262 
NATURE 
[NovEMBER 30, 1916 | 
eS eee 
Prof, R. A. Gregory; the response of plants to light, 
by Dr. Harold Wager; nitrates from the air, by Mr. 
E. K. Scott; and handwork as character training, by 
Mr, A. H. Angus and Dr. P. B. Ballard. Full par- 
ticulars of the arrangements can be obtained from 
the conference secretary, Mr. Frank’ Fairman, 9 
Brunswick Square, London, W.C. : 
Lorp MILNER presided at a lecture on November 22 
at King’s College, by Dr. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of 
the University of Sheffield, om ‘The Intellectual 
Groundwork of Politics.” In moving a vote of thanks 
to Dr. Fisher, Lord Milner referred to recent dis- 
cussions on the place which science should occupy in 
the school curriculum. He expressed the opinion that 
the great progress which the human race has made 
in recent times has given such an enormous import- 
ance to applied science that a man is now scarcely at 
home with the problems of the day—certainly not 
with the economic questions—without some knowledge 
of the sciences, and consequently not fully able to 
master the political problems which depend upon 
them. The training in physical science is not, he said, 
so much book learning as actual science and practical 
acquaintance with some form of science. Whatever 
the effort, an important share in the educational life 
of every boy and young man in future should be to 
bring him into close relation with the great achieve- 
ments of science. That he believes is essential, and 
as important to men who are going to devote them- 
selves to a political career as to men who are going 
to devote themselves either to scientific research or 
to the pursuit of some business which largely depends 
on the results of science. 
A LECTURE delivered at Stellenbosch, by Prof. S. J. 
Shand, of Victoria College, on the occasion of the 
passing of the University of Stellenbosch Act, is pub- 
lished in the Stellenbosch Students’ Quarterly for 
June last. Prof. Shand took as his subject the mak- 
ing of a university, and drew distinctions between 
colleges and universities. ©The aim of college teaching, 
he said, is the imparting of ‘existing knowledge with 
the specific object of enabling a man to pass certain 
tests and te satisfy necessary conditions in order that 
he may advance his prospects in life. The only aim 
of a university, he urged, is, or ought to be, the 
advancement of learning in the widest sense. When 
a professor does not work at his subject and is con- 
tent merely to teach it, he may find a useful place in 
a school or college, but there is no room for him in 
a university. It is perhaps, Prof. Shand continued, 
the most serious charge that can be brought against 
the South African colleges that they have done nothing 
to encourage research and discovery. It should be the 
business of the newly constituted universities to remedy 
this state of affairs by recognising that the advance- 
ment of knowledge is the most important service they 
owe to the State. It should be insisted unon, there- 
fore, that the professors shall not be regarded simply 
as teachers; their business is the advancement of 
knowledge no less than the spreading of it, and that 
this object may be pursued they must not be too 
much burdened with formal teaching. 
Tue council of the Institution of Naval Architects 
offers for competition the ‘Martell Scholarship in 
Naval Architecture’ of the annual value of rool., and 
tenable for three years. Candidates must forward a 
written application to the secretary of the institution, 
5 Adelphi Terrace, W.C., by January 15, 1917. They 
must not be less than eighteen or more than twenty- 
one years.of age on March 1, 10917, and must at that 
date have been continuously employed for at least two 
years upon naval architecture or marine engineering. 
The scholarship will be awarded in connection with 
NO. 2457, VOL. 98] 
the competitive examinations for scholarships held by 
the Board of Education next May and June, in the 
following subjects :—Naval architecture, pure mathe- 
matics, applied mechanics (materials and structures), 
and either machines and hydraulics or heat engines. 
Candidates will be required to furnish by January 15 
next evidence that they have passed some literary test 
in English. If a candidate can produce similar 
evidence of a knowledge of French, German, or 
Spanish, credit will be given for such knowledge. Suc- 
cessful candidates will be required to undergo a three 
years’ course of study in naval architecture in a college 
approved by the council, and this course will be com- 
bined with practical training in a shipyard or marine 
engine works. The council of the institution ad- 
ministers other scholarships which are offered for com- 
petition among students of the institution, particulars 
concerning which may be obtained from the secretary. 
SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
LonpDon. 
Physical Society, November 10.—Prof. C.. VisBoys; 
president, in the chair.—B. W. Clack ; Diffusion in 
liquids. The paper contains the results of the experi- 
ments described by the author in Proc. Phys. Soc. 
Lond., xxi., p- 374, 1908; XXiv., p. 40, I9QII; and 
xxvii., p. 56, 1914, collected and recalculated in accord- 
ance with a theoretical correction recently communi- 
cated by Dr. Griffiths (Proc. Phys. Soc., XXVill., Ds 2555 
1916). It is found that in the solutions employed the 
correction is not considerable, except in the case of 
the strongest solutions of KCI (2-7 normal), where it 
amounts to 6 per cent. The paper contains the cor- 
rected theory of the method, and the value of the co- 
efficient of diffusion is tabulated at different limiting 
concentrations and at various temperatures.—Prof. H. 
Nagaoka: The regularity in the distribution of the 
satellites of spectrum lines, with a note on the struc 
ture of the green line of mercury, and terms of correc- 
tion in using a concave grating. ‘The paper describes 
a further development of the work done by the author 
and Mr. Takamine on the distribution of the satellites 
of the mercury lines. It is shown that much of the 
discord between the results of various observers of 
these satellites is due to the unsatisfactory nature of 
the principal line as a datum from which to define 
| their positions, and that if the distances be measured 
from one of the distinct satellites good agreement 1s 
obtained. If these separations be expressed as differ- 
ences of wave-number, instead of wave-length, a re- 
markable symmetry in their distribution becomes ap- 
parent. For example, among the satellites of the 
green line, 5461, can be found three groups of sym- 
metrical triplets, of which the wave-number differences 
are in the simple ratios 1:3:12. Similar results are 
obtained for other lines, the principal component of 
4359 being shown for the first time to consist of a 
triplet, of which the middle component is relatively 
weak. A similarity in the distribution of the satellites 
exists for all the lines examined, and certain wave- 
number intervals are common to all. 
CaMBRIDGE. 
Philosophical Society, November 13.—Dr. Marr, presi- 
dent, in the chair.—Prof. Wood: The surface law of 
heat loss in animals. Figures expressing in pounds of 
starch equivalent a number of successful and econom- 
ical rations for fattening cattle were shown within 
the limits of error of experiment to fall on a curve 
expressing the theoretical food requirements calcu- 
lated according to Rubner’s surface law for live-weights 
varying from 80 lb. to 1400 1b.—Prof. Punnett and 
Capt. P. G. Bailey: Inheritance of henny plumage in 
