NA TURE 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Bill . . 201 



Paracelsus By Sir T. E. Thorpe, C.B., F.R.S. 202 

 The History of British Agriculture By Sir E. J. 



Russell. F.R.S 204 



Ore Deposits. By Prof. H. Louis . . .205 



The Living Soil . . . . . . . .206 



The Presentation of Thermodynamics . . 207 



Dialectic. By Prof. H. Wildon Carr . . . 20S 

 The Methods of Ecological Investigation. By Dr. 



E. J. Salisbury 20S 



Avian Minstrelsy 209 



Our Bookshelf . .210 



Letters to the Editor : — 



The Cause of Rickets.— Sir W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S. ; 



The Writer of the Article . . .212 



The Phenomena and Conditions of Sex-change in the 



Oyster [0. edulis) and Crepidula.— Dr. J. H. Orton 212 

 Wegener's Displacement Theory. — E. R. Roe- 



Thompson .... ... 214 



The Elliptic Logarithmic Spiral — H. S. Rowell . 214 

 Pairing and Parthenogenesis in Saw-flies. — A. D. 



Peacock 215 



Some Significant Relations in the Quantum Theory 



of Spectra. — Satyendra Ray . . . 215 

 Extraction of Radiolaria from Oozes. — H. L. 



Thomas ; Arthur Earland .... 216 

 An Attempt to Influence the Rate of Radioactive 

 Disintegration by Use of Penetrating Radiation. — 



Dr. G. Hevesy 216 



Black Coral. By Prof. Sydney J. Hickson, F.R.S. 217 

 The Determination of Stellar Distances. ( With 



diagram.) By Dr. William J. S. Lockyer . .219 

 Short-wave Directional Wireless Telegraph. By 



C. S. Franklin 220 



Obituary : — 



Prof. W. Wislicenus. By J. F. T. . 223 



Dr. A G. Mayor .... 224 



Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. By A. R. . . 225 



Current Topics and Events 226 



Research Items 228 



The " Immured Standards " in the House of Commons 230 



The International Research Council .... 230 



The Philosophical Congress at Manchester . 231 



The Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute . . 232 



Pharmaceutical Education and Research . . . 233 



University and Educational Intelligence . . 233 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers ..... 234 



Societies and Academies 235 



Official Publications Received 236 



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Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Bill. 



WHEN some three years ago the Universities of 

 Oxford and Cambridge applied to Parliament 

 for an annual grant to meet recurring expenses it was 

 obvious that such aid could be given only after due 

 inquiry. Accordingly a Royal Commission was ap- 

 pointed on November 14, 1919, " to enquire into the 

 financial resources of the Universities and of the 

 Colleges and Halls therein, into the administration and 

 application of those resources, into the government of 

 the Universities, and into the relations of the Colleges 

 and Halls to the Universities and to each other." On 

 March 24 of the present year the report of this com- 

 mission was published, and as a direct result we have 

 the Bill which was introduced by Mr. Fisher, president 

 of the Board of Education, into the House of Commons 

 on July 24. 



The Bill is short, consisting of ten sections, with a 

 schedule embodying certain provisions of the Uni- 

 versities of Oxford and Cambridge Act, 1877, adapted 

 for present purposes. Two bodies of commissioners are 

 to be set up, styled respectively "The University of 

 Oxford Commissioners " and " The University of Cam- 

 bridge Commissioners." The commissioners are named 

 and comprise men representative of the varied aspects 

 and interests of university life. Their tenure of office 

 is temporary and will normally expire at the end of the 

 year 1924, but may on the application of the commis- 

 sioners themselves be continued by His Majesty in 

 Council for other two years. From and after January 1, 

 1924, these commissioners will " make statutes and 

 regulations for the University, its colleges and halls, 

 and any emoluments, endowments, trusts, foundations, 

 gifts, offices, or institutions in or connected with the 

 University in general accordance with the recommenda- 

 tions contained in the Report of the Royal Commission, 

 but with such modifications as may, after the considera- 

 tion of any representations made to them, appear to 

 them expedient." 



After the termination of the powers of the com- 

 missioners the universities and colleges will again assume 

 their own government, but notice of any proposed 

 statute for a college must be given to the university 

 before it is submitted to His Majesty in Council, and 

 any college statute which affects the university may 

 not be altered without the consent of the university. 

 Again, except with the consent of the trustees or 

 governing body, no trust may be altered " unless fifty 

 years have elapsed since the date on which the instru- 

 ment creating the trust came into operation." This, 

 however, will not operate against increasing the endow- 

 ment of any emolument. Further, the contributions of 

 the colleges to university purposes must be assessed in 



NO. 2754, VOL. I 10] 



