NATURE 



[June 25, 1896 



methods of worliing in hii;li and low relief allracled much 

 attenlion. 



What is the outcome of it all, thought the visitor, as he left 

 with his mind whirling with slotting machines, scalar rjuantities, 

 secohmmeters, and sugar analysis? Has original research been 

 prosecuted as foreshadowed by Lord Selborne? Where are the 

 some 200 students that have been awarded the diploma of Asso- 

 ciateship of the Institute, and all the other special students who 

 have passed through courses at the Central Technical College ? 

 The seventy papers communicated by the students, and the stafi", 

 to the proceedings of various scientific societies answer the 

 first question, while the reports issued yearly by the Dean give 

 information on the second point ; some of the past students are 

 the Principals, and some have charge of departments at tech- 

 nical schools ; some are the chief engineers and some assistant 

 engineers at electric light central stations in England ; some 

 hold postsin chemical works, and some are railway engineers, and 

 others telegraph engineers in India, but practically all appear 

 to be employed. And what is a little remarkable — in view of the 

 '■ast number of people who have been attracted to follow 

 engineering pursuits during the past few years — we under- 

 stand that nearly all the students who have passed through the 

 Central Technical College are in receipt of pay for the services 

 they are rendering, and are not paying premiums to employers 

 for the privilege of being allowed to do hard work. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The following is the speech delivered by the 

 Public Orator, Dr. Sandys, in presenting for the honorary degree 

 of Doctor in Science Prof. Newcomb, of Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity, Superintendent of the American Nautical Almanac. 



Si Thales ille Milesius, " rerum naturae certissimus explorator 

 et astrorum peritissimus contemplator," sapiens propterea nomi- 

 natus est, quod solem lunae oppositu solere deficere primus 

 omnium vidisse fertur, etiani hunc virum sapientiae laude non 

 indignum arbitramur, qui solis et lunae defectus omnes antiquitus 

 observatos cum astronomiae legibus hodiernis accuratissime com- 

 paravit. Idem quanto ingenii acumine aliorum de lunae niotu 

 placita correxit ; quam admirabili studiorum caelestium cogna- 

 tione cum Neptuni inventore nostro consociatus est ; quam 

 infinita denique cura fratribus nostris transmarinis trans aequora 

 navigantibus siderum cursus litterarum monumentis mandates 

 explicavit. Talium virorum de genere humano merita dum con- 

 templamur, non iam miramur ipsum Vergilium a Musis esse 

 precatum, ut sibi ante omnia 



" caelique vias et sidera monstrent, 

 defectus solis varios lunaeque labores," 



Duco ad vos astronomum illustrem, Si.MONEM Newcomb. 



At the annual election, on June 22, at St. John's College, the 

 Hutchinson Studentship was awarded to A. S. Hemmy, double 

 first in Natural Sciences, for research in Physical Chemistry. 

 Foundation Scholarships, varying in value from ;r^loo to ^50 a 

 year, were given to the following Science Students : — K. C. 

 Browning, D. J. Morgan, J. S. White, N. B. Harman, J. H. 

 Howitt ; and Exhibitions in Natural Science to J. A. Glover, 

 R. F. C. Ward, A. C. Ingram, Jehu, and Vapp. In Mechanical 

 Sciences and Engineering, Foundation .Scholarships were for the 

 first time awarded to W. S. La Trobe (^So) and A. Chappie (£y>). 

 It is noteworthy that Messrs. Hemmy, La Trobe, and Chappie, 

 who have thus carried oft' the chief scientific honours, are all 

 colonial graduates, from the Universities of Melbourne, New 

 Zealand, and Adelaide, respectively. Mr. J. E. de Villiers, of 

 this College, who takes the highest honours in Law, being 

 senior in his Tripos Part I. , is a graduate of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



The Harkness Scholarship in Geology and Palajontology is 

 awarded to J. H. Gray, Scholar of King's College. 



In Part I. of the Natural Sciences Tripos, thirty men are 

 placed in the first class ; in Part II. eleven men attain this 

 distinction. No woman gains a first class in either part. 



Sesijuice.nte.n.nial gilts continue to pour in upon Princeton 

 University. An unnamed benefactor has given funds for a new 

 library building. 



The following are among recent appointments : — Dr. 

 Theodor Des Coudres to be Extraordinary Professor of Physics 

 in Gottingen University, and Dr. Utto Burger to be Extra- 



NO. 1 39 I, VOL. 54] 



ordinary J'rofessor of Zoology ; Mr. A. A. Heller to be 

 Instructor in Plant Taxonomy at the University of Minnesota, 

 and Curator of the University Herbarium. 



The fitness of Convocation of the University of London to 

 deal with such subjects as a Teaching University may be 

 estimated from the result of the meeting held on Tuesday. The 

 chief business was the election of a Fellow of the University, and 

 the following gentlemen had been nominated : — Sir Joseph 

 Lister, Mr. Walter Rivington, and Mr. Richard Mosey 

 Stephenson. The election was one in which voting papers were 

 permissible, and the result of the counting of the votes was 

 that Mr. Rivington obtained 963, and Sir Joseph Lister only 

 846 votes. 



The report of the Technical Education Committee which 

 was adopted at the meeting of the Devonshire County Council, 

 held at Exeter on the nth inst., shows that the work done 

 on the agricultural side of Ashburton Grammar School is of so 

 satisfactory a nature that an additional grant has been awarded 

 to the school ; also that 175 continuation schools have been 

 njaintained throughout the year. At the .same meeting the 

 following resolution was passed by a substantial majority : — 

 " That this Council, while offering at present no opinion as to 

 the advisability or otherwise of placing secondary education 

 under the control of the local education authority, strongly 

 deprecates the proposal to transfer to them any duties connected 

 with elementary education." 



A SPECIAL Committee, appointed by the West Riding County 

 Council to watch the Education Bill, have passed the following 

 resolution : — " That in view of the amendment to the Etlucation 

 Bill, 1S96, whereby every non-county borough with a population 

 of 20,000 is to appoint an Education Committee, amendments 

 should be introduced by way of limiting the duties of the educa- 

 tion authority of such a borough to such defined matters as may 

 be least hurtful to the administrative county, and the cause of 

 education." 



A meeting of the Executive Council of the County Councils 

 Association was held on Friday morning last, at the Guildhall, 

 Westminster. Lord Thring having briefly explained the circum- 

 stances under which the meeting had been convened, it was 

 proposed by Lord E. Fitzmaurice, and seconded by Sir J. P^. 

 Dorington, Bart. , M.P., and resolved: — "That this Council, 

 considering the changes which have been introduced into the 

 constitution of the education authority by the exclusion from the 

 administrative county of non-county boroughs with a popula- 

 tion of 20,000, is of opinion that the above change strikes a 

 serious blow at the administration of the Technical Education 

 Acts, and of county administration generally." It was also 

 resolved that the Parliamentary Committee be authorised to 

 arrange for the presentation of the foregoing resolution to the 

 Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P., and His Grace the Duke of 

 Devonshire. 



The Education Bill has been abandoned by the Government, 

 and the eleven days of Parliamentary time spent in discussing 

 it have been sacrificed. It is proposed to bring up the subject 

 afresh next January, but there is little possibility tliat the 

 measure which will then be brought forward will be of the very 

 contentious character of the one just withdrawn. 



The National Home Reading Union aims mainly to make 

 high-class reading attractive, and to give advice with regard to 

 courses of reading in romance, travel, biography, economics, 

 ancient and modern history, English and foreign literatures, 

 science and art. Once a year it is the custom of the Union to 

 hold a summer as.sembly at some interesting centre, when lectures 

 are given in connection with the courses of study which have 

 been pursued during the past winter. This year Chester has 

 been chosen, and the assembly takes place there between 

 June 27 and July 6. But not only will the .subjects recently 

 studied claim attention, for there will be several lectures on the 

 botany, geology, and architecture of the district, besides a lecture 

 by Mr. St. John Hope on "The Arrangements of Mediitval 

 Monasteries," with special reference to Chester. A number of 

 interesting excursions and social gatherings have been arranged, 

 including a visit to Northwich to descend a salt mine. 



The Technical Education Board of the London County 

 Council next month will appoint not more than five Senior 

 County Scholars. Each scholarship will be tenable for three 

 years, and of the annual value of /,'6o, together with free 

 instruction in a college of university rank, prcjvided that the foes 



