November io, 189S] 



NA TURE 



45 



value. An electro-dynamometer of the Weber type was used 

 i or measuring current, and the torque due to the current was 

 I balanced by the torsion of a phosphor-bronze wire. This wire 

 iivas standardised by studying its torsional vibrations in a vacuum 

 'when carrying a mass of known moment of inertia, and pre- 

 i:autions were taken to eliminate the effects of elastic lag. 



Experiments bearing upon the " velocity of light in a 

 nagnetic field," which were undertaken under a grant from 

 '.he'.-Vssociation, were reported by Profs. E. V. Morlay, H. T. 

 Eddy and D. C. Miller. Their conclusion is that the velocity 

 )f light in carbon bisulphide is not altered by one part in a 

 lundred million by a magnetic field of such an intensity as to 

 '!urn the plane of polarisation through iSo° in a path of 65 cm. 

 I. "A new gas" was described by Mr. Charles F. Brush. 

 iVhile searching for evidence of the absorption of hydrogen by 

 ■;lass, Mr. Brush discovered that pulverised glass gives off, when 

 leated at a low pressure, a gas whose thermal conductivity at a 

 pressure of a few millionths of an atmosphere is about a 

 lundred times that of hydrogen. This gas was obtained from 

 iiany other substances, and also by diffusing air through a porous 

 ■oorcelain plug. The kinetic theory indicates that the heat con- 

 ductivity of a gas is proportional to the reciprocal of the square 

 foot of its density. Assuming this relation to hold, this new 

 [;as must have a molecular weight of only 0'ooo2, and a 

 ^molecular velocity 100 times that of hydrogen. 

 '. "On the relative brightness of pigments by oblique vision," 

 iby Prof. F. P. Whitman. Prof. Whitman used the flicker 

 bhotometer, and found that the brightness at the red end of the 

 'spectrum decreases as the vision becomes more oblique, while 

 I'-he opposite is true (but to a less extent) at the violet end. The 

 lorightness of yellow-green is nearly independent of the angle. 

 I " .\ geometrical method for investigating diffraction by a 

 pircular aperture," by Prof. A. G. Webster. Prof. Webster 

 plots the definite integral involved in this case, and obtains a 

 surve similar to Cornu's spiral, but having cusps like a ratchet. 

 j N. Ernest Dorsey. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 



INTELLIGENCE. 



y Oxford. — The one hundred and ninety-second meeting of 



^he Oxford University Junior Scientific Club was held on 



(Wednesday, October 26. .After private business, Prof Sollas 

 read a paper on "Funafuti ; a study of a Coral Reef" Mr. 

 E. Gurney (New College) then read a paper on "The Birds of 

 (he Westman Islands": in this he also touched upon the 

 characteristic beliefs of the Icelanders, who make their living 

 by catching the birds. 



, The one hundred and ninety-third meeting of the Club was 

 neld on Friday, November 4. After private business, which 

 Included the election of twenty-three new members, Dr. Gustav 



Iflann read his paper on "The Origin of Life." Mr. E. S. 

 joodrich (Merton) briefly explained a model, devised by an 

 rican painter, co illustrate the theory of protective colora- 

 ion in birds, after which the meeting ended. The oflicers for 

 his term are : — President, Mr. F. P. Nunneley (BN.C. ); 

 Biological Secretary, Mr. E. Gurney (New College) ; Chemical 



jfcecretary, .Mr. H. B. Hartley (Balliol) ; Treasurer, Mr. W. E. 



Ipiackall : Editor, Mr. H. E. Stapleton (St. John's) ; Com- 

 luittee, Mr. F. Soddy (Merton), Mr. A. Angel (Christ Church), 



;ixev. (1. D. Allen. 



Ijl Camkridge.— At St. John's College, on November 7, the 



jifollowing graduates of the College were elected to fellowships : 



[R. C. Maclaurin, twelfth wrangler 1895, first division of first 

 i:lass Mathematical Tripos, Part II, 1896, bracketed second 



ilpmith's Prizeman 1897, Macmahon Law Student 1S98 ; V. H. 



IjBlackman, first class Natural Sciences Tripos 1894-95, 



|j<^utchinson Research Student 1897^ botanical assistant in the 



iBritish Museum. 



I ' .\t the biennial election of eight members of the Council of 

 (he Senate held on November 7, the following were the suc- 



;cessful candidates : The Master of Christ's and the .Master of 

 jEmmanuel, as heads of Colleges; Prof. Ewing, F.R.S., and 

 Prof. Forsyth, F. R.S., as professors; and Dr. Donald 

 MacAlister, Mr. R. T. Wright, Mr. F. Whitting, and Mr. 

 [A. W. W. Dale as members of the Senate. 



Mr. Thomas Reid, of Dundee, has been appointed to the 

 post of Head Teacher of the Engineering Department of the 

 Birmingham Municipal Technical School. 



NO. I 51 5, VOL. 59] 



Mr. Swale Vinxent has been elected to the Sharpey 

 Physiological Scholarship (150/. per annum) at University 

 College, London. This scholarship carries with it the post of 

 chief assistant in the Physiological Laboratory. — Mr. D. J. 

 .\rniour has been appointed to the vacant demonstratorship in 

 .Anatomy. 



At a meeting of the Council of University College, Liverpool, 

 last week, donations to the amount of 13,000/. for the Medical 

 School Building fund from the Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, 

 Mrs. George Holt and Miss Emma Holt, Mr. R. Brocklebank, 

 and Mr. J. Rankine were announced, and a Committee was 

 appointed to prepare plans. The Council hope for further 

 contributions to enable them to put the work in hand without 

 delay. 



The Technical Instruction Committee of the County Borough 

 of Plymouth have passed the following resolution with reference 

 to the Secondary Education Bill introduced into the House of 

 Commons by Colonel Lockwood in June last : — " That this 

 Committee, while generally approving of the introduction of a 

 Bill dealing with this most important subject, is of opinion (l) 

 that it would be prejudicial to the best interests of higher 

 education if secondary were separated from technical educa- 

 tion. (2) Also that the multiplication of local authorities for 

 educational purposes is undesirable. (3) That the funds at the 

 disposal of Technical Education Committees are already in- 

 adequate for the purposes to which they are assigned, and that 

 it would be impossible to devote any part of the present income 

 to aid secondary education. (4) That the funds which Parlia- 

 ment at present votes for the special encouragement of science 

 and art ought not to be diverted to cover the whole field of 

 secondary education. 



The Calendar for the eighteenth session (189S-9) of the 

 University College, Nottingham, has been received. The 

 College appears to ofl'er every inducement to students to follow 

 systematic courses of study. Day courses of instruction are 

 specially arranged for boys who have just left school and intend 

 to follow the engineering profession in one of its branches. The 

 course of instruction in architecture has been arranged in con- 

 junction with the Nottingham Architectural Society and the 

 School of Art ; and the commercial course has been arranged in 

 conjunction with the Nottingham Chamber of Commerce. The 

 associate course in chemistry requires work in the College 

 practically the whole time for three sessions. .-Ml chemistry 

 students are strongly advised to continue their studies during a 

 fourth year, so that they may undertake some original investi- 

 gation and work at the higher branches of the subject. The 

 courses in technical and practical physics, engineering, natural 

 sciences, and agriculture provide for thorough work in these 

 subjects. 



In general (says the New Yoi-]i Nation) the Prussian Govern- 

 ment, in deciding the salary of a teacher, makes the sum depend 

 to a great extent on the personality and reputation of the 

 individual. A special law regulates the inequality resulting 

 from the difference in the lecture fees received by the various 

 professors — these lecture fees in all the German universities 

 being an income in addition to the regular salary — by decreeing 

 that in Berlin the full professor can receive annually only one- 

 half of these in case they exceed the sum of 4500 marks, and in 

 the provinces 3000 ; the other half being taken by the State for 

 the benefit of other teachers not blessed with large salaries or 

 fees. In the Wurtemberg University of Tubingen, a three-class 

 system of normal salaries is in vogue for the full professors, based 

 on the years of service. The minimum salary is 4030 marks. 

 The assistant professor begins with 2020. A special fund of 

 nearly 150,000 marks is at the disposal of the Government for 

 special salaries in special cases. In the two universities of 

 Baden, Heidelberg and Freiburg, the average salary of the 

 ordinarius is 6955 marks, with additional sums in special cases. 

 The assistant professors draw salaries varying from 1820 

 to 5220 marks. The Imperial University at Strassburg and 

 the Saxon at Leipzig pay good salaries, but the sums are not 

 mentioned ; while the Hessian Institution at Giessen pays its 

 full professors 4300, and its assistants or associates 3-5°> "ithan 

 increase until after twenty-five years of service the maximum 

 sums of 6300 and 5250 are reached. In Rostock, the smallest 

 of the German universities, the salaries of the full professors- 

 run from 4500 to 5S50 marks ; the assistant professor begins 

 with 2400. In Jena the lowest sums are paid, the full 

 professors receiving 300 less than is paid even at Rostock. 



