March 20, 1902] 



NA TURE 



is very marked. In certain neighbourhoods cancerous 

 disease is responsible for one in every hundred deaths, 

 whereas in others one in every thirty-three deaths is due 

 to this cause. 



Concerning the — from the public standpoint — most 

 interesting question whether or not cancer is on the 

 increase, there seems to be some difficulty in giving an ' 

 unequivocal answer. That the mortality statistics show 

 an increase is certain, but increased longevity and in- 

 creased accuracy of diagnosis are disturbing factors in , 

 the drawing of inferences and have led many statisticians 

 to regard this increase as more apparent than real. So 

 far as the_ United Kingdom is concerned, the class of 

 cancerous disease showing the most marked increase is 

 that of the digestive organs, and this has led to the formu- 

 lation of hypotheses with regard to the relation between 

 the increase of meat-eating and the increase of cancer. 

 The greatest note of alarm with regard to the future of 

 cancer comes from America. It is estimated that in 

 Buffalo during the last fifty years the death rate from 

 cancer has increased five-fold, and that if this increment 

 is maintained, at no very distant date this disease will \ 

 be responsible for more deaths than tuberculosis, typhoid 

 fever and smalI-po.\ all put together. 



From the above paragraphs, which must be regarded 

 rather in the sense of jottings of facts, the interest and 

 the importance of this subject will be evident. It ! 

 seems, further, that the mere microscopic examination 1 

 of malignant growths has already yielded up to the \ 

 observer almost all the information it can do, and that 

 it is in the direction of pathological experiment that new 

 and important truths should be sought for, and will 

 probably be found. With the history of the recent 

 progress of the treatment of zymotic diseases before us, 

 doubtless the factors possibly concerned in cancer 

 immunity will not escape the attention of investigators. 

 It is sincerely to be hoped that the public will respond 

 liberally to the call which is being made upon them for 

 funds to defray the expenses necessarily required for 

 an investigation at once so time-consuming and so 

 important. F. W. Tunnicliffe. 



THE OWENS COLLEGE JUBILEE. 



THE series of functions at the Owens College, 

 Manchester, last week, in celebration of the jubilee 

 of the foundation of the College, was carried out with 

 complete success. Prof S. Hickson was master of the 

 ceremonies, and to him, assisted doubtless by the 

 harmonious cooperation of many others, the greatest 

 credit is due. 



The programme on March 12 commenced w-ith the 

 opening of the beautiful Whitworth Hall by the Prince 

 of W' ales. The Duke of Devonshire, as president of the 

 College, eulogised the high aims and ideals of John 

 Owens, the founder, in eloquent terms. The Prince of 

 Wales urged on the citizens of Manchester not to be 

 content with the magnificent results of the past liberality 

 of such benefactors as Owens, Beyer, Christie, and Whit- 

 worth, but to follow them in liberal support and extension 

 of the College. He pointed out that "the work of an 

 institution of this nature must continually expand ; and 

 It must not be forgotten that its material resources must 

 also expand as the work grows." He appealed most 

 forcibly to the generous municipal life and patriotism to 

 enable the College '• to keep abreast of the ever-growing 

 demands of modern life." 



Sir Richard Jebb and Principal Rucker delivered 

 admirable addresses upon the influence which the College 

 has exerted upon progress in literature and science. 

 The ceremony showed convincingly that the Whitworth 

 Hall justified its dignified beauty of design, by con- 

 veniences of access and arrangement and most favourable 

 acoustic qualities. The conversazione in the evening 



NO. 1690, VOL. 65] 



afforded the foreign delegates an opportunity of seeing 

 the Manchester Museum, the whole of the .\rts and 

 Science Departments, and the new Christie Library 

 opened four years ago. 



On March 13 the actual jubilee celebration was held. 

 Nearlyone hundred delegatesfrom academies,universities, 

 colleges and learned societies at home and abroad came 

 forward to present the congratulations entrusted to them 

 and to receive the grip of greeting from the president of 

 the College. The principal proposed the vote of thanks 

 to the delegates, and dwelt on the regretted absence from 

 their number, through illness, of his predecessor, Dr. 

 -Adolphus Ward, master of Peterhouse, and of Sir 

 Henry Roscoe, to whom the College is deeply indebted 

 in every way. Prof Harold Dixon, in seconding the 

 motion, confined himself to the followers of his own 

 science, chemistry, and its sister, physics, and noted with 

 pride the attainments of such as were present as delegates. 

 Earl Spencer, Chancellor of the \'ictoria University, 

 then took the chair and admitted the distinguished 

 recipients of honorary degrees. The public orators were 

 the principal. Profs. Wilkins, Schuster, Young, Tout, 

 and Lamb, and Dr. Hiles. Prof Schuster's presenta- 

 tions were notable for their epigrammatic terseness and 

 point ; we may cite his presentation of Dr. Glaisher : 

 " His mind was raised to infinite heights by his mathe- 

 matical genius ; it was brought back to earth by his love 

 of the stars." 



An informal " physics colloquium " in the laboratory 

 afforded Prof Becquerel the opportunity of demonstrating 

 some of the remarkable properties of radium and show- 

 ing by shadow-photographs the analysis of the various 

 kinds of rays it emits. Profs. Voigt and Nernst also 

 gave interesting communications. 



In the evening the court, the teaching staff and the 

 delegates dined together in the Whitworth Hall. This 

 function was a private one. 



The students who had assisted as spectators on 

 Wednesday and Thursday organised a torchlight proces- 

 sion followed by a smoking concert on Friday evening. 

 Since then the shadows of the terminal examination 

 have fallen on the College. 



The following extracts from the complete reports of 

 the ceremony given in the Manchester Guardian are of 

 interest : — 



The Duke of Devonshire, president of the College, in the 

 course of his opening remarks, said that the idea of the founder 

 was to provide higher education in such branches of learning and 

 science as are usually taught in the English universities. The 

 original idea was thus education of the university type, such as 

 that which had prevailed at the old Universities of Cambridge 

 and Oxford. 



The foundation of the College coincided nearly in time wrth 

 great discoveries in science, and at the same time with inventions 

 which provided the means of using those discoveries for the 

 purpose of industry, and it is these discoveries which have 

 stimulated interest in those studies of natural science in which 

 Owens College has been preeminently distinguished. This is 

 the interest to which, in the main, Owens College has been 

 indebted for its success. Students have no doubt been attracted 

 by the eminence of some of its teachers from all parts of the 

 country, but, in the main, those students have been drawn from- 

 Manchester and its immediate neighbourhood. They have come 

 here doubtless with the desire, with the hope, of acquiring 

 knowledge, that knowledge and training which would be of 

 practical use to them in the future occupations of life. But, at 

 the same time, Owens College has never been content to limit 

 the range of its teaching to one or two subjects or one set of 

 subjects. It has never been content to be merely a medical or 

 a legal or a technical college, but ii has set before itself the aim 

 of teaching — of a true university type of teaching — which shall 

 embrace all branches of knowledge. 



The address from the College to the Prince of Wales 

 was then read by the principal, and in his reply His 

 Royal Highness remarked : — 



