September 9, 1909J 



NATURE 



329 



Among the names of the distinguished persons upon 

 whom the University of Birmingham has decided to confer 

 the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by way of com- 

 memorattVig the recent Royal visit, we notice the follow- 

 ing : — Mr. W. N. Atkinson, H.M. Superintendent Inspector 

 of Mines, South Wales ; the president of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons; Sir William Crookes, F.R.S. ; Mr. Maurice 

 P. Fitzmaurice, C.M.G., chief engineer to the London 

 County Council; Sir Archibald Geikie, K.C.B., P.R.S. ; 

 Mr. Haldane, F.R.S. ; Dr. J. S. Haldane, F.R.S. , reader 

 in physiology at the University of Oxford ; Sir A. B. W. 

 Kennedy, F.R.S. ; Sir Joseph Larmor, F.R.S., Lucasian 

 professor of mathematics in the University of Cambridge ; 

 Sir R. D. Powell; Sir William Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S.; 

 Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S.; Prof. E. Rutherford, F.R.S., pro- 

 fessor of physics in the University of Manchester ; Prof. 

 Silvanus P. Thompson, F.R.S. ; Dr. W. A. Tilden. F.R.S. ; 

 Sir J. J. Thomson, F.R.S. ; Mr. C. S. Tomes, F.R.S. ; Dr. 

 T. Herbert Warren, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University ; 

 and Dr. B. C. h. Windle, F.R.S., president of Queen's 

 College, Cork. The degrees are to be conferred on 

 October 20. 



The calendar for the session 1909-10 of the Manchester 

 Municipal School of Technology shows how thoroughly the 

 education committee of the city has, by the courses of 

 instruction sanctioned in the school, met the requirements 

 of the industries of south-east Lancashire, of which Man- 

 chester is the commercial centre. A prefatory statement 

 to the calendar points out that the object of the school is 

 to provide instruction and training in the principles of 

 science in their application to the industrial arts, with the 

 view of a right understanding of the foundations upon 

 which these arts rest, and to promote their effective 

 development. The essential aim of the instruction is the 

 training of faculty through a systematic course of sound 

 theoretical study, and the development of resourcefulness 

 and habits of self-reliance by means of an exact, thorough, 

 and progressive course of laboratory and shop work, so 

 as to prepare the student after due experience for positions 

 of responsibility. Courses of three years' duration have 

 been arranged, for day students of sixteen years of age 

 and upwards, in each of the following branches of techno- 

 logy : — mechanical engineering ; electrical engineering and 

 technical physics ; municipal and sanitary engineering ; 

 applied chemistry in each of the six aspects — general 

 chemical technology, chemistry of textiles, manufacture of 

 paper, metallurgy and assaying, brewing, and electro- 

 chemistry ; manufacture of textiles ; photography and the 

 printing crafts ; and architecture and the building trades. 

 It is interesting, in view of the distinguished success with 

 which the work of the school has been crowned, to direct 

 attention to the fact that the subcommittee which 

 administers tho school consists of three classes of members, 

 viz. representatives from the city council, members re- 

 presentative of educational and other institutions of various 

 grades, and co-opted members consisting of men dis- 

 tinguished in the district for their knowledge of manu- 

 factures or science. 



Attention lias often been directed in these columns to 

 the amount of State aid provided for the purposes of 

 university and other higher education in this country. It 

 has been pointed out repeatedly that the financial assistance 

 forthcoming from the Treasury in this direction compares 

 very unfavourably with the sums of money provided for 

 similar purposes by the Governments of other great 

 countries. An examination of the Civil Services Estimates 

 for the past eleven years shows, however, that there has 

 been a steady increase year by year in the annual amounts 

 voted by Parliament for higher education. The total 

 amount for this purpose for the financial year 1899-1900 

 was 108,338!., made up as follows : — universities and 

 university colleges of Great Britain, 85,000/. ; the Royal 

 College of Science, London, 18,388/.; and Queen's Colleges 

 in Ireland, 4950/. In 1005-6 the total amount had in- 

 creased to 201,773/., allocated thus : — universities and 

 university colleges of Great Britain, 174,000/. ; the Royal 

 College of Science, London, 22,723/. ; and the Queen's 

 Colleges in Ireland, 5050/. For the present year the total 

 amount has grown to 215,700/., the items under the re- 

 NO. 2080, VOL. 81] 



spective headings being 191,000/., 20,000/., and 4700/. 

 The grant in aid of Scottish universities (included under 

 Great Britain) is 42,000/., which is in addition to an annual 

 sum of 30,000/. payable to these universities from the 

 Local Taxation (Scottish) Account. The local education 

 authorities in England and Wales give grants amounting 

 to about 100,000/. annually to universities and university 

 colleges. It may be said, therefore, that roughly the State 

 grants in aid of universities and colleges in Great Britain 

 amount now to nearly 220,000/. annually, and the local 

 taxation grants to about 130,000/., making an annual sum 

 of about 350,000/. It is instructive to point out in con- 

 nection with the amount thus arrived at that the total for 

 grants in respect of public elementary schools in England 

 and Wales in connection with the Board of Education 

 amounts for the present year to 11,162,405/., and that 

 555,000/. is paid for the training of teachers, 791,800/. to 

 secondary schools, and 537,505/. in connection with 

 technical institutions, schools of art, and evening schools. 



In an article on the position of higher education pub- 

 lished in the issue of Nature for July 22 (vol. Ixxxi., 

 p. 113), attention was directed to an article by Prof. Guido 

 H. Marx on the remarkable growth and spread of interest 

 in higher education in various countries. The opportunity 

 was taken on that occasion to point out that Prof. Marx's 

 figures, so far as the numbers of students in institutions 

 of university standing in Great Britain are concerned, were 

 not quite trustworthy. Referring to this article by Prof. 

 G. H. Marx, Prof.' B. Menschutkin, of St. Petersburg, 

 writes to correct the statistics given in respect of Russia. 

 He says : — " The statistics with regard to Russia (23,000 

 students) are very antiquated. This number of students 

 was reached some fifteen years ago, but at present the 

 students of the higher colleges number at least about 

 77,000, as can be seen from the following data, shoxving 

 how many students there were in the different institutions 

 in 1908 (in some cases, as for St. Petersburg, the numbers 

 refer to the present year) : — 



5/. Petersburg (University 9800, Academy of Law 350, 

 Philological Institute 150, Medical Academy 800, Techno- 

 logical Institute 2000, Polytechnik Institute 4200, Insti- 

 tute of Ways of Communication 1200, Institute for 

 Engineers 700, Electrotechnical Institute 650, Mining 

 Institute 650, Institute of Forestry 550, the three higher 

 colleges for women 6000, Lyceum and three Military and 

 two Nautical Academies 1200, Academy of Theology 

 300), 28,550; Moscoxv (University 9000, Institute of 

 Oriental 'Languages 150, Academy of Theology 200, 

 Technical Institute 2500, Agricultural Institute 850, 

 Engineering Institute 550), 13,250; Kharkov (University 

 5300, Technological Institute 1200, Veterinary Institute 

 500), 7000; Kiev (University 3200, Academy of Theology 

 200, Polytechnic Institute 2500), 5900; Kazan (University 

 3000, Academy of Theology 170, Veterinary Institute 

 430), 3600 ; Tomsk (University 800, Technological 

 Institute 1900), 2700; Warsaw (University and Poly- 

 technic Institute), 1500; Odessa (University), 3300; 

 Novocherkask (Polytechnic Institute), 700; Yuryev 

 (Dorpat) (University 3000, Veterinary Institute 350), 

 3350 ; Helsingfors (University 2400, Technical College 

 I 350). ■ 2750 ; '^^S'^ (Polytechnicum), 1700 ; Novaya 

 Alexandria (Agricultural Institute), 400; Yaroslavl 

 (Lyceum), 1050; Yekaterinoslav (Mining Institute), 500; 

 N^zin (Philological Institute), 150 ; Saratov (University, 

 established this year), 200; Vladivostok (Institute of 

 Oriental Languages), 300. The totat number is there- 

 therefore 76,900. There are also many private higher 

 colleges in different towns, the number of students of 

 which it was impossible to ascertain ; it is surmised that 

 this number is about 20,000." 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 Paris. 

 Academy of Sciences, August 30.— M. Bouchard in the 

 chair.— The improvement of the theory of partial equa- 

 tions of the first order ; N. Saltykow.— A demonstration 

 of the phase rule : M. Boulouch. A criticism of the 

 demonstration of the phase rule by M. Muller, in which 



