598 
that between the hours of 8 and 10.30 p.m. on fine 
and clear Saturday evenings during the Lent full term 
celestial objects will ,be shown through the North- 
umberland equatorial to members of the University. 
Tue University of London Graduates’ Association 
has issued a pamphlet detailing the objections of the 
association to the scheme proposed by the Royal Com- 
mission on University Education in London. The 
price of the pamphlet is one penny, and copies may be 
obtained from Mr. A. S. E. Ackermann, honorary 
secretary of the association, 25 Victoria Street, West- 
minster, S.W. 
WE record with much satisfaction Sir Hildred Car- 
lile’s gift of 105,000l. to the Bedford College Endow- 
ment Fund. Writing to Lord Haldane, the president 
of the Endowment Fund, Sir Hildred Carlile asks 
that the donation may be considered as a memorial 
to his mother, and we agree with the Lord Chancellor 
that no nobler memorial to Mrs. Edward Carlile could 
have been established. The donation is believed to 
be the largest individual gift that has ever been made 
for the education of women in this country. Beyond 
the stipulation that no part of the money is to be 
used for building, no condition whatever is attached 
to the gift, which will go a long way towards estab- 
lishing the college on a firm financial basis. 
Tue movement for the establishment of a national 
university in Washington on the plan endorsed by the 
National Association of State Universities, is, says 
Science, taking form, and President James, of the 
University of Illinois, has, it is understood, com- 
menced the preparation of a Bill soon to be submitted 
to President Wilson for his approval, and afterwards 
to be introduced in both houses of Congress. The 
Bill provides for a preliminary grant of 100,000l. 
toward the establishment of a university to be under 
the control of a board appointed by the President of 
the United States. It will propose an advisory board 
made up of one delegate from each State to frame 
the policy of the institution. 
With the view of establishing a memorial to the 
late Lord Avebury, a small committee has been formed 
under the chairmanship of the governor of the Bank 
of England, with representatives from the Rovyal 
Society, the University of London, the London Cham- 
ber of Commerce, and the Clearing Bankers. This 
committee has agreed that there can be no more 
suitable memorial than the foundation at the Univer- 
sity of London of scholarships in economics, and in 
some other branch of scientific research in which Lord 
Avebury was especially interested. The minimum 
fund to establish such scholarships should, the com- 
mittee states, amount to at least 5oool., but a still 
larger sum is desirable; and if a sufficient sum were 
raised a professorship or readership might be founded. 
Subscriptions have been promised amounting to nearly 
30001. Subscriptions should be paid in to the Lord 
Avebury Memorial Fund at the Bank of England. 
In concluding an interesting article on the educa- 
tion of the German artisan, appearing in Engineering 
for January 9 and 16, Mr. H. S. Rowell says that the 
outstanding difference between England and Germany 
in all things is represented by the opposites—system- 
ism and individualism. The one is the result of 
despotic government and widespread education; the 
other is traceable to political precocity and indifference 
to education for its own sake. Both these oppo- 
sites have virtues and faults, and no one is wise 
enough to say how far they should be blended, how 
far the individual must sink before the system. But 
one thing is certain in comparing the two countries, 
and that is the difference in the attitude 
NO. 2308, VOL. 92| 
NATURE 
towards | 
[JANUARY 22, 1914 
science. The English, working and employing classes 
alike, are still sadly lacking in this respect. For 
opprobrium they use the words ‘theoretical’’ and 
‘scientific ’’; for praise “practical.” It is seldom 
realised that science is neither purely practical nor 
purely theoretical, but simply truth and good sense 
organised, 
Tue question of the proper utilisation of our great 
national museums is one that is nowadays engaging 
increasing attention. Partly as the result of a debate 
which took place in the House of Lords some time 
ago, guide demonstrators have been, or are being, 
appointed to museums and botanic gardens. The 
London County Council has contributed largely 
towards bringing the national treasures more closely 
before the children in the schools, the system adopted 
being to familiarise the pupils with the exhibits by 
means of the teachers. Accordingly lectures are given 
from time to time in various places of national in- 
terest for the purpose of acquainting teachers with the 
organisation of the various national exhibits so that 
their pupils can derive the maximum benefit on occa- 
sions of educational visits. In furtherance of this 
object, Lord Sudeley, who has played a prominent part 
in educating public opinion as to the need for the 
appointment of guide demonstrators at the museums, 
will address London teachers on the public utility of 
museums, picture galleries, &c., at the Birkbeel Col 
lege, Chancery Lane, on Saturday, January 31, at 
It a.m., when the chairman of the London County 
Council Education Committee, Mr. John W. Gilbert, 
will preside. Tickets of admission to the meeting can 
be obtained from the education officer of the London 
County Council, Education Offices, Victoria Embank- 
ment. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
Dustin. 
Royal Dublin Society, December 16, 1913.—Dr. J. H. 
Pollok in the chair.—Prof. K. Yendo; Cultivation of 
sea-weeds in Japan. Sea-weeds are extensively used 
in Japan as food, glue, and manure. The annual 
amount of production is estimated at about 800,000l., 
of which 300,000!. worth is exported, chiefly to China. 
The most important point in cultivation is to give 
the plant a suitable ground for attachment. Various 
factors, such as depth, light, salinity, temperature, 
nature of substratum, movement of water, &c., have 
great influence in limiting the growth of sea-weeds 
in a certain locality. The author explains these fac- 
tors with reference to plant-life in the sea, and de- 
scribes the modes of cultivation in Japan.—Dr. 
G. H. Pethybridge: Further observations on Phyto- 
phthora erythroseptica, Pethyb., and on the disease 
produced by it in the potato plant. The peculiar 
mode of development of the sexual organs (intra- 
antheridial growth of the oogonial incept) described 
for this species by the author in a former paper, and 
shown by him to occur also in P. infestans and P. 
phaseoli, has been found in P. parasitica, Dast., and 
P. colocasiae, Racib., by Dastur, and by Butler“and 
Kulkarni respectively. In the present paper the pro- 
duction of zoospores and of germ tubes by the conidia 
and the mode of germination of the oospores is 
described for P. erythroseptica. The inner thickened 
part of the oospore wall is composed of cellulose, and 
previous to germination becomes dissolved, so that it 
thus appears to serve not only as a protective cover- 
ing for the spore, but also as a store of reserve carbo- 
hydrate. The fungus with its reproductive organs has 
now been found in all the underground portions of 
the potato plant. It is the cause not only of a 
specific rot of the tubers, but of a disease of the plant 
