July 24, 19 13] 



NATURE 



547 



An anonymous donor has given 500/. to the South- 

 Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, for the extension 

 of the research department, and the Development 

 Commission is recommending a grant of 6ooo!. for the 

 completion of the new college buildings. The gover- 

 nors have decided upon the erection of the buildings 

 at the Fruit Research Station at Mailing, the land 

 for which (twenty-two acres) has been purchased by 

 the Kent County Council. 



The following benefactions, among others, _ we 

 learn from The Times, have been left to the British 

 Academy by the late Miss Henriette Hertz :— 2000!. 

 for an annual lecture, investigation, or paper on a 

 philosophical problem, or some problem in the philo- 

 sophy of Western or Eastern civilisation in ancient 

 and modern times bearing on the phenomena of life in 

 relation to eternity ; 1000I. for an annual, public lecture 

 on some master mind, considered individually with 

 reference to his life and work, specially in order to 

 appraise the essential elements of his genius, the 

 subjects to be chosen from the great philosophers, 

 artists, poets, musicians; and 1000?., the income of 

 which is to be used to promote the publication of some 

 philosophical work or to reward some meritorious 

 publication in the department of philosophy. Miss 

 Hertz also left the sum of 1500Z. to Girton College, 

 the income to be used for the endowment of archseo- 

 logical research. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has 

 awarded research scholarships in agricultural science 

 of the annual value of 150/., tenable for three years, 

 to the following candidates, viz. :— E. W. Barton 

 (Wales), economics of agriculture; W. Brown (Edin- 

 burgh), plant pathology; Miss E. C. V. Cornish 

 (Bristol), dairying; F. L. Engledow (London), gene- 

 tics; E. 1. Holmyard (Cambridge], plant nutrition 

 and' soil problems ;' R. C. Knight (London and Bris- 

 tol), plant physiology; F. J. Meggitt (Birmingham). 

 agricultural zoology; H. Raistrick (Leeds), animal 

 nutrition; G. O. Sherrard (Dublin), genetics; 

 T Trought (Cambridge), genetics; G. Williams 

 (Wales), animal nutrition; S. P. Wiltshire (Bristol), 

 plant pathology. The Board has also awarded Miss 

 T. Redman "(London), a scholarship in dairying, 

 tenable for two and a half years, to fill a vacancy 

 caused by the resignation of a former scholar. The 

 scholarships have been established in connection with 

 the scheme for the promotion of scientific research 

 in agriculture, for the purposes of which the Treasury 

 has sanctioned a grant to the Board from the De- 

 velopment Fund; they are designed to provide for 

 the training of promising students under suitable 

 supervision with a view to enable them to contribute 

 to the development of agricultural science. 



The May issue for this year of the Jolins Hopkins 

 University Circular takes the form of the University 

 Register for 1912-13. The volume contains an in- 

 teresting historical introduction, which points out 

 that the Johns Hopkins University was founded by 

 a merchant of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins, who be- 

 queathed the greater part of his estate for the estab- 

 lishment of a university and a hospital. The Univer- 

 sity was incorporated on August 24, 1867. Instruc- 

 tion began in 1876, in which year President D. C. 

 Gilman, from the University of California, was ap- 

 pointed first president, and remained in office for 

 twenty-five years, being succeeded in 1901 by Presi- 

 dent Remsen, who resigned last year. The original 

 endowment of the University amounted to somewhat 

 more than 6oo,oooZ. This has been supplemented by 

 several gifts, including the Endowment Fund of 1902 

 (2oo,oooZ.), the John W. McCoy Fund (100,000!.), and 

 the Garrett Fund of 60,000!., in addition to many 

 NO. 2282, VOL. 91] 



other large sums. The income-bearing funds have a 

 book value of more than i,ooo,oool., and the real estate 

 and buildings, books, scientific apparatus, and general 

 equipment are valued at more than 450,000!. Ihe 

 assets of the University have thus a to a value of 

 a million and a half sterling. . By Act of the Legis- 

 lature of Maryland, at its session of 1912, the sum 0! 

 „ooooZ. was granted for the purpose of constructing 

 and equipping buildings for a school of technology as 

 a department of the University, with an annual appro- 

 priation of io,ooo!. for maintenance. 



The Government's education policy was outlined 

 hv Mr 1 A Pease, President of the Board of Educa- 

 tion in introducing in the House of Commons on 

 Tuesday a " Bill to amend the law in respect to grants 

 in aid of building, enlarging, improving , or fittmgup 

 elementary schools." In the course of his remarks 

 Mr. Pease said that the defects of our so-called 

 national system of education are two-it is ; not 

 national and it is not a system. The age a which 

 compulsory attendance at school ceases «?derthe 

 existing law is too early; and to allow children to 

 ™ school at the age of from twelve to fourteen 

 years, and leave them to forget what they have 

 learned, is to neglect national responsibility. _ One 

 main purpose of the Government is to organise inter- 

 mediate education-that is, all classes of education 

 from the elementary school and the umyersity-by 

 extending the powers and duties and adding to the 

 resources of local education authorities. Further 

 duties of these authorities must be accompanied by 

 further and substantial assistance from . the State. 

 Out of 2q,8u,ooo!. spent on education in 1911-12, 

 1 a 186 000! ' was obtained from the rates and 

 1,648000!. from Exchequer grants. The increase in 

 expenditure since 1905-6 has been 3,5°o,oooZ. drawn 

 from the rates and 1,000,000!. from grants, or out ot 

 Pverv additional qZ. required in the last six years 7 l. 

 had been found by the ratepayers and 2/. by the tax- 

 oaver The demand which the ratepayer has for 

 further relief for the taxpayer must therefore, be 

 admitted. As regards higher education, there will 

 be no interference with the independence of the uni- 

 versities or with the government of training and tech- 

 nical colleges. The principles of .the proposed legis- 

 lation will be the arbitrary provision of intermediate 

 education for all who desire it, placing it within the 

 reach of all classes, and the coordination of such 

 provision between authorities to prevent overlapping. 

 Local authorities will have the duty imposed upon 

 them of affording children during the latter years of 

 elementarv-school life opportunities of obtaining such 

 instruction of a more advanced character than that 

 triven in the ordinary public elementary schools as 

 may be thought suitable to the circumstances of the 

 children. Fo"r this purpose the limit imposed by the 

 \ct of 1Q02 on the amount that might be raised by 

 way of rates for the purposes of higher education will 

 be 'removed. To give effect to the proposals of the 

 Government, will require a large and substantial 

 addition to the sum at its disposal, which will rise 

 progressively from the first, second, third, and subse- 

 quent years. The forecast, of which no details, can 

 vet be 'given, includes provision for the universities, 

 provision for the ^constitution of London University 

 and provision for the maintenance of increased 

 secondary and technical schools. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Dublin. 

 Royal Irish Academy, June 23.— Dr. F. A. Tarleton 

 in the chair.-H. Ryan and Rev. J. M. Dunlea : Un- 

 saturated diketones. I. Bv the condensation of 



