September 30, 1909] 



NATURE 



419 



maxim of not carrying all your eggs in one basket has a 

 very profound truth to rest upon. The farming of the 

 future must ultimately be one of more careful tillage, more 

 scientific rotations, and of consideration for the changes 

 in the grouping of population and in the world-wide con- 

 ditions of man and his varying wants. What is going 

 on all over the world has to be learned and studied well, 

 and wheat pioneers of the North-West must not forget 

 the possibility of yet new competitors arising in the single 

 task of wheat-growing, whether they are to be looked for 

 in the still developing sections of the Russian Empire and 

 the still open levels of Argentina, the little-known regions 

 of Manchuria, the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates, the 

 more completely irrigated plains of India, the tablelands 

 of Central Africa, or perhaps under new conditions and a 

 more developed control of the reserves of water supply 

 on the southern shores of the Mediterranean or even in 

 the long tilled valley of the Nile. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Glasgow. — ."Vccording to the British Medical Journal, a 

 movement is on foot for the establishment of university 

 chairs at the Royal Infirmary for the teaching of (i) medi- 

 cine and clinical medicine ; (2) surgery and clinical surgery ; 

 (3) midwifery ; and (4) pathology. It is proposed that these 

 four professors should form the teaching staff so far as 

 the Royal Infirmary is concerned. Under this arrange- 

 ment, in place of a complete, there would be a partial 

 medical school at the Royal Infirmary, so that university 

 students, if they preferred, might take their final year at 

 that institution instead of at the Western Infirmary and 

 Gilmorehill. Towards the accomplishment of this object 

 it is understood that the Muirhead trustees are willing to 

 give two sums of 400/. a year each to found two of the 

 chairs, that the funds of St. Mungo's College are to be 

 concentrated on one chair, and that the Carnegie trustees 

 are to supply the funds for the fourth chair. The scheme 

 will require to be sanctioned by Parliament, and draft 

 provisional orders for that purpose are being prepared. 

 These will be submitted to the members of the University 

 Court for their approval, probably at a meeting in October. 



Dr. G. A. Gibson, professor of mathematics in the 

 Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, has been 

 appointed professor of mathematics in the University of 

 Glasgow in succession to Prof. Jack. Prof. Gibson has 

 published a number of original contributions of importance 

 to mathematical science, and is the author of works on 

 the calculus which are acknowledged to be among the best 

 in the English language. His wide knowledge of the 

 history and present state of mathematical science, unusual 

 powers of logical and lucid exposition, and ability as a 

 creative scholar, ensure enthusiasm for mathematical studies 

 at the University and increased activity in scientific 

 investigation. 



London. — University College : — The following public in- 

 troductory lectures will be given as under : — Sir William 

 Ramsay, K.C.B., F.R.S., on " Radium Emanation : 

 one of the Argon Lines of Gases," on Monday 

 (October 4) ; Prof. H. R. Kenwood, on " What Hygiene 

 demands of School Teachers," on Wednesday (October 6); 

 Prof. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., on " Electrical Inventions and 

 the Training of Electrical Engineers," on Wednesday 

 (October 6) ; Prof. Garwood, " The Origin of Scenery " 

 (October 7); Prof. Carveth Read, "The Psychology ' of 

 Character " (October 7). 



Manxhester. — The new chemical laboratories of the 

 University will be opened on October 4, when it is ex- 

 pected that the Chancellor, Viscount Morley of Blackburn, 

 will be present and confer honorary degrees on the 

 American Ambassador ; Sir Robert Stout, Chancellor of 

 the University of New Zealand ; Sir Alfred C. Lyall ; and 

 Prof. Otto Wallach, of the University of Gottingen. 



Mr. John Fisher has been appointed lecturer in biology 

 at the .Agricultural College at Cedara, near Maritzburg. 



NO. 2083, VOL. 81] 



The prizes and diplomas awarded at the South-eastern 

 Agricultural College will be distributed on October 9 by 

 Principal H. A. Miers, F.R.S. 



Prof. W. Osler, F.R.S. , will take as the subject of 

 his address before the London School of Tropical Medicine 

 on October 20 " The Nation and the Tropics." 



Dr. Walter Murray, of the University of Dalhousie, 

 Halifax, according to Science, has been elected president 

 of the new University of Saskatchewan, situated at 

 Saskatoon. 



Sir T. Clifford Allbutt, K.C.B., F.R.S., will dis- 

 tribute the prizes and deliver an address at the opening of 

 the winter session of Charing Cross Hospital Medical 

 College, instead of Lord Ridley, as was announced. 



.According to a Renter message, the Czech University 

 of Prague has conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of 

 Philosophy upon the following men of science : — Sir Archi- 

 bald Geikie, K.C.B., P.R.S., Dr. J. E. Marr, F.R.S., Dr. 

 Francis Darwin, F.R.S., and Prof. T. W. Richards, of 

 Harvard University 



Mr. William Brown, lecturer in electrotechnology at 

 the Royal College of Science, Dublin, has been appointed 

 to the professorship of physics in the college in succession 

 to Prof. W. F. Barrett, F.R.S., vi/ho is to retire on 

 October i under the Treasury regulations as to age. Mr. 

 Brown's successor is to be Mr. Felixe Whackett, one of 

 the junior fellows of the Royal University of Ireland. 



The following courses of free Gresham lectures are 

 announced for delivery at the City of London School : — 

 geometry, by Mr. W. H. Wagstaff (beginning on 

 October 5) ; physic, by Dr. Sandwith (beginning on 

 October 26) ; astronomy, by Mr. S. A. Saunder (beginning 

 on November 2). This is the first term these lectures will 

 have been delivered other than at Gresham College. 



In connection with the Child Study Society there will be 

 a reception by the president at 90 Buckingham Palace 

 Road on October 7, when short addresses will be delivered 

 by Miss A. Ravenhill, Dr. C. W. Kimmins, and Dr. 

 G. E. Shuttleworth. Succeeding lectures will be by the 

 Right Hon. Sir John Gorst, Dr. W. C. Sullivan, and Dr. 

 A. R. Abelson on, respectively, " The Care of Children 

 under the Poor Law," "The Child Criminal," and 

 " Mental Fatigue." 



Two more calendars of London colleges have reached 

 us, those of the East London College and Birkbeck College. 

 The East London College is a school of the University of 

 London in the faculties of arts, science, and engineering, 

 and a rapid development in its work took place during last 

 session. To the equipment of the school of engineering — 

 civil, mechanical, and electrical — valuable additions have 

 been made, while the botanical department has been re- 

 organised. A considerable sum of money was placed at 

 the disposal of the college committee for these purposes 

 by the Drapers' Company, who specially ear-marked a 

 portion of their benefaction for the improvement of the 

 college library, which is now well housed and possesses 

 a good collection of works dealing with the subjects in the 

 college curriculum. We learn from its calendar that the 

 pressing need of Birkbeck College is for increased space ; 

 the usefulness of the college is curtailed by its limited 

 accommodation. New and more spacious college buildings, 

 with more class-rooms and larger laboratories better 

 adapted to modern requirements, would give a great 

 impetus to the work of the college, and it may be hoped, 

 in view of the marked success of the work accomplished 

 in the past, that it will prove possible to secure the money 

 necessary for reorganisation. 



At the meeting of the Chicago section of the American 

 Mathematical Society on January 2 of this year, a com- 

 mittee was appointed for the purpose of investigating the 

 possibility of improving the character of mathematical 

 appointments in colleges and universities. In the July 

 Bulletin Prof. E. J. Wilczynski publishes the proposals 

 submitted by him to the committee. He suggested (i) that 



