September 8, iQtoJ 



NATURE 



A number of observations of the comet's brightness, 

 made by Prof. Wendell, Mr. Leon Campbell, and Dr. 

 Holetschek, are also published in the Astronomische Nach- 

 richten, and the Harvard observations are plotted with 

 the theoretical curve derived from the formula i/r^A"; 

 this shows very plainly the physical action produced by 

 the solar rays as the comet got nearer the sun, the magni- 

 tudes increasing during this period beyond the rate 

 demanded by the formula. 



In No. I, vol. xx.\ii., of the Astrophysical Journal Mr. 

 Slocum describes the observations of the sun made at the 

 Yerkes Observatory on May 18 and 19. Direct photo- 

 graphs and spectroheliograms are reproduced, and will 

 ser%-e as comparisons for any phenomena that may be 

 attributed to cometary influence ; nothing abnormal was 

 noted. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Dr. H. Wren, of Birkbeck College, has been appointed 

 professor of pure and applied chemistry at the Municipal 

 Technical Institute, Belfast. 



Mr. J. M. C.AiE, organiser in Inverness and Ross for 

 the North of Scotland College of Agriculture, has been 

 temporarily appointed lecturer in agricultural education 

 in the college in the place of Mr. R. B. Greig, who has 

 gone to Australia as a member of the Agricultural Com- 

 mission. 



Next session will be the hundred and fifteenth of the 

 Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. In 1886 

 the present college was formed by the amalgamation of 

 several institutions, including Anderson's College, which 

 dated from 1796. The new calendar provides abundant 

 evidence of the flourishing condition of the various depart- 

 ments included in the college. The first section of the 

 new buildings, consisting of five large wings, we notice, 

 was opened in 1005. The second section was opened in 

 1908, and comprises the main entrance hall, additions to 

 the library and mechanics' laboratories, class-rooms for the 

 decorative trades, and laboratories for dyeing, bleaching, 

 &c. The third section was opened in the following year, 

 and contains additional accommodation for civil engineer- 

 ing, engineering drawing, and other subjects. The fourth 

 section will, it is expected, be ready for the coming session, 

 and within it provision will be made for the department of 

 textile manufacture. The plan of confining each depart- 

 ment to one floor has been followed in nearly every case, 

 with the result that the internal arrangements are well 

 adapted to promote efficiency in working. The whole 

 building comprises over seven acres of floor space, and 

 forms one of the largest structures in Great Britain devoted 

 to education. 



The sixth annual report of the Education Committee of 

 the County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire deals, 

 among other matters, with the part the committee has 

 taken in providing university and' technical education in the 

 area for which it is responsible. The grants of 4500/. to 

 the University of Leeds and 1500/. to the University of 

 Sheffield have been continued. In addition to these sums, 

 the University of Leeds has received 775/. to provide exten- 

 sion science lectures, instruction in coal mining, and free 

 studentships for disposal by the County Council ; and the 

 University of Sheffield 500/, for Saturday mining courses 

 and other purposes. So far as technical education is con- 

 cerned, the greatest difficulties continue to be encountered 

 in the rural portions of the Riding, where the meagreness 

 of population and the prevailing conditions of life and work 

 are less favourable to the successful maintenance of evening 

 schools than in the more populous areas. In the mining 

 districts the difficulty, which has always been a serious 

 one, of maintaining regular attendance, has been accen- 

 tuated during the session owing to the operation of the 

 Eight Hours' .Act rendering it almost impossible for 

 students to change their shifts. The committee has the 

 matter under consideration, and hopes to find a solution of 

 the problem before the opetiing of the coming session. A 

 satisfactory increase in the proportion of students attending 

 for group courses of instruction Is again reported. Prac- 

 tically all the West Riding schools are now organised on 



NO. 2132, VOL. 84] 



this basis, with the result that the educational equipment of 

 the students is much more effective than when attendance 

 for isolated subjects was the general rule. 



The issue of Science for .August 19 last contains an 

 article providing tables giving data in regard to the 

 degrees of doctor of philosophy conferred by the universities 

 of the United States. There were conferred this year 353 

 degrees, not quite so many as in the three preceding years, 

 when the numbers were 366, 378, and 387. Almost exactly 

 half the degrees conferred last year were in science. The 

 universities, however, differ considerably in the relative 

 importance of their work in science. Chicago appears to 

 be the best balanced ; it has conferred just half its degrees 

 in the sciences and half in other subjects. At the Johns 

 Hopkins and Cornell about 60 per cent, of the degrees are 

 in the sciences, whereas the percentage is about 40 at 

 Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Pennsylvania. There' is not 

 a preponderance of the sciences in the State universities, the 

 percentage of degrees at Wisconsin being only 37 and at 

 Michigan 38. Boston University appears to have con- 

 ferred only three scientific degrees out of seventy-four. 

 There was this year a large fall in the number of degrees 

 in science conferred by Columbia, eleven, as compared with 

 twenty-one and twenty-three in the two preceding years. 

 Cornell, on the other hand, conferred this year twenty- 

 seven degrees in science, surpassing all the other 

 universities. Interesting particulars as to the varying popu- 

 larity of different subjects of science are given. Chemistry, 

 with forty-eight degrees, leads, having about double the 

 numbers in physics, zoology, psychology, and mathematics. 

 Botany comes next, and there is then a considerable drop 

 to geology, followed by physiology and astronomy. In the 

 case of the subjects not ranked under the natural and exact 

 sciences, most degrees have been given in English history, 

 economics, and philosophy. 



On September 6 the Times published its first Educa- 

 tional Supplement, and if subsequent issues reach the 

 same high standard of interest and usefulness, these supple- 

 ments should do a great deal to educate the general public 

 in educational matters and to develop an intelligent 

 appreciation of the importance of securing for this country 

 as efficient a system of national education as can be found 

 anywhere. The articles, which are numerous, deal with 

 many aspects of a complex problem ; they are all, more- 

 over, inspired by a broad outlook and a desire to assist 

 the attainment of eflficiency. Great prominence is given 

 to the work of secondary schools and universities, and the 

 importance of securing the right relationship between these 

 grades of education is emphasised. One article, entitled 

 " New Universities and New Schools," comes appropn- 

 atelv after the address of the principal of the University 

 of London to the British .Association last week. It deals 

 with the difficult question of where the work of the 

 secondary school should end and where that of the uni- 

 versity should begin, and endeavours to make clear what 

 preciselv may be expected of a student desiring to matricu- 

 late. The writer properly maintains that it ought not to 

 be impracticable to devise a leaving certificate in which 

 both the views of schoolmasters and the university authori- 

 ties are represented. The passport of entry to the 

 universitv must certify both that the student is fit to leave 

 school and thct he has this or that range of abilities and 

 equipment to enable him to undertake the work expected 

 of him. The new venture deserves to succeed, and we 

 commend this first issue to the attention of all who are 

 interested in educational matters. 



The forthcoming opening of the winter session of work 

 at the technical colleges throughout the country is, as 

 usual, preceded by the publication of a large number of 

 new calendars and' prospectuses. Among these, that of the 

 Municipal School of Technology, Manchester, takes a 

 prominent place by reason of the completeness of its pro- 

 vision of instruction in every phase of technical educa- 

 tion whiclj is likelv to appeal to students in south Lanca- 

 shire. This calendar, which runs to some 520 pages, 

 shows that the school is fulfilling thoroughly its object of 

 providing instruction in training in the principles of science 

 in their application to the industrial arts. We are glad 

 to notice that the authorities here insist that it is impossible 

 for a student to obtain full benefit from the courses of 



