4i8 



JVA TURE 



[Februarv 3, 1910 



new plan by his acceptance of the Vice-Chancellorship of 

 the University of Bristol. It will be seen that the new 

 constitution does not bear directly upon the interests of 

 science, but all scientific men will feel that it is an indirect 

 step of the greatest importance to develop thoroughly the 

 arts faculty of a scientific college, and that the added \veight 

 of the two Newcastle colleges in the councils of the 

 University cannot fail to enhance their general prestige. 



The governors of the South-eastern Agricultural College, 

 ^^"ye, have resolved to extend considerably the college 

 buildings, which are at present inadequate owing to the 

 increasing number of students. The proposed extension, 

 which will be ready for the next session in October, will 

 provide extra rooms for in-college students, and will at 

 the same time increase largely the teaching and research 

 accommodation. 



The Times correspondent at Ottawa states that, as a 

 first step towards the adoption of a system of technical 

 education in Canada, a Royal Commission is to be 

 appointed to report upon conditions in Great Britain, 

 France, Germany, and the United States. Canada has 

 hitherto done little to give a technical training to her 

 artisans owing to the conflict of opinion between the 

 Federal and provincial Governments in respect to jurisdic- 

 tion. 



It is announced in Science that Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan 

 has given 20,000/. to Yale University, to establish a chair 

 of Assyriology and Babylonian literature in memorv of 

 Mr. W. M. Laffan, late editor of the New York Sim. 

 From the same source we learn that the directors of 

 George Washington University have announced that thev 

 propose to raise an endowment fund of 400,000/. Mr. 

 H. C. Perkins, a member of the board, made an initial 

 subscription of io,ooo7. toward the fund on condition that 

 the sum be raised. 



_ According to the Revne scientifiguc, in 1909 the teach- 

 ing staff of fifteen French universities was composed of 

 366 full professors, 102 lecturers, 148 demonstrators in 

 charge of courses of practical work, and 336 assistants. 

 Of these totals, 173 professors, 29 lecturers, 69 demon- 

 strators, and 174 assistant were engaged in pure science 

 The university grant authorised bv the 1910 Bud«pt 

 amounts to 11,679,553 francs for salaries and so on, a'lid 

 2,229,827 francs for material requirements. These amounts 

 represent an increase over 1909 of 288,086 francs for 

 salaries and 31,000 francs for materials. The increase for 

 salaries includes the first annual grant of 57,000 francs for 

 improving the emoluments of demonstrators in science and 

 pharmacy and of scientific assistants. 



The first number of a monthly magazine to be devoted 

 to the discussion of methods for the improvement of the 

 physical and mental conditions under which the work of 

 schools is done has been issued under the title School 

 Hygiene. The review is intended for educational workers 

 and doctors, and is published by the School Hvgiene 

 Publication Co., Ltd., 2 Charlotte Street, London W. at 

 sixpence net monthly. To the present issue Prof. ' H 

 Griesbach, president of the first International Congress on 

 -School Hvgiene; Sir Lauder Brunton, F.R.S., president of 

 the second congress ; and Dr. A. Mathieu, president of the 

 forthcoming congress in Paris next August, contribute 

 in German, English, and French, respectivelv, short essavs 

 on cooperation in education. The remaining articles deal 

 in an interesting and informative manner with numerous 

 aspects of the health of school children, and whe:' it is 

 added that among the contributors are the headma, - of 

 tton and Dr. James Kerr, it will be evident that - is 



a judicious mixture of practical acquaintance with school 

 conditions and of medical knowledge. 



The annual statement has been issued referring to the 

 operation of the Rhodes scholarship scheme. After several 

 years experience, the Universitv of Oxford seems satisfied 

 with the tvpe of scholar sent to Oxford. There were in 

 residence during the academic vear 190S-9 179 Rhodes 

 scholars. Of these, 7S were from the colonies, qo from 

 tlie United States, and 11 from Germanv. At the end of 

 June 33 completed their course, and in' October 31 new- 

 scholars came into residence. Five were given permission 

 NO. 2I0I, VOL. 82] 



to suspend their scholarships temporarily, while six ex- 

 scholars remain in residence engaged in teaching, research, 

 or special study for examination. The total number of 

 scholars and ex-scholars at the beginning of the new 

 academic year igog-io was 178. Of S3 scholars from the 

 United States who completed their course at Oxford, 82 

 returned to their own country, and one accepted work in 

 England. Of 23 Germans, all returned home except one, 

 who had accepted a teaching post in America. Of 78 

 colonial students, 12 are still engaged in courses of study 

 preparatory to professions. Of the remaining 66, 51 have 

 either returned already or are about to return to their own 

 countries ; four are teaching in England, but looking for 

 colonial appointments in the future; one is for the present 

 engaged in parochial work in England, with the view of 

 service ultimately in his own colony ; two have gone to 

 colonies other than their own ; three have accepted appoint- 

 ments in India ; two, business positions in foreign 

 countries ; and three have decided to follow their pro- 

 fessions in England. It is interesting to note that, of the 

 total number of scholars, while 16 only took a distinctly 

 classical course in the honour schools, 20 took up natural 

 science, and that mathematics, forestry, and anthropology 

 each attracted a few men only. Jurisprudence and history 

 seem to have been the most popular subjects among the 

 scholars. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 

 Royal Society, January 27. — Sir Archibald Gcikie, 

 K.C.B., president, in the chair. — Sir James Dewar : 

 Long-period determination of the rate of production of 

 helium from radium. — Sir James Dewar and Dr. H. O. 

 Jones : Note on carbon monosulphide. No doubt decom- 

 position is known which results in the direct production of 

 a substance of the composition of carbon monosulphide. 

 We have found that nickel carbonyl and thiophosgene react 

 at the ordinary temperature according to the following 

 equation : — 



nCSCL -I- >iNi(CO), = hNICI, -1- 4IjCO + (CSj,„ 

 to produce a polymerised form of carbon monosulphide. 

 The solid products were separated by treatment with water, 

 and the insoluble residue, after drying at 150° C. under 

 reduced pressure, was obtained as a very dark brown or 

 black antorphous solid, which is sparingly soluble in some 

 solvents, such as ethylene dibromide, carbon disulphide, 

 and phenol, to give deeply coloured solutions. The solu- 

 bility was not sufficient to enable the molecular weights by 

 lowering of freezing point to be determined. The specific 

 gravity of carbon monosulphide is i-6, and hence its mole- 

 cular volume is 27-5, while that of solid carbon disulphide 

 is 52-4. A comparison of these values with the correspond- 

 ing values for solid carbon monoxide (28) and carbon 

 dioxide (287) shows that carbon monosulphide is formed 

 from carbon disulphide with considerable condensation. 

 On heating carbon monosulphide no change takes place 

 below 360° C, but at a red heat it gradually decomposes 

 into carbon disulphide and carbon. Carbon monosulphide 

 dissolves in concentrated sulphuric acid to a brownish- 

 purple solution, from which it is precipitated unchanged 

 on the addition of water. It dissolves in alkalies to a dark 

 brown solution, from which acids precipitate it unchanged. 

 Other reactions are being investigated. — Sir W. de W. 

 Abney : The extinction of colour by reduction of 

 luminosity. In this paper the author gives the results of 

 reducing the luminosity of all the rays of the spectrum to 

 the point at which they become colourless when compared 

 with white. The white itself varies in hue according to 

 the amount of reduction in its luminosity. No notice is 

 taken of this variation, so some parts of the spectrum do 

 not require so much reduction to match the white as they 

 would do if the white is kept of a uniform hue. — G. W. 

 Walker : The initial accelerated motion of electrified 

 systems of finite extent, and the reaction produced by the 

 resulting radiation. The present investigation forms a 

 developmenr f a paper already communicated to the Royal 

 Society (Proceedings, A, vol. Ixxvii., p. 260). Its chief 

 aim is to obtain, directly from the fundamental equations 

 of electro-magnetism, a method of dealing with small dis- 



