November 21, 19 12] 



NATURE 



34/ 



When it is remembered that the water-power in 

 Norway alone is estimated to produce several million 

 kilowatts, it is evidently better, for the present at 

 any rate, for engineers to utilise the solar radiation 

 by harnessing the waterfalls rather than by attempting 

 to build radiation traps in the Sahara. 



UNIVERSITY STUDEXTS IN STATE-AWED 

 INSTITUTIONS OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 



AN article on the budgets of certain universities 

 and university colleges, based on the reports for 

 the year igio-ii from universities and university col- 

 leges in Great Britain in receipt of grants from the 

 Board of Education, was published in the issue of 

 Nature for August 15 last. These reports also contain 

 a great deal of information concerning the number of 

 students in the various colleges, their ages, the sub- 

 jects they are studying, and so on; and we have 

 abstracted the subjoined facts from them and the 

 introductory statement signed by the President of the 

 Board of Education. 



Before summarising the statistics under these head- 

 ings, it is well to point out that the numbers which 

 follow concern the following English universities ; — 

 Birmingham, Bristol, Durham (Armstrong College), 

 Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, London (in- 

 cluding University College, King's College, Bedford 

 College, School of Economics, and East London Col- 

 lege), and also the University Colleges at Nottingham, 

 Reading, and Southampton. The University of Wales 

 includes the University Colleges of Aberystwyth, 

 Bangor, and Cardiff. 



Certain other constituent colleges of universities are 

 in receipt of aid under "The Statement of Grants 

 available from the Board of Education in Aid of 

 Technological and Professional Work in Universities 

 in England and Wales." These institutions are twelve 

 in number, nine being medical schools attached to 

 hospitals in London. They are all schools of the Uni- 

 versity of London. One, the Newcastle College of 

 Medicine, is a constituent college of the University of 

 Durham, while the two remaining, namely, Manches- 

 ter Municipal School of Technology and the Bristol 

 Merchant Venturers' College, make provision for the 

 faculties of technology and engineering respectively in 

 the universities to which they are attached. 



Number of Flll-time Students, 1910-11. 



England W.iles 



Degree students : — 



Training college ... ... 1459 ... 451 



Others 3512 ... 702 



Total 4971 ... 1153 



Non-graduate (diploma) students : — 



Training college ... ... 729 ... — 



Others iioo ... 105 



Total 1829 ... 105 



Post-graduate students 477 ... 75 



Others 628 ... 58 



Total 7905 ... 1391 



Number of Part-time Students, 1910-11. 

 Dav. 



England Wales 



Degree 254 ... 11 



Non-graduate (diploma) 112 ... 4 



Post-graduate ... ... ... 8og ... i. 



Others 2987 ... 286 



Eveiiiiig. 



Degree ... ... ... ... 4.94 ... — 



Non-graduate (diploma) ... ... 810 ... — 



Post-graduate ... ... ... 173 ... — 



Others 7298 ... — 



In addition, there were in England 277 evening 

 students studying for matriculation and nine such 

 students in Wales. 



The number of full-time students in England during 

 the year 1910-11 was 7905, as compared with 8174 in 

 the previous year. This apparent drop of 269 is, how- 

 ever, more than accounted for by the stricter classifica- 

 tion adopted. A number of students taking post- 

 graduate and special courses have this year been 

 clsssified as part-time students. The number of full- 

 time degree and diploma students, on the other hand, 

 increased by 150, and the real increase was larger 

 since the figures for the earlier year included 78 en- 

 gineering students at the Bristol Merchant Venturers' 

 College who were included in the returns for Bristol 

 University, but have this year been shown separately. 

 The establishment of a somewhat higher criterion and 

 the consequent exclusion of a certain number of 

 students who simply attend a certain number of lec- 

 tures render it somewhat difficult to make any 

 detailed comparison of the figures for part-time 

 students with those for the previous year, but it seems 

 safe to say that the apparent reduction in the total 

 number of' part-time students is more than accounted 

 for by the reduction in the number of 'Other" 

 students, many of whom could scarcely be regarded as 

 serious students, and have consequently been excluded 

 altogether. On the other hand, the number of part- 

 time students taking, degree, diploma, or post-graduate 

 courses showed marked increase. It follows that the 

 reduction in the total number of all kinds of sttidents 

 is not to be taken as implying any diminution in the 

 number of genuine students; on the contrary, there 

 is good reason to think that the number of such 

 students is on the increase. In support of this view 

 it may be pointed out that the total number of post- 

 graduate students has increased since the previous year 

 by more than 200. 



In Wales there has been a small increase in the 

 total number of full-time students; on the other hand, 

 there has been a drop in the number of part-time day 

 students. 



.Age .4T .Admission of Full-time Students. 



Eng'and Wa'es 



Number admitted during 1910-11 3587 ... 4(15 



Total 1293 



■ NO. 2247, VOL. go] 



3,6 



Percentage under 17 3'8 ... 3'9 



Percentage 17-1S i2'o ... i4'4 



Percentage 18-19 ... ... ... 23'9 ... 31 2 



Percentage above 19 ... .■• 6o'3 ... _ so'5 



The number given above under England include 

 277 students at the nine medical schools of the Uni- 

 versity of London and 29 students at the Newcastle 

 College of Medicine, which is a constituent college of 

 the University of Durham. 



Number of Full-time Students in the V.^rious 



F.iiCULTIES, I9IO-II. 



England Wale4 



.Arts 34'o ••■ 936 



Pure science 1723 ••• ^54 



Medicine 2586 ... 62 



Engineering 1015 .■■ 43 



Technology 73S ■•• -- 



.\griculture 162 ... 63 



Other departments 203 ... n 



To make the above summary more explicit, it should 

 be pointed out that under "Arts," fine art, rnusic, law, 

 commerce, teachers' diploma, and economics^ are in- 

 cluded; "Engineering" covers naval architecture; 

 "Technologv" comprises also mining, metallurgy, and 

 architecture; and " .\griculture " embraces horticulture 

 and dair\--work. 



