4-96 



NATURE 



[October 20, 1910 



A Caution. 



Fellows of the Zoological and other scientific societies, 

 museum officials and others, are warned against an 

 individual representing himself as a consumptive and ask- 

 ing for a recommendation to a hospital and temporary 

 help. 



The modus operandi is to call upon you with a bogus 

 introduction from another fellow of your society or some- 

 one known to you, and to mention a few other well- 

 known persons as interested in his case. 



The individual is rather tall, thin, of wan appearance, 

 and has a dark moustache. His manner shows some 

 refinement and education, and is also persuasive, as proved 

 by the number of those known to have, unfortunately, 

 been victimised bv his false representations. 



E. A. S. 



Dr. John Peile : A Correction. 



Owing to the omission of a comma (which is doubtless 

 due to my faulty and hasty writing) in the article in your 

 last issue on the late Master of Christ's, the personages 

 of Prof. Percy Gardner and the President of Queens' 

 College have been merged into one. 



Prof. Percy Gardiner is, of course, the professor of 

 classical arcfiEEology at O.xford, and the President of 

 Queens' (which should be spelt with the apostrophe after 

 the " s," it having been founded by two queens) is the 

 physicist, the Rev. T. C. Fitzpatrick, chairman of the 

 board of physics and chemistry at Cambridge. 



I need hardly say that the list of those who were at 

 Christ's College under Dr. Peile was confined to those 

 who acquired a position in certain branches of science, 

 .^n equally strong list could be drawn up of those who 

 have achieved success in other walks of life. 



October 14. The Writer of the Article. 



THE CENTENARY OF BERLIN UNIVERSITY. 



A BRIEF account of the first day of the centenary 

 festival at Berlin, and of the notable utterance 

 of the German Emperor at its opening Fcstakt, was 

 given in last week's issue of N.\ture. The celebra- 

 tion lasted over three days (October 10-12), with some 

 sporadic entertainments on the fourth. Unter den 

 Linden, from the Brandenburg gate to the royal castle 

 and the cathedral, showed the chief, if not the only, 

 signs that something unusual was in hand. For 

 Berlin, as one of the academic orators remarked, is 

 not a universitv citv ; it is a city containing a univer- 

 sity. The well-known building itself, with its statues 

 of the Humboldts and Helmholtz, was decked with 

 garlands, and flags fluttered about the opera square 

 and the new Aula, which is the old library. Figures 

 in evening dress, or uniform, or quaint university cos- 

 tume, flitted here and there among the city crowds, 

 and students in the caps and colours of their corps 

 drove in open carriages along the wide alleys of the 

 central avenue of Berlin. But except when the torch- 

 light procession was in motion, or the Emperor with 

 Ills guards passed swiftly along, the hurrying popu- 

 lation was little stirred, and traffic followed its usual 

 course. 



At noon on Monday, October 10, the delegates met 

 at the University to receive instructions. Each was 

 presented with a commemorative bronze medallion 

 bearing the Kaiser's image, and with two massive 

 volumes of the history of the University, and a use- 

 ful guide to " Berlin in Wissenschaft und Kunst," 

 prepared by Dr. W. Paszkowski. Those of each 

 nation were requested to choose one of their number 

 to speak for them at the presentation of addresses 

 next day. The venerable Lord Strathcona, Chan- 

 cellor of Aberdeen and of INIcGill L'niversity, Montreal, 

 was acclaimed the representative of the British dele- 

 gation. One orator was to be appointed to reply at 

 the festival banquet to the toast of the whole of the 

 non-German delegates, and the choice fell upon Dr. 



NO. 2138, VOL. 84] 



Mahaffy, of Dublin. When the time came, be it 

 said, the versatile Irish scholar played his part in 

 fluent German amid universal applause. 



In the evening a solemn thanksgiving was held in 

 the new cathedral. C^ou-rt-preacher Dryander led the 

 service, which was richly choral, and the sermon was 

 preached bv Dr. Ivaftan, dean of the theological 

 faculty. His theme was diversity in unity, "many 

 members and one body." On leaving the cathedral, 

 the congregation found the streets lined with soldiers 

 and police, and cheerful crowds awaiting the students' 

 torchlight procession. A large and informal com- 

 pany gathered in the halls and balconies of the 

 University building to welcome the students as they 

 passed in long and well-kept lines, dressed in all the 

 bravery of their Biirschcnschaften. The rector mag- 

 nificus, Dr. Erich Schmidt, met the students' leaders, 

 who, through their spokesman, Studiosus Heyl. 

 pledged their faith to Alma mater, and raised a 

 thundering cheer for " His Magnificence " and his 

 colleagues. The 3000 members of the procession then 

 dispersed, to spend the night in the time-hallowed 

 ceremonies of the Kommers. The professors and! 

 their guests promenaded the halls of the University, 

 where a light collation was served in every room. 

 Acquaintances were made and renewed in easy and 

 unceremonious fashion, and a lively conversazione 

 was kept going for several hours. 



Next morning (October 11), the more formal 

 celebration began at an early hour in the Neue Aula, 

 the centenary gift of the Ministry of Education to the 

 Universitv. The guard of the Alexander regiment 

 was drawn up in front. The corridors and staircases 

 and the hall itself were lined with uniformed students 

 carrying swords and banners. Delegates in strange 

 academic robes, nobles, courtiers, and statesmen, in 

 full-dress and gleaming with decorations, filed into 

 their places. By the time that the Emperor and 

 Empress, accompanied by a number of princes, the 

 Imperial Chancellor,, and a brilliant Court-party, 

 entered to the sound of trumpets, the hall presented 

 a dazzling display of military and academic pomp. 

 The rector ascended the rostrum and greeted the 

 assembly in a sonorous oration. Objective science 

 with individual culture, he set forth as the aim of the 

 University from its first foundation. The Emperor 

 nimbly mounted in the rector's place, and amid 

 tense silence delivered an energetic discourse, the sub- 

 stance of which was given in last week's Nature. 

 When he announced his intention to found an imperial 

 association for the foundation and maintenance of in- 

 stitutes for scientific research, with an initial capital 

 of some half-million pounds sterling, the audience 

 broke into long and clamorous applause. 



The rector expressed the thanks of the nation in 

 moving words, and called for a Hoch for the Emperor, 

 which was given with full-throated enthusiasm, the 

 students clashing their swords and waving their 

 banners in time to the shrill strains of bugles and 

 trumpets. 



The Minister of Education, and the Ob.^r- 

 biirgermeister Kirchner, next spoke for the 

 governments of state and city, the latter presenting 

 the rector with the deeds of a municipal endowment 

 of lo.oooL for the establishment of travelling scholar- 

 ships for university students. Then followed the pre- 

 sentation of addresses by delegates of home and 

 foreign universities and academies. Those of each 

 nationality came forward in a group, the countries 

 being called up in alphabetical order. The speeches 

 of the respective leaders were supposed to occupy not 

 more than three minutes each, but some at least 

 stretched far bevond that limit. Each delegate as he 

 passed bowed to their Majesties, announced his uni- 



