NA TURE 



689 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1922. 



CONTENTS. PAGE 



Cambridge and the Royal Commission . . . 689 



The Study of Spectra 690 



Animal Venoms. By A. A. 691 



Crime and Remedial Punishment .... 692 



Our Bookshelf 694 



Letters to trie Editor : — 



Speculation concerning the Positive Electron. — Sir 



Oliver Lodge, F. R.S 696 



The Measurement of Intervals. — Prof. A. S. 



Eddington. F.R.S. ; E. Cunningham . . 697 

 The Time - Triangle and Time • Triad in Special 



Relativity.— R. A. P. Rogers . . . . 69S 



Space-Time Geodesies. — Prof. H. T. H. Piaggio . 699 

 The Dictionary of Applied Physics. — Sir R. T. 



Glazebrook. K.C.B., F.R.S. . . . 699 



Action of Cutting Tools. — Prof. E. G. Coker, 

 F.R.S. . . . . . . .700 



A New Worship? — Prof. Henry E. Armstrong, 



F.R.S 700 



The Spectrum of Neutral Helium.— Prof. C. V. 



Raman 700 



Watei Snails and Liver Flukes. — Dr. Monica Taylor 701 

 A Mutation of the Columbine. {Illustrated).— Prof. 



T. D. A. Cockerell and Dorothy Young . . 701 

 The Atoms of Matter ; their Size, Number, and 

 Construction. {Illustrated.) By Dr. F. W. Aston, 



F.R.S 702 



The Herring Fishery and its Fluctuations. By B. 



Storrow ... ..... 705 



The Nebraska Tooth. By W. P. Pycraft . . 707 

 Obituary : — 



Mrs. A. D. Waller 70S 



Lady Herdman 708 



Current Topics and Events ..... 709 

 Our Astronomical Column . . . .712 



Research Items . 713 



The International Geological Congress of 1922. By 



J. W. E 715 



Education, Research, and Invention .... 715 

 The Life History of the Eel. Bv J. J. . . .71b 



The Harrison Memorial. {Illustrated). By C. R. Y. 717 



Long Distance Telephony ... . . 71S 

 Low Temperature Carbonisation. Bv Prof. John 



W. Cobb 71S 



Expedition to Chinese Tibet . . . .719 



University and Educational Intelligence . . .720 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 721 



Societies and Academies 721 



Official Publications Received 724 



Diary of Societies ..... . 724 



Editorial and Publishing Offices : 



MACMILLAN &- CO., LTD.. 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET. LONDON. W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters should be 



addressed to the Publishers. 



Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address: PHUS1S, LONDON. 

 Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 



NO. 2769, VOL. I IO] 



Cambridge and the Royal Commission. 



T N the current number of the Quarterly Review, Sir 



1 William Ridgeway publishes a critical account of 

 the recent report of the Royal Commission. As is not 

 unexpected, he differs fundamentally from the Com- 

 missioners on certain points. First of all he opposes 

 the principle of accepting State grants with, as he 

 suggests, " the uncomfortable corollary of State control." 

 He fears that this will be of the nature of " continuous 

 administrative control " and that Cambridge will 

 lose that liberty of spirit and initiative which have 

 built up her present strong position in the scientific 

 and educational world. Many of those who do not 

 share Sir William Ridgeway's fears will agree with him 

 that much trouble to all concerned will be saved, and 

 some freedom from Parliamentary pin-pricks from 

 cranks or extremists will be secured, if the grant which 

 the Commissioners recommend can be charged on the 

 Consolidated Fund. 



The second main criticism is that the Board of 

 Studies and Research, the body charged with the 

 control of the studies of the University, is placed too 

 directly under the Council, the administrative body of 

 the University. As the electorate which chooses both 

 bodies is the same, any serious difficulties that may arise 

 through differences of opinion between the administra- 

 tive and teaching members of the University would 

 always be capable of early adjustment. As the 

 teachers are in the majority, the side that would 

 presumably suffer in any such conflict as Sir William 

 Ridgeway foreshadows would be the administrative 

 side. On the ground which he has chosen it is doubtful 

 whether the criticism can be maintained. On other 

 grounds there is a great deal to be said against the 

 majority of so important a body in the University as 

 the Board of Studies being nominated by the Council. 



The main attack of Sir William Ridgeway is, however, 

 levelled against the proposals of the Commission to 

 reduce the powers of the Senate, the non-resident 

 graduates, and to give them no longer the final say in 

 all serious matters of University policy. ' In his criticism 

 of detail Sir William Ridgeway is not happy. When he 

 says " The Cambridge Commissioners know perfectly 

 well that it would not be easy to get fifty signatures to 

 any appeal within a week," the obvious answer is that 

 Sir William Ridgeway knows perfectly well that in any 

 issue of importance where an appeal to the Senate is 

 likely, fifty signatures could be collected in the Senate 

 House from the defeated minority at the conclusion of 

 the poll. 



On the general question whether the ultimate control 

 should lie with the Senate or with the House of 

 Residents, there is naturally much divergence of 



