NATURE 



[Dec. 30, 1886 



of a central position for tlie Institute, have considered the 

 various possible sites, and have, as far as has been within their 

 power, obtained estimates of their cost. 



To carry out the several objects which the committee have 

 indicated, a large space is necessai-y. The committee have been 

 unable to find any such suitable site in the central parts of 

 London, except at a cost which, looking at the probable amount 

 of subscriptions, would, alter the purchase of the ground, leave 

 a sum wholly inadequate for the erection and maintenance of 

 the buildings, and for carrying out the objects of the Institute. 



The site of about five acres recently secured for the New 

 Admiralty and War Oftices is valued at 820,000/., or rather 

 over 160,000/. per acre. That now vacant in Charles Street, 

 opposite the India Office, is less than an acre, and would cost at 

 least 125,000/. ; probably another acre might be secured by 

 private contract, so that the value of a limited site in this 

 position would not be less than 250,000/. It has been 

 suggested that a single acre not far from Charing Cross might be 

 obtained for 224,000/. Two and a half acres on the Thames 

 Embankment have been offered for 400,000/. ; and it is stated 

 that six acres might be procured from Christ's Hospital at 

 600,000/. Another good central position has been suggested, 

 consisting of two and a half acres, which has been valued at 

 66S,ooo/. 



It is, of course, probable that these sites might be obtained at 

 somewhat less than the prices asked, but, allowing for this, it is 

 obvious that the purchase of any adequate area would involve 

 the expenditure of a quarter to half a million. 



The committee have therefore been forced to abandon the 

 hope of obtaining a central site within the limits allowed by 

 any probable subscription. 



The attention of the committee was then drawn to the pro- 

 perty at South Kensington belonging to the Commissioners for 

 the Exhibition of 1851. This property was bought out of the 

 profits of that E.xhibition, with the express object of offering 

 sites for any large public buildings which might be required for 

 the promotion of science and art. 



Under these circumstances, the committee submit to your 

 Royal Highness that the Imperial Institute may well establish a 

 claim for the grant of a site of sufficient magnitude on property 

 bought and reserved for public institutions of this character. 



Though sensible of the objections that may be urged against 

 the situation at South Kensington, the committee think that the 

 advantage must be obvious of obtaining a sufficient site virtually 

 free of cost, so that the whole of the subscripiions may be 

 devoted to providing a building for and establishing and main- 

 taining the Institute. 



The committee, while guided in the recommendation of a 

 site by the considerations they have indicated, think it right to 

 add that there are some incidental advantages connected with 

 that at South Kensington. 



In that locality are combined the City and Guilds Technical 

 College, the Royal College of Music, and the Government 

 Museums and Schools of Science and Art, which ought to be in 

 immediate proximity to an Imperial Institute of the character 

 which we have described. 



Ths technical character of the collections and exhibitions of 

 the Imperial Institute has a natural connection with the collec- 

 tions of science and art in the Government Museums. 



E. General Obsei-vations. — An Imperial Institute for the 

 United Kingdom, the Colonies, and India, would fail in its 

 chief object if it did not constantly keep in view that it ought to 

 be a centre for diffusing and extending knowledge in relation to 

 the industrial resources and commerce of the Empire. 



The necessity for technical education is now fully appreciated, 

 because the competition of industry has become, in a great 

 measure, a competition of trained intelligence. The committee, 

 however, do not recommend that the Imperial Institute should 

 aspire to be a college for technical education. Many of the 

 large towns in Great Britain have recently established colleges 

 or schools of science and art. The Imperial Institute might 

 serve to promote technical education in these, and to unite them 

 with colleges of larger resources which have been founded or 

 formed branches for the purpose in the metropolis. It is too 

 much to hope that an active co-operation of this character 

 between the provincial centres and London could be at once 

 undertaken by the Imperial Institute. But the committee bear 

 in mind that, in their last report, the Commissioners of 1 851 have 

 indicated an intention to assist in carrying out such a scheme. 

 If the Commissioners would contribute three or four thousand 



pounds annually, it would be possible to establish scholarships 

 which might enable promising candidates of the working classes 

 to attend the local institutions, and even, when it was desired, to 

 complete their technical education in colleges of the metropolis. 

 In addition to this aid, the Imperial Institute might be able, in 

 other ways, to promote the foundation of scholarships both in 

 connection with the colonies and provincial centres, in the hope 

 of still further extending these benefits to the working classes. 



In conclusion, the committee submit that an Imperial 

 Institute such as they have sketched in broad outline would 

 form a fitting memorial of the coming year, when Her Majesty 

 the Sovereign of this Empire will celebrate the jubilee of her 

 happy reign. It would be an emblem of the unity of the 

 Empire, embracing as it does all parts of the Queen's dominions, 

 and tending to promote that closer union between them which 

 has become more and more desired. It would exhibit the vast 

 area, the varied resources, and the marvellous growth, during 

 Her Majesty's reign, of the British Empire. It would unite in 

 a single representative act the whole of her people ; and, since 

 both the purpose nnd the effect of the Institute will be to advance 

 the industrial and commercial resources of every part of the 

 Empire, the committee entertain a confident hope that Her 

 Majesty's subjects, without distinction of class or race, will 

 rejoice to take part in offering this tribute of love and loyalty. 

 — Herschell (Chairman), Carnarvon, Revelstoke, 

 Rothschild, G. J. Goschen, Lyon Playfair, Henry 

 James, Henry T. Holland, H. H. Fowler, C. T. Ritchie, 

 Fred. Leighton (President of the Royal Academy), Ashley 

 Eden, Owen T. Burne, Reginald Hanson (Lord Mayor), 

 J. Pattison Currie (Governor of the Bank of England), 

 John Staples, Frederick Abel (Vice-President of the 

 Society of Arts), J. H. Tritton (Chairman of the London 

 Chamber of Commerce), Nevile Lubbock, Henry Broad- 

 hurst. 



i 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



Cambridge. — At the annual election to scholarships and 

 exhibitions in St. John's College, for candidates who have not 

 yet commenced residence, the following awards were made : — 



Foundation Scholarships : (8oi'. ) to A. Vaughan, University 

 College School, and H. Reeves, Surrey County School ; (50/.) 

 to O. W. Owen, Liverpool Institute (all for Mathematics) ; 

 (60/.) to J. T, Hewitt, South Kensington School of Science, for 

 Chemistry. 



Minor Scholarships: (50/.) to G. T. Bennett, University 

 College School, and W. J. Dobbs, Wolverhampton School, for 

 Mathematics, and to K. A. Lehfeldt, for Physics. 



Exhibitions to J. J. Alexander, Queen's College, Belfast, for 

 Mathematics, and to F. F. Blackman, St. Bartholomew's 

 Hospital, for Physiology and Botany. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



The articles in the Journal of Botany for November and 

 December are mostly descriptive. Mr. H. N. Ridley concludes 

 his description of the Monocotyledonous plants collected in 

 New Guinea by Mr. Forbes, including a number of new 

 species ; Mr. J. G. Baker, his synopsis of the Rhizocarpeie, 

 with a monograph of Pihilaria ; and Dr. Trimen, his valuable 

 account of the flora of Ceylon and its relations to the climate of 

 the island. — Mr. J. G. Baker describes some new species of Liliaceae 

 from the Cape of Good Hope. — The other original papers refer 

 to the distribution of British plants. 



Nttovo Giornak Botanico Ilaliano for October. — G. Venturi 

 desciibes several species of moss new to the Italian flora, or rare 

 or critical species. — L. Macchiati, on the extra-floral nectaries 

 of the Amygdaleae, describes nectariferous glands on the leaf- 

 stalk of /'e'«iVa vulgaris, Cerasus zulgaris, Prutius donieslica, 

 and Amygiialus communis. These agree in function with the 

 extra-floral nectaries in other European plants, in serving as a 

 protection against the attacks of caterpillars ; while in the case 

 of natives of Tropical America, their purpose is invariably to 

 protect against the attacks of the ant Oecodoina, by attracting 

 other ants, enemies to this species. The author records a 

 diurnal periodicity in the amount of nectar exuded from the 

 glands, which reaches its maximum early in the morning, its 

 minimum in the afternoon. — B. Scortechini describes several 



