56 



NATURE 



[Mw 1 6, 1907 



niPEKIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND 

 TECHNOLOGY. 

 T^HE draft of the Charter for the incorporation and 

 ■'■ government of the Imperial CoUeepe of Science 

 and Technology to be established at South Kensington 

 has now been laid on the table of the House of 

 Commons. It provides for the appointment of a 

 governing body which, when complete, will consist of 

 forty members, each member holding office for a 

 period of four years. The governing body will be con- 

 stituted in accordance with the recommendations of 

 the Departmental Committee which reported in Janu- 

 ary, uioh. When complete, it will consist of forty 

 members, of whom six will be appointed by the 

 Crown, four by the President of the Board of Educa- 

 tion, five each by the University of London, the London 

 County Council, and the City and Guilds of London 

 Institute, two by the Roval Commissioners for the 

 1851 E.xhibition, one by the Royal Society, four by the 

 professorial staff of the college, and eight by various 

 technical societies, viz. one each by the Institutions 

 of Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, and 

 Electrical Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute, the 

 Institution of Naval Architects, the Societv of Chem- 

 ical Industry, the Institution of Mining Engineers, and 

 the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. The Pre- 

 sident of the Board of Education will summon the first 

 meeting of the governing body, which will be deemed 

 to be constituted on the occasion of that meeting. The 

 governing body will meet at least four times a year, 

 and will publish a report of its proceedings annuallv. 

 It will be permitted to delegate powers to an execu- 

 tive committee and to other committees, provision 

 being made for the possible inclusion on anv of these 

 committees, except the executive committee, of non- 

 members of the governing body. The governing body 

 will in this way be able to secure the advice of indepen- 

 dent experts, including persons with practical experi- 

 ence of industrial requirements. Advisory boards may 

 also be appointed with the same object in view. 



The purposes of the Imperial College will be to give 

 the highest specialised instruction and to provide the 

 fullest equipment for the most advanced training and 

 research in various branches of science, especially in 

 its application to industry, and to do all or any of such 

 things as the governing body consider conducive or 

 incidental thereto, having regard to the provision for 

 those purposes which already exists elsewhere. For 

 these purposes the governing body will carry on the 

 work of the Royal College of Science and the Royal 

 School of Mines (at present under the direct control 

 of the Board of Education), and may establish colleges 

 or other institutions or departments of instruction. 

 Any institution or department so established, and, sub- 

 ject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, the Central 

 Technical College of the City and Guilds of London 

 Institute, will become integral parts of the Imperial 

 College. The special conditions attaching to the affi- 

 liation of the Central Technical College have for their 

 object to secure for the college a certain measure of 

 independence. The college, which will in future be 

 known as the City and Guilds College, will be man- 

 aged — subject to such powers of general supervision, 

 direction, and control as are reserved for the govern- 

 ing body of the Imperial College — by a committee of 

 management appointed for the purpose bv the City 

 and Guilds of London Institute, to which committee 

 the governing body of the Imperial College will 

 add five additional members; and the Institute will 

 continue to exercise its. privilege of awarding the 

 diplomas of Associate and Fellow. .\s already an- 

 nounced by Mr. McKenna, the Royal School of Mines 

 will retain its name, and the governing body of the 

 Imperial College will award the diploma of " Asso- 



NO. IQSQ. VOL. 76] 



ciate of the Royal .School of Mines " to any student 

 who completes the prescribed courses to the satisfac- 

 tion of the governing body. Subject to agreement 

 with the authorities of any college or other institution, 

 the governing bod\ may by resolution recognise that 

 college or institution or any department thereof as 

 being in association with the Imperial College, but no 

 such resolution will be valid or operative until allowed 

 by His Majesty in Council. Power will be reserved 

 to His Majesty in Council to amend or add to t! e 

 provisions of the Charter, and in particular to declare 

 and define more precisely the purposes and scope of 

 the Imperial College in relation to matters appertain- 

 ing to the biological sciences, and to make such provi- 

 sion in reference thereto as may appear expedient. 



As regards the connection between the Imperial 

 College and the L'niversity of London — a matter which 

 has been fully discussed during the past year — it is 

 proposed that, pending the settlement of the question 

 of the incorporation of the Imperial College with the 

 LMiversity, the college shall be established, in the first 

 instance, as a " school " of the University. It is ex- 

 pected that an inquiry by Royal Commission, which 

 has been suggested by Mr. McKenna, will be neces- 

 sary before this question of incorporation can be de- 

 cided. In the meantime, the governing body of the 

 college will be directed to enter into communication 

 with the L'niversity with regard to the coordination 

 of the work of the college with the work of the Uni- 

 versity and its other schools, and for the purpose of 

 carrying out or facilitating such coordination the 

 governing body may enter into such arrangements 

 either by way of transferring or exchanging depart- 

 ments of instruction or otherwise, and upon such terms 

 as may be agreed upon between the governing body 

 and the LIniversity. 



The resources which are at present available for the 

 purposes of the Imperial College are considerable. 

 In the first place, there are the buildings and equip- 

 ment of the Royal College of Science, including the 

 new chemical and physical laboratories, which have 

 cost nearly 300,000/. The Royal Commissioners of the 

 1851 Exhibition have resolved to appropriate certain 

 portions of their estate at South Kensington for the 

 purposes of the college. The late Mr. Alfred Beit 

 Ijequeathed 50,000/. and 5,000 preferred shares of 

 2I. lox. each in De Beers Consolidated Mines (total 

 value about 135,000/.) to be applied for the purposes 

 of the " College for Technology (including Mining and 

 Metallurgy) in connection with the IJniversity of 

 London." Lord Rosebery, in a letter to The Times, 

 published on June 20, 1903, announced that Messrs. 

 Wernher, Beit and Co. had offered to place a sum 

 of monev in the hands of trustees to be applied as a 

 contribution towards the cost of building and equip- 

 ping an institution at South Kensington for advanced 

 technology, and that further offers of the same kind 

 had been made by other public-spirited London citi- 

 zens. The Bessemer memorial fund, which will prob- 

 ably amount to not less than 20,000/., will be devoted 

 in whole or part to the Royal School of Mines. As 

 regards income, the Treasury has consented to place 

 in the Estimates a grant of 20,000/. per annum in re- 

 spect of the cost of the staff and of laboratory expenses 

 of the Royal College of Science and the Royal School 

 of Mines. The London County Council, which in the 

 past has not contributed generously in aid of higher 

 technological work, may be expected to avail itself 

 gladlv of the opportunity of developing such work in 

 London which the establishment of the Imperial Col- 

 lege will afford, especially in view of the fact that the 

 Council is now under a legal obligation to consider 

 the educational needs of its area, and may supply or 

 aid the supplv of higher education. The Council on 



