December 14, 1905] 



NA TURE 



165 



gas generators for gas engines ; new types of gas 

 engines ; a new method of heating boilers ; new methods of 

 spinning, weaving, and dyeing textile fabrics ; a simple 

 cut-out for electrical installations. 



The following subjects in natural history and agriculture 

 will be awarded medals : — a geological or mineralogical 

 description of part of Alsace ; a detailed catalogue of plants 

 in the neighbourhood of Mulhouse, Thann, Altkirch, and 

 Guebwiller ; a treatise on the fauna of Alsace; a treatise 

 on the plants and insects inimical to agriculture in Alsace 

 and the methods of destroying them. 



In commerce and statistics the prize subjects are : — a 

 study of methods of insurance against risks of transport ; 

 a treatise on insurance against fire, with especial reference 

 to the factories of Alsace ; a memoir on the variation in 

 tin- price of coal in Alsace during the last thirty years ; a 

 study of the effect of taxation on industrial development. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The Vice-Chancellor has announced to the 

 Senate the munificent gift of 1750/., made by Dr. Ludwig 

 Mond towards the fund for increasing the stipends of 

 the Stokes and Cayley university lecturers in mathematics. 



The detailed proposals put for the diploma in forestry 

 were to be discussed on Thursday last. Apparently they 

 satisfied the members of the university, for there was no 

 criticism made on them. 



The degree of Master of Arts, honoris causa, is to be 

 conferred upon Mr. R. I. Lynch, curator of the botanic 

 garden. Mr. Lynch is well known as a writer on horti- 

 cultural subjects. 



On the nomination of the board of geographical studies, 

 Dr. Guillemard and Sir G. D. T. Goldie, K.C.M.G., 

 F.R.S., and on the nomination of the council of the 

 Royal Geographical Society, Sir Clements R. Markham, 

 K.C.B., F.R.S., and Dr. J. Scott Keltie, have been 

 appointed members of the board of geographical studies for 

 the year beginning January 1, 1906. 



Mr. J. B. Peace has been appointed chairman of the 

 examiners for the mechanical sciences tripos, 1906. 



The general board of studies has approved Mr. H. J. H. 

 Fenton. of Christ's College, for the degree of Doctor in 

 Science. 



The following notice of the next award of the Walsing- 

 ham medal has been issued : — The medal is to be awarded 

 for a monograph or essay giving evidence of original re- 

 search on any botanical, geological, or zoological subject. 

 The competition is open to graduates of the university who 

 at the time fixed for sending in the essays are under the 

 standing of Master of Arts. The essays for the ensuing 

 year are to be sent to the chairman of the special board 

 for biology and geology (Prof. Langley, The Museums) not 

 later than October 10, 1906. 



The special board for biology and geology give notice 

 thai the Gedge prize will be offered for competition in the 

 Michaelmas term, 1906. The prize will be awarded for the 

 best original observations in physiology, but a candidate 

 who has received a certificate of research from the 

 university will not be entitled to submit an essay which 

 is substantially the same as the dissertation for which 

 such certificate of research was granted. Candidates need 

 not necessarily be graduates of the university. Essays are 

 to be sent to the professor of physiology not later than 

 October 1, 1906. 



Dr. A. J. Ewart, special lecturer in vegetable physi- 

 ology, Birmingham University, has been appointed pro- 

 fessor of botany in the University of Melbourne in 

 succession to the 'late Baron von Miiller. 



The will of the late Mr. John Edward Tavlor, part 

 proprietor and a former editor of the Manchester Guardian, 

 on which probate was granted in London on December 9, 

 arriong numerous bequests, leaves, on the decease of the 

 widow, 20,000/. to the Victoria University of Manchester. 



At a meeting of the council of the University of 

 Birmingham held on December 6, the Chancellor 

 announced that the family of the late Mr. Harding had 

 NO. 1885, VOL. 73] 



offered 10,000/. to the Birmingham University for the 

 erection of a library. The offer has been gratefully 

 accepted by the council. 



On Tuesday, December 5, Sir W. Martin Conway dis- 

 tributed the prizes and certificates gained by the students 

 at the Sir John Cass Technical Institute during the past 

 session. Sir Owen Roberts, chairman of the governing 

 body, presided. Mr. George Baker stated that the scope 

 ol the work of the institute and the number of students 

 continued to progress steadily, and that a large proportion 

 were studying subjects bearing directly upon the industries 

 in which they were engaged. Sir Martin Conway, in the 

 course of his address, pointed out that people in this 

 country suffer from a confusion of ideas in respect to 

 education, and that they do not believe sufficiently in the 

 necessity of giving the highest possible education to the 

 directing brains of industries, nor do they understand 

 sufficiently the length of time and the experience that are 

 required for skilful hands to receive their full equipment. 

 He remarked that the real struggle with Germany in 

 manufactures is due to the enormous number of highly- 

 educated men turned out at the German universities ; it is 

 not a question of technical education, but of scientific 

 education. The German is not a whit more scientific or 

 better than the Briton, but faith in science which exists 

 in Germany is lacking in England, and this gives the 

 Teutonic tortoise the advantage over the British hare. 



The following bequests and gifts for higher education 

 in the United States are announced in Science. By the 

 will of the late Mr. Stephen Salisbury, the Worcester 

 Polytechnic Institute receives a bequest of 40,000/. This 

 money comes without restrictions of any kind on the part 

 of the testator. In addition to this bequest, Mr. Salis- 

 bury, at the time of his resignation a few weeks ago from 

 the presidency of the board of trustees, made an additional 

 gift to the institute of 20,000/., to be paid immediatelv. 

 Formal announcement of the 50,000/. legacy to the Sheffield 

 Scientific School from the estate of the late Mr. M. D. 

 Vi'ets has been made by Prof. Russell H. Chittenden, 

 director of the school. The bequest will be used for the 

 physical, mathematical, and general scientific needs of the 

 school. The late Mr. Frank Harvey Cilley, the engineer, 

 has bequeathed the residue of his estate, which will prob- 

 ably amount to 14,000/., to the Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology. Mr. T. P. Shonts, chairman of the Isthmian 

 Canal Commission, has given to Monmouth College 2000/. 

 as part of the 6000/. needed to obtain an additional 6000/. 

 which Mr. Andrew Carnegie had promised to give the 

 college for a library. The late Mr. Stephen Salisbury, of 

 Worcester, Mass., has bequeathed 40,000/. to the Worcester 

 Polytechnic Institute, 50,000/. to the American Antiquarian 

 Society, and 1000/. and a site for a building for th» 

 Worcester Natural History Society. 



Prof. W. J. Ashley, dean of the faculty of commerce in 

 the L niversity of Birmingham, distributed on December 6 

 the prizes gained by candidates at the examinations of the 

 London Chamber of Commerce. During the course of a 

 subsequent address, Prof. Ashley remarked I hat the science 

 of commerce has yet to be made, but, in his opinion, a 

 true science of commerce is capable of being created. At 

 present, however, it does not exist. Its formulation should 

 have been the task of the political economists ; but hitherto 

 English economists have been too content to pursue the 

 results, the conclusions to be reached by a process of 

 reasoning starting with certain assumptions. It is 

 necessary that the problems which actually present them- 

 selves to a business man in the course of his operations 

 should be realised and studied, and that the various ways 

 in which they have been approached and faced ought to 

 be brought together, grouped, criticised, and analysed. 

 The function of the economist is not to arrive at general 

 abstract conclusions and then look round in the world of 

 business for examples or illustrations of the conclusions 

 arrived at. He should condescend to a more concrete and 

 a more patient survey of the actual facts of real life. 

 Prof. Ashley considers it to be vitally important that the 

 highest type of education shall be brought into close touch 

 with the realities of economic life. If that is properly done 

 it will not degrade education, but vivify it. 



