- 
ally the furnace is so arranged that the waste heat of 
these products can be utilised for steam raising. A 
still more important feature of the furnace is that the 
are can be started and stopped by means of discharges 
in an auxiliary circuit not part of the high-pressure 
power supply. This gives a very efficient and con- 
venient form of control. Other and older tyes of elec- 
tric furnaces were described, and, to some extent, 
demonstrated. Many interesting details of the work 
and equipment of the polytechnic were also on view, 
some of them involving novel features of both educa- 
tional and scientific interest. 
