July 28, 1910] 



NATURE 



131 



discusses the American faith in universities. The institu- 

 tion and development of universities, each of which is 

 wholly dependent upon a particular State, is, the writer 

 maintains, the most conspicuous activity that has of late 

 been shown in America. The American recognises more 

 and more that university life, under favourable conditions, 

 can give a training in comradeship and personal character 

 which is one of the best preparations for efficient citizen- 

 ship. He wants, too, the best knowledge — useful and 

 technical^because without it he knows he cannot have the 

 right kind of citizens. Prof. H. N. Dickson contributes 

 an essay on higher education and commerce, and points out 

 that those universities and colleges which are able to 

 provide instruction of the higher kind in commercial sub- 

 jects are steadily increasing in number. hn address 

 delivered by Prof. k. L. Bowley last May on progress and 

 leisure is also included. 



In reply to a question asked in the House of Commons, 

 Mr. Lloyd George has informed Mr. Duncan Miller that 

 he is not prepared to propose any additional grants to the 

 Scottish universities duringf the current financial year 

 beyond the sum of 21,000/. included in the Supplementary 

 Estimate issued on July 13, but as regards the future he 

 has expressed willingness to sanction, subject to certain 

 conditions, a further addition to the existing grants, pro- 

 vided that suitable schemes of expenditure can be submitted 

 by the authorities of the several institutions concerned. 

 For the current financial year the total grants in aid to 

 Scottish universities and their allocation will be : — 

 Grant under 

 Educ.ition Grant 

 Grant and Local from 

 under Taxation Votes, 

 Universities .\ccount Class 4. Supple- 

 (.Scotland) (Scotland) Sub- mentary . 

 Act, 1800 Act, 1892* head I. Estimate Total 



£. il. i. £. I 



St. .Andrews 6,300 ... 4,500 ... — ... 4,ooot ... 14,800 



Dundee University 



College — .. — ... 1,000 ... — ... 1,000 



Glascow ... 12,180 ... P,700 ... — ... 6,250 ... 27,130 



.Aberdeen 8,400 ... 6,000 ... — ... 4,500 ... 18.900 



Edinburgh 15,120 ... ic.Boo ... — ... 6,250 ... 32,170 



.£42,000 .£30.000 .£1,000 .£21,000 ;£94,ooo 

 • Payable from the Local Ta.xation (Scotland) Account, 

 t Includes .£1.000 for Dundee University College. 



Following an order of the House of Commons, the 

 Board of Education has issued a return by each county 

 council in England and Wales, except London, of the rates 

 levied for elementary education, and of the rate levied for 

 higher education. So far as higher education is concerned, 

 it is interesting to notice that Glamorganshire is most 

 highly rated for this purpose, the rate being ■j,\i. in the 

 pound, and bringing in 43,030/. Eleven counties levy a 

 rate of 2d. or more, but less than 3d. They are, in 

 order : — 



Rale Amount raised 



d. C 



■ 2-97 92,948 



. 2-88 2,647 



. 273 I3>074 



2"46 6,096 



. 2-31 2,049 



■ 2'i3 14,853 



. 2-12 30.746 



. 2-IO 3,771 



. 2'IO 3.6.^6 



2'IO 2,813 



2-00 11,131 



Yorks : West Riding 



Cardigan 



Monmouth 



Denbigh 



Merioneth 



Herts 



Cheshire 



Westmorland 



Flint 



Pembroke 



Salop 



A number of counties levy a smaller rate than a half- 

 penny in the pound: these are Devon, Dorset, Hereford, 

 Lincolnshire (three divisions), Notts, East Suffolk, West 

 Suffolk. East Sussex, and the North Riding of Yorkshire. 

 The Holland division of Lincolnshire raises nothing for 

 higher education ; the Kesteven division raises 10/. only, 

 Hereford 35/., East Suffolk 5SZ., and Dorset 100/. Two 

 counties only raise more than 50,000!., namely, the West 

 Riding, 92,948/., and Lancashire, 65,082/. 



.\ SCHOOL of aviation is 'to be established near London 

 in memory of the late Mr. C. S. Rolls, h sub-committee 

 of the .Aerial League has had the scheme under considera- 



NO. 2126, VOL. 84] 



tion, and its cost for the first year is likely to be 2500J. 

 The primary aim of the school will be to provide training 

 in aeroplane manufacture and flight, and to obtain a class 

 of men grounded in the subject from beginning to end, 

 including such laboratory and theoretical work as funds 

 and the gifts of apparatus may permit. The laboratory 

 will be open for the use of students from technical institu- 

 tions already providing elementary classes in the theory 

 of flight, and also for public demonstrations in order to 

 spread an interest in aeronautical science. Men who have 

 undergone courses of training in engineering schools, and 

 competent engineers and mechanics, will be eligible as 

 students. The practical work of students will be directed 

 to securing machines offering greater stability and trust- 

 worthiness, lower power and fuel consumption, diminished 

 capital cost and expense of maintenance, and a higher 

 factor of safety than the apparatus now used. In order 

 that an early start may be made, two machines are to be 

 bought at once, and the students will build all further 

 machines, and also those of selected inventors whose ideas 

 are judged to be worthy of construction and practical trial. 

 The funds will be administered by an independent com- 

 mittee of management, including practical men of science. 

 Mr. Patrick Y. .'\lexander has offered to equip the proposed 

 laboratory with the necessary practical apparatus. The 

 new institution will probably be called the Rolls Memorial 

 School. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, July i8. — M. Emile Picard in the 

 chair. — P. Villard and H. Abraham : The existence of 

 two explosive potentials ; a reply to a recent note of M. 

 .■\maduzzi. The authors state that their original intention 

 was to bring forward a theory of the silent and continuous 

 discharge, characterised by luminescence at the anode, 

 based in accordance with the modern hypotheses as to the 

 passage of electricity in gases. — L. Maquenne and E. 

 Demoussy : The toxic qualities of certain salts towards 

 green leaves. The salts of ammonium are shown to be 

 specially dangerous in this respect, while calcium chloride 

 and sea salt have very little effect. — .\. Laveran and A. 

 Pettit : The forms of endogenous multiplication of 

 Hacmogregarina sebai. Observation in this organism 

 shows for a given species a great variety in the multiplica- 

 tion cysts, both in dimensions and number of merozoites, 

 such that it is necessary to beware of assuming the exist- 

 ence of different species too readily. — Joannes Chatin : 

 The variations of structure of the sclerotic among verte- 

 brates. — Ch. Platrier : A problem of rational mechanics 

 and its application to the theory of propulsive helices. — 

 Ernest Esclangron : The passage of the earth through the 

 tail of Halley's comet. — M. Schulhof : Some remarks on 

 the inequalities of the longitude of the moon. — Jules 

 Drach : The logical problem of the integration of differ- 

 ential equations. — Serge Bernstein : The equations of the 

 calculus of variations. — Sigismond Janiszewski : The 

 geometry of cantor lines. — L. Zoretti : The notion of a 

 iine. — Jean Chazy : A differential equation of the third 

 order which has its critical points fixed. — Ren^ Garnier : 

 .A class of differential equations the general integrals of 

 which have their critical points fixed. — Witold Jarkowski : 

 Some theorems on " sustainers." — A. Tanakadate : .\ 

 photographic study of the current of air produced by the 

 movement of a helix. — E. Mathias and H. Kamerlingh 

 Onnes : The rectilinear diameter of oxygen. Experiments 

 in the case of oxygen give an affirmative answer to the 

 question whether the deformation of the surface when the 

 critical temperature is lowered leaves intact its rectilinear 

 form. — A. Perot and J. Bosler : The theory of the 

 luminescence of the mercury arc in vacuo. — A. Tian : 

 The action of ultra-violet ra'ys on gelatine. These rays 

 destroy jellies, causing their liquefaction or solution, thus 

 forming a contrast to the action of the same rays in 

 coagulating albumen.— G. A. Hemsalech : The relative 

 periods of calcium rays in the spark of self-induction. 

 Experiments of this character provide useful indications in 

 the analysis of bodies containing unknown impurities. — 



