NA TURE 



[May i6, 1907 



cate of appointment of Prof. Seward to represent the 

 I'niversity at the celebration of the 300th anniversary of 

 the death of Ulisse Aldrovandi to be held al Bologna in 

 June; (2) the address to the Royal Swedish Arademy of 

 Sciences, Stockholm, in honour of the commemoration of 

 the bicentenary of the birth of Linna>us to be held at 

 Stockholm in May ; (3) the certificate of appointment of 

 Mr. K. Darwin to represent the I'niversity at the celebra- 

 tion of tlie bicentenary of the birth of Linna;us to be held 

 at Stockholm in May ; and (4) the certificate of appoint- 

 ment of Dr. Harmer, Mr. \V. Bateson, and Mr. A. E. 

 Shipley to represent the University at the seventh Inter- 

 national Zoological Congress to be held in Boston in 

 August. 



Manchester. — Mr. H. Bateman has been elected lo the 

 readership in mathematical physics, endowed by Prof. 

 Arthur Schuster to encourage research in mathematical 

 physics, and to which we recently directed attention 

 (Nature, January 24, vol. Ixxv., p. 3nq). Mr. Bateman 

 is a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and was senior 

 wrangler (bracketed), iqoj ; Smith's prizeman, 1905. He 

 has already published a number of important mathematical 

 contributions. His work in this new post will be followed 

 with interest. 



Prof. Ernest Rutherford, I'.R.S., is to arrive from 

 Montreal on May 24. 



A new departure has been made in the publication of a 

 special prospectus of advanced studies in the faculties of 

 arts and .science. A brief account is given of the provision 

 for research in the different departments, as also of the 

 courses of lectures, arranged for the session 1007-8, suit- 

 able for post-graduate study. It is hoped in future years 

 to extend the scope of this prospectus so as to give a more 

 extensive record of the resources of the University for 

 advanced study and research. 



Mr. C. G. Hewitt has been appointed to the recently 

 founded lectureship in economic zoology. 



Oxford. — The following is the text of the speech 

 delivered by Prof. Love in presenting Prof. A. Graham 

 Bell for the degree of D..Sc. honoris causa on May 2 : — 



Adest Alexander Graham Bell, origine quidem Scotus, 

 diu aoud .'Vmericanos scienti.ie promovendse dux et auctor 

 probatissimus. Qui vir cum primo Physiologia? Professor 

 esset, dum surdidatis causas et naturam diligentissime 

 expendit, instrumenta quac'dam arte exquisita eflfinxit 

 quibus surdi audientium more clara voce loqui docerentur : 

 ita mis^rorum qui hoc incommodo laborant a?gritudines 

 aliaua ex parte relevavit. Idem mox longius progressus 

 latiorem apud homines gloriam adeptus est. Hie ille est 

 qui miraculum illud excogitavit, usu cotidiano iam 

 notissimuin, ut ip^a loquentis verba et vivam hominis 

 voccm super montes altissimos et flumina latissima per 

 jmmensos terrarum tractus et sub ipso Oceano trans- 

 mittere et, ut aiunt, rrjAf (t>a>i>f7i' possemus. Virum 

 igitur iure laudamus cum doctrina turn repertis prajclarum, 

 qui non solum mortalium commodis naturae vim inservire 

 coegit sed miseris et ma;rentibus malorum solamen 

 obtulit. 



In a Convocation held in the Sheldonian Theatre on 

 Saturday, May 11, Lord Curzon was admitted and installed 

 as Chancellor of the University. .After his installation he 

 conferred the honorary degree of D.C.I^. on the Hon. 

 F. R. Moor, Premier of Natal. 



An election to the Philip Walker studentship in pathology 

 will be made in October next. The studentship is of the 

 value of 200/. a vear for three rears. Candidates mav be 

 of either sex. and need not be members of the University 

 of Oxford. They are asked to send in their applications, 

 with three testimonials, to the Registrar of the University 

 by September 14. 



The British Medical Journal announces that Prof. 

 August Bier, of Bonn, has accepted a call to the chair 

 of surgery in the L'niversity of Berlin, vacant by the death 

 of Prof. Ernst von Bergmann. 



The first annual conference of the .Association of 

 Teachers in Technical Institutions will be held in Leeds 

 on May 23, 24. and 25. On Friday, May 24, the follow- 

 ing papers will be read : — (i) Notes of an educational 



NO. 1959, VOL. 76] 



visit to the United States of Ainerica. H. Ade. Clark; 

 (2) the preliminary training of technical students. 

 Barker North ; (3) syllabuses and examinations as applied 

 to building subjects, J. Fitzgerald. Excursions, social 

 meetings, and visits 10 works will form an attractive part 

 of the meeting. 



The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has sanctioned 

 two post-graduate courses to be held annually in Dublin 

 hospitals during the summer. The first course will extend 

 from June 10 to July 2, and the second from September 23 

 to October 15. The object of these courses is to render 

 available the whole of the clinical material in Dublin for 

 the post-graduate student, so that he may see as much as 

 possible during the brief time at his disposal. Ten general 

 hospitals are included in the list of institutions at which 

 the student may work, as well as hospitals devoted to 

 special subjects. The tickets for the courses adinit to the 

 ordinary clinics of all the hospitals, as well as to the 

 special work of the course. Further information can bt 

 obtained froin, and all applications should be addressed to. 

 Prof. Eraser, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin. 



Judged in the light of the results of recent examin- 

 ations of t'ne Punjab L niversity, the study of science does 

 not seem, says the Civil and Military Gazette, to be 

 making much headway in the Punjab. Many years ago 

 the Punjab University arranged a faculty of science with 

 the usual matriculation, intermediate, and bachelors 

 degree tests. .A few years ago an additional lest wa^ 

 established, viz. that for the degree of master. In 1907, 

 v.hilst 354(5 went up for the matriculation examination in 

 the faculty of arts, only fifty-eight appeared in the similar 

 examination in the faculty of science. Thirty-seven went 

 up for the interinediate examination of the science faculty 

 against 674 who appeared in the same examination in the 

 faculty of arts; whilst the number of candidates in the 

 B.A. e.Kamination was 341, only thirteen went up for the 

 same examination in the faculty of science. This com- 

 parative neglect of scientific studies is much to be re- 

 gretted, especially in India, where the object of university 

 education is to effect a combination of the highest results 

 of Western culture and science with the learning of the 

 East. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, March 7. — " Electiic Furnace Reactions 

 under High Gaseous Pressures." By R. S. Hutton and 

 J. E. Petavel. 



Two steel chambers of 20 litres and 2 litres capacity 

 respectively provided with valves, windows, and insulated 

 electrode holders have been constructed and employed at 

 working pressures up to 200 atmospheres. Inside these 

 pressure vessels any desired arrangement for arc or resist- 

 ance heating is mounted. 



Apart from the infiuence of- pressure, which was the 

 primary object of the investigation, special attention was 

 paid to the effect of the nature of the gaseous atmosphere 

 upon the reactions. 



Sotne measurements were made of the electrical con- 

 stants of carbon and inetal arcs in different gases at high 

 pressures, and the rate of oxidation of heated metals was 

 also considered. With a charge of 10 kilos, of lime and 

 carbon the preparation of calcium carbide was studied in 

 atmospheres of carbon inonoxide, coal gas, and hydrogen 

 under reduced and high pressures. Contrary to expect- 

 ation, no unfavourable influence of carbon monoxide upon 

 the yield was noticeable, the back reaction being limited 

 to the surface. 



Silica fused under pressure exhibits a marked decrease 

 in vaporisation, but no appreciable increase in fluidity 

 and transparency. The production of carborundum under 

 pressure is much limited, owing to this decreased volatility 

 of silica. 



The authors, as a result of a long, detailed, investigation 

 of the reduction of alumina, conclude that this oxide is 

 reducible bv carbon at all temperatures above the melting 

 point, but the metal is set free in the form of vapour, and 



