6o6 



NA TURE 



[October lo, 1907 



The programme of day and evening classes at the 

 Woolwich Polytechnic during the session 1907-S has been 

 received. The volume contains the usual syllabuses of 

 subjects studied at the polytechnic, and particulars of the 

 examination requirements of London University, Board of 

 Education, and other examining bodies. We are glad to 

 sec here and there short notes as to the value of pre- 

 liminary scientific education to the student of technology. 

 Thus, it is pointed out that a sound knowledge of mathe- 

 matics is the surest basis for satisfactory progress in 

 mechanical and physical science. In the physical depart- 

 ment, all students are required to attend both the lecture 

 and the laboratory course in each class ; and students of 

 electrical engineering must attend classes in electricity and 

 magnetism concurrently if they have no knowledge' of the 

 principles of electrical science. Systematic courses of study 

 extending over three or more years are arranged in various 

 branches of technology ; and the time-tables of those, 

 courses should be useful as a guide to serious .students. 

 We notice the announcement that the governors are 

 desirous that no young man or woman shall be deprived 

 of the advantages of the instruction given in the poly- 

 technic, on the ground of inability to pay the fees. The 

 priiicipal is authorised to admit students free who desire 

 lo .-ittend any of the classes and to work steadily, but are 

 unable to pay the necessary fees. 



The distribution of medals, prizes, and certificates to 

 students of the Royal College of Science on Thursday 

 last was made the occasion of several references to the 

 charter of incorporation of the Imperial College of 

 Science and Technology. The Dean, Prof. W. .'\. Tilden. 

 trusts that by the end of the year everything will be 

 ready for the transfer of authority which is to take place 

 from the Board of Education to the governing bodv of 

 the Imperial College on January i next. In his address 

 to the students, .Mr. .A. H. D.' .Acland said that in the 

 forwarding of technology this country has been lamentably 

 backward. Scientific knowledge is at the very root of the 

 prosperity of the Empire. If determined efforts are made 

 a great national institution will be established of which 

 the country will really be proud. Mr. Acland advised the 

 students to do something to study the great masterpieces 

 of the English language. He remarked that in later life, 

 when they have to m.ake reports, as all men in scientific 

 life must do, they will often find that the study of the 

 English language will not h-ive been altogether useless, 

 even at the present stage of their education. Mr. Acland 

 also advised the siudents to travel when it is possible 

 for them to do .so. Scientific men do a great deal bv their 

 interchane-e of ideas between this and foreign countries 

 to forward that which we all desire — inlernational friendli- 

 ness. Prof. Dalby. Dean of the Central Technical Colleg-e 

 of the City and Guilds of London Institute, referred to 

 the union which is to take place between the three 

 collegfes : and Sir William White said that to put the 

 charter in practical form it is necessarv to recognise all 

 that has been done in the oast, to utilise fuUv all that 

 exists, and to bring the whole of the higher technical, 

 instruction into one harmonious and sympathetic working 

 whole. 



.\ STRONG plea for the establishment of a university for 

 Rrisiol and the West of England was made bv Prof. F. 

 Gotch, F.R.S., at the annual distribution of prizes to (he 

 students of the faculty of medicine of the University 

 College of that city oii October i. Prof. Gotch pointed 

 out that the geographical position of Bristol, her civic 

 prosperity, and her educational institutions are such that 

 there is no excuse for further delay. It is time for the 

 cily to realise that in higher education the organisation 

 of her teaching resources is a matter of momentous 

 inioortancc, and that the way to attain this is to segregate 

 all her scattered educational efforts in a university. 

 Surely the citizens of Bristol are as enlightened and 

 generous as those of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, 

 Leeds, and ShefTield : and the fact that the city has not 

 Mso a university of its own must be because the' difference 

 between a college and a university is not understood. A 

 university possesses greater educational stability, and, in 

 consequence, greater educational efficiency. It ' segregates 



all the higher educational enterprises of the district, rivalry 

 gives place to cooperation, general interest is thus 

 awakened, and it is sustained by the knowledge that, 

 having become a working partner in a great enterprise, it 

 must at all hazards be made a success. The credit of the 

 community is then at stake, thus ensuring its proper sup- 

 port ; and since the enterprise has, from the educational 

 point of view, attained a new level, it is viewed from a 

 different and a higher standpoint. Another conspicuous 

 feature of a university is the freedom which it enjoys. 

 The possession of the power to give a degree carries with 

 it a matter of enormous freedom. Collegiate teaching has 

 to follow along lines prescribed by those bodies which give 

 degrees, and such prescription stifles educational develop- 

 ment, because the teacher has no voice in the matter. \ 

 further feature of a local imiversity is the enlargement of 

 the area of educational responsibility. The pride which 

 the citizens of Liverpool and Birmingham have in their 

 universities is due to their proprietary interest in them. 

 .A university would thus become the dominant educational 

 force and pride of Bristol and all the surrounding district, 

 The last feature of a university, as distinct from a college, 

 is one which will in the end carry on its broad back alt 

 the others ; it is prestige. So long as Bristol only 

 possesses a college, she will from the standpoint of higher 

 education have but little general prestige. The fault does 

 not lie with the character of the collegiate teaching, the 

 size of the buildings, or the equipment of the scientific 

 laboratories. So long as the college continues to remain 

 in its present condition, so long will it not only gain no 

 prestige, but may begin to lose what prestige it now 

 possesses. Those who take over wider university re.^ 

 sponsibilities are felt to be possessed by the spirit of the 

 age, and are duly honoured, whilst those who hesitate to 

 do so are felt to be without this spirit, and lose their 

 position. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



London. 



Royal Society, received June 8. — " On T umino"s Efficiency 



and til.- Mechanical Equivalent of Light." By Dr. Charles 



\'. Drysdale. Communicated by Prof. Silvanus P. 



Thompson, K.R.S. 



The paper first directs attention to the fact that the term 

 luminous eflSciency requires more rigorous definition. If 

 Q is the total power consumption of the source, R the 



total rad 



iation= / 



P(A, and L the luminous radiation = 



^■'0 T980 VOL. 75] 



I i\c/\, the luminous efficiency is generally taken to 

 .' X, 



mean the ratio L/Q. In many cases, however, the ratio 

 L'R, w^hich has been termed by Nichols the radiant 

 efficiency, is determined. Neither of these definitions is- 

 entirely satisfactory from the practical point of view, as 

 a source might apparently be of high efficiency if its 

 radiation were confined within the visible spectrum, but 

 near to cither end of the spectrum, where the luminosity 

 is low. A better definition is that of Dr. Guilleaume, 

 which may be termed the reduced luminous efficiency 

 La/Q, where La is the equivalent radiation of the most 

 effective form required to give the same light emission. 

 In order to obtain the latter quantity it is necessary to 

 determine the mechanical equivalent of the most effective 

 luminous radiation which is in the neighbourhood of 

 A = 0-54 M. 



For the measurement of the mechanical equivalent a 

 spectrum was formed by a carbon bisulphide prism, and a 

 combined photometric and bolometric arrangement was 

 made to enable the luminosity of any part of the spectrum 

 to be measured, and the radiation lo be compared with 

 that from a glow lamp radiating a known amount of 

 power. By means of a movable screen the radiation from 

 the spectrum or from the source of radiation could be 

 intercepted alternately, and the radiation from the com- 

 parison source altered until no effect was observed on. 



