140 



NA rURE 



I June S, 1905 



Mr. E. Broun, lecturer on applied mechanics at the 

 University of Liverpool, has been appointed assistant pro- 

 fessor in civil engineering and applied mechanics in the 

 McGill University at Montreal. 



Dr. J. E. DuERDEN, of the University of Michigan, 

 formerly curator of the museum, Jamaica, has been 

 appointed professor of zoology at the Rhodes University 

 College, Grahamstown, Cape Colony. 



A COURSE of eight lectures in advanced zoology on " The 

 Prosobranchiate Mollusca " is being given in connection 

 with the University of London in the lecture room of the 

 Chelsea Physic Garden by Mr. J. E. S. Moore on Mondays 

 and Thursdays during June. There is no fee for the 

 course ; cards of admission and a detailed syllabus may be 

 had on application to the academic registrar. University 

 of London, South Kensington, S.W. 



The King has approved the charter for the constitution 

 of the University of Sheffield. On June 3 the Pro- 

 Chancellor formally handed over the charter to the Vice- 

 Chancellor, Dr. Hicks, F.R.S., and congratulatory 

 speeches were made. The King and Queen have consented 

 to open the new university buildings in July. An endow- 

 ment fund of about 140,000/. has been raised in Sheffield, 

 and the City Council and the councils of neighbouring 

 boroughs and counties have guaranteed annual rate aid 

 equivalent to an even larger capital sum. The first 

 Chancellor of the university is the Duke of Norfolk. 



We learn from Science that Prof. Asaph Hall, jun., 

 has resigned the professorship of astronomy and director- 

 ship of the observatory at the University of Michigan. 

 Prof. \V. T. Hussey, of the Lick Observatory, has been 

 elected his successor. Prof. S. J.'Barnett, of Stanford 

 University, has accepted the chair of physics at Tulane 

 University, vacant by the resignation of Dr. Brown Ayres 

 to accept the presidency of the University of Tennessee. 

 At Williams College, Mr. W. E. McElfresh has been pro- 

 moted to the Thomas T. Reed professorship of physics, 

 and Mr. H. L. Clelland to a professorship in geology. 

 M. Gabriel Bertrand has been appointed to succeed the 

 late M. Duclaux as lecturer on biological chemistry at the 

 Paris Faculty of Science. 



It is announced. Science states, that 360,000/. has been 

 contributed toward the endowment of 500,000/. which is 

 being collected to increase the present amount available for 

 the salaries of the teaching staff of the college of Harvard 

 University. The circular which appeals for additional sub- 

 scriptions says : — " The position of Harvard to-day among 

 American universities is due not so much to its age, tradi- 

 tions, or able administration as to its noble line of teachers. 

 That the teachers in the college should be the best in the 

 land ; that the older professors should be free from the 

 cares of a straitened income ; that the younger teachers 

 should be able to give themselves without distraction to 

 their work, and that the best men should not be drawn 

 away to other colleges, but should see before them reason- 

 able promotion in work and salary, is essential to the 

 leadership of Harvard and the culture of her sons." It is 

 pointed out that the total of salaries in Harvard College 

 is about 87,600/., and the average per capita allowance 

 for the staff of 279 teachers is only 314/. 



An article entitled " Some Candid Impressions of 

 England " is contributed to the current number of the 

 National Review by a " German Resident." The first fact 

 which strikes the contributor is the indifference of English- 

 men to their individual duties as citizens of a great Empire, 

 and it seems to him, looking at English schools, that the 

 mainspring of German success is here. He says : — " Our 

 youths, like your youths, are human, and would be lazy 

 if there were no penalty for idleness. But the fact that 

 those who are negligent and lazy at school have to put in 

 an extra year of service, acts as a stimulus and compels 

 'the German boy to work, where the English boy spends 

 his time in play." In another place : — " I look at England 

 and see the want of such an influence even in your public 

 schools, which are good in a way, so far as they form 

 character, but bad in that they' neglect intellect." As 

 for our primary education, its product seems to the critic 

 surprisingly bad. He says the knowledge imparted in our 



NO. 1858, VOL. 72] 



elementary schools does not seem to be such as is required 

 for the making of good citizens. The majority of our 

 workers, he remarks, read little but the sporting Press, 

 and care for little but betting and sport. It is pointed out 

 that the Germans have destroyed in this generation the 

 superstition that Germany makes only poor and cheap 

 articles. " Our Mercedes motors and scientific and optical 

 instruments are the best and most expensive in the world, 

 and no English article of their class can for a moment 

 compete with them." 



The annual report of the council of the City and Guilds 

 of London Institute was adopted at the yearly meeting of 

 the institute held on June i. The council directs attention 

 to the diminished income of the institute, owing to the 

 fact that the Mercers' Company, the Fishmongers' Com- 

 pany, and the Corporation have made reductions in their 

 contributions. No reason, it is said, has been assigned 

 for these reductions. At the invitation of the Lord Chan- 

 cellor, a meeting of the representatives of the principal 

 companies has been held to discuss the situation, and a 

 resolution has been passed expressing a hope that the 

 livery companies will increase, rather than diminish, their 

 subscriptions. The total income for the past year, in- 

 cluding donations for special purposes, amounted to 

 43,432/., of which the Corporation and the livery com- 

 panies contributed 23,308/., the remainder coming from 

 fees and other receipts. In the previous year the income 

 was 46,829/., of which the Corporation and livery com- 

 panies contributed 29,385/. Sir John Wolfe Barry, in his 

 speech moving the adoption of the report, alluded to an 

 interview with the chairman of the Departmental Com- 

 mittee on the Royal College of Science, South Kensington. 

 He gathered that the general idea of the scheme which will 

 be submitted to the council of the institute is a federation 

 or coordination of all the teaching institutions which are 

 gathered round about South Kensington, and when this 

 takes place the institutions will be in intimate connection 

 with the university. It is held that a system of this kind 

 will be a very great benefit, not only to the general teach- 

 ing given, but also to post-graduate teaching, which will 

 be largely developed, it is hoped, in the future. 



The report of the Commissioner of Education for the 

 year 1903 has now been published by the United States 

 Bureau of Education. It contains in its 1327 pages an 

 abundance of information concerning all grades of American 

 education, and parts of the educational systems of other 

 countries. It is only possible here to refer to a few of its 

 contents. Dr. Charles F. Thwing, president of Western 

 Reserve University, contributes a chapter on the develop- 

 ment of .American universities, their organisation, conduct, 

 and relations to the life of the nation. The chapter shows 

 that the growth of university endowment funds has kept 

 pace in the United States with that of the wealth of the 

 country at large. For example, the productive funds of 

 Yale College have increased from about 6000/. in 1830 to 

 more than 1,000,000/. at the present time. The growth of 

 libraries also has been significant in particular instances, 

 yet Dr. Thwing says the " libraries of most colleges are 

 inadequately furnished and inefficiently administered." 

 The functions of universities in American communities are 

 considered under various aspects. First, as conserving 

 forces in the presence of a democracy inclined to make all 

 things new ; then as inspiring with high moral ideals an 

 age inclined to pursue mere material aims. As an agency 

 to promote systematic research — the seeking after truth as 

 such — the university fulfils an increasingly useful function. 

 It presents, as the chapter points out, materials for the 

 study of all truth, in the world of nature and in the world 

 of man. Another chapter of the report deals with education 

 in France, and includes some interesting statistics con- 

 cerning French universities. It appears that the registra- 

 tion in State universities has increased by about 60 per cent, 

 since 18S7, the total registration for 1901 being 29,931 

 students. The University of Paris greatly outnumbers all 

 others in this respect, its total registration being 12,289 

 students. Lyons, with 2458 students, and Bordeaux, with 

 2 1 19, stand next to Paris. As the distribution by faculties, 

 law leads with 10,152 students, medicine follows with 

 8627, science comes third with 3910 students, and is closely 

 I followed by the faculties of letters with 3723 students. 



