2 34 



NATURE [August 12, 1922 



The British Research Association for the Woollen 

 and Worsted Industries announce the following 

 awards of research fellowships and advanced scholar- 

 ships for the j-ear 1922-23 : Mr. G. W. Chester, 

 Liverpool, 200/. to conduct research on wool fats at 

 the University of Manchester ; Mr. John L. Raynes, 

 Nottingham, 100/. to conduct research on the bleach- 

 ing of wool at the University College of Nottingham ; 

 Mr. George Barker, Baildon, 100/. to conduct research 

 on the action of water on wool as regards strength, 

 elasticity, lustre, dyeing properties, etc., at the 

 University of Leeds. Scholarships have been granted 

 to Mr. Arthur Banks, Sutton Mill, Keighley, tenable 

 at Bradford Technical College; and Mr. William B. 

 Elliot, Wellington Road, Hawick, tenable at the 

 South of Scotland Central Technical College, Gala- 

 shiels. 



The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries an- 

 nounces that scholarships in higher agricultural educa- 

 tion are offered to the sons and daughters of small- 

 holders and agricultural and other rural workers. 

 The scholarships are of three types : Class I. enabling 

 the holder to attend the degree courses in agriculture 

 at certain University departments (including the 

 School of Rural Economy, Oxford, and the School of 

 Agriculture, Cambridge)"; Class II., tenable for two 

 years at certain University departments of agriculture 

 and agricultural colleges ; and Class III., tenable for 

 one year or less, at a farm institute or similar institu- 

 tion. Candidates for Class I. and Class II. scholar- 

 ships must be at least 1 7 years of age, and must show 

 that they have sufficient abilitv to pass the entrance 

 examination of the Institution at which the scholar- 

 ship will be tenable ; for Class III. awards, candidates 

 must be more than 16 years of age and have spent 

 at least a year on a farm or in a horticultural 

 establishment. Applications should reach the Secre- 

 tary, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 10 White- 

 hall Place, London, S.W.i, not later than August 31. 



The United States National Research Council has 

 made an attempt to ascertain by statistics the relative 

 support given to the arts and the sciences through 

 fellowships and scholarships in the graduate schools 

 of American universities. The result (Reprint and 

 Circular series No. 29, 1922) points to the conclusion 

 that the arts are in this respect more favoured than 

 the sciences. Of 3377 fellowships and scholarships 

 awarded during five years in the graduate schools 

 of arts and sciences of twelve leading universities, 

 1892 were in arts subjects, 1289 in pure science, and 

 196 in applied science. The arts subjects were 

 chiefly : English and modern languages (615), history 

 (328), ancient languages (250), philosophy (198), 

 economics (171), political science (153) ; the pure 

 sciences — biology (400), chemistry (365), physics (152), 

 mathematics (145), geology (104) ; applied sciences — 

 engineering (105), agriculture (58). The figures do 

 not, however, in any way indicate the extent to 

 which applied sciences are encouraged in the univer- 

 sities, because they do not include the fellowships 

 awarded in the professional schools. A comparison 

 of the number of fellowships awarded with the number 

 of doctorates conferred year by year in the natural 

 sciences discloses in some cases a close parallelism 

 between the two sets of figures ; thus in California the 

 numbers of fellowships and doctorates respectively 

 in the five years 1916-17 to 1920-21 were ; 23, 23 ; 

 16, 16 ; 15, 16 ; 21, 14 ; 25, 22 ; and in Stanford in 

 1918-19 to 1920-21 : 2, 2 ; 4, 4 ; 5, 5. The total 

 number of such fellowships in the natural sciences in 

 the twelve universities during five years was 290, and 

 the number of doctorates 248. 



NO. 2754, VOL. I IO] 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers. 



August 13, 1867. James Shanks died. — Trained 

 at Glasgow University, Shanks abandoned medicine 

 for practical chemistry and in 1836 w^s employed 

 by Gossage in the erection of his condensing towers. 

 He then became connected with the firm of Joseph 

 Crosfield and Sons, Ltd., at St. Helens ; among the 

 notable improvements he made being the introduction 

 of the " Shanks' Vats " used for the lixiviation of 

 black-ash in the production of alkali. 



August 14, 1909. William Ford Stanley died. — A 

 native of Buntingford, Hertfordshire, where he was 

 born in 1829, Stanley was trained in mechanics by 

 his father, and in 1854 founded the well-known firm 

 of scientific instrument makers. Besides effecting 

 improvements in the design and manufacture of 

 drawing and surveying instruments, he published 

 standard works on their use and was a versatile writer 

 on various scientific subjects. He was also an 

 enthusiastic promoter of trade schools. 



August 15, 1913. James Robson died. — Known 

 for his pioneering work on the gas engine, Robson, 

 who was born in South Shields in 1833, began life 

 as an ironmonger and plumber. Turning his attention 

 in 1855 to the internal combustion engine he built 

 several successful gas engines, and in 1877 took out 

 a patent for a two-stroke engine in which all the 

 pumping and motor actions are performed by one 

 piston in a single cylinder. Robson's first engine on 

 the two-cycle plan was built at North Shields in 

 1879, and shortly afterwards their manufacture was 

 taken up by Tangye's of Birmingham. 



August 16, 1818. Jacques Constantin Perier died. — 

 An able mechanician, Perier founded an engineering 

 works, introduced steam-pumps and hydraulic presses 

 into France, and became a builder of steam-engines. 

 He also invented a centrifugal pump, and drew up 

 a plan for the distribution of the water of the Seine 

 throughout Paris. He published various scientific 

 memoirs, and from 1784 was a member of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences. 



August 17, 1809. Matthew Boulton died. — The 

 founder in 1762 of the Soho Manufactory at Bir- 

 mingham, Boulton was a successful toy and trinket 

 maker. His friendship with Watt led in 1775 to the 

 famous partnership which made the Soho works 

 known throughout the industrial world. It was there 

 that the modern steam-engine may be said to have 

 had its birth, and much of the success achieved 

 was due to Boulton's energy and business acumen. 

 Boulton himself made many improvements in the 

 art of coining. 



August 18, 1874. Sir William Fairbairn died. — A 

 great mechanical engineer, Fairbairn as a journeyman- 

 mechanic gained experience in various parts of the 

 country, and in 181 7 set up in business in Manchester. 

 He introduced many improvements in millwork, was 

 a pioneer in iron shipbuilding, with Robert Stephenson 

 built the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits, 

 and made original investigations into the strength of 

 materials, the properties of steam, and other subjects. 



August 19, 1808. Frederic Henry Chapman died. — 

 Recognised as the foremost naval constructor of his 

 day. Chapman was born at Goteburg in 172 1. As 

 a young man he worked in London, and after visiting 

 France became a constructor in the Swedish Service, 

 and towards the end of his career invented the para- 

 bolic system of construction. His principal writings 

 were his " Architectura Navalis Mercatoria " pub- 

 lished in 1768 and a work on Ships of War published 

 in 1775. E. C. S. 



