March 25, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



279 



use the expressive slang of the day, " regular 

 feltows." 



Tlie last few years have taught us all how 

 small a reserve of food there is even in nor- 

 mal times. Largely as a result of the cataclys- 

 mic war famine now stalks over much of the 

 earth. It needs no Malthus to convince us that 

 an adequate food supply will become more and 

 more the great problem of mankind. In spite 

 of the haziness that envelops most of our 

 present theories of productivity, one can 

 scarcely fail to have faith thart it is the half 

 light that precedes dawn. The complex and 

 obscure factors involved in crop production 

 need for their solution a far greater number of 

 botanically trained investigators. With clearer 

 theoretical understanding of these factors, 

 there is every reason to believe that the earth 

 will be made to yield more abundantly. It is 

 to this field of investigation so vital to human 

 welfare, that I confidently hope botanists will 

 more and more devote their energies, both as 

 a matter of duty to mankind, and as an earnest 

 of faith in their science and the services it 

 can render. 



Chaeles V. Piper 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



THE CARNEGIE TRUST FOR SCOTTISH 

 UNIVERSITIES 



The British Medical Journal states that the 

 annual meeting of the Carnegie Trust for 

 the Universities of Scotland was held in a 

 committee-room of the House of Lords, on 

 February 9, with Lord Balfour of Burleigh in 

 the chair. Lord Balfour said that the prin- 

 cipal event of last year was the allocation of 

 grants for the quinquennial period of 1920-25. 

 In addition to the £200,000 from income, it 

 had been resolved to allocate from the reserve 

 fund £49,000. The explanation of this was 

 that during the war the students at the uni- 

 versities were fewer, and therefore the trustees 

 saved on the payment of fees. It would have 

 been absurd to save that money and put it 

 to the reserve, when many of the same stu- 

 dents were coming back after the war and 



wanted it. The ti-ustees thought it right, as 

 a temporary measure, to take it out of the 

 reserve fund, and give it to them to pay their 

 fees, Under the research scheme it had been 

 agreed that as an experiment for a period of 

 three years the following annual grants be 

 offered to the universities to be spent in pay- 

 ment of half the salaries of persons engaged 

 as part-time assistants or lecturers on condi- 

 tion that they devoted not less than half their 

 time to research, and that the universities 

 should contribute the other half of the salaries 

 from other sources — Glasgow and Edinburgh 

 £1,000 each, St. Andrews and Aberdeen £800 

 each. It was hoped that much good to the 

 universities would result from this combina- 

 tion of teaching and research, and the scheme 

 had been well received by the universities. 

 Although the amount available for assistance 

 to students was now fully £60,000, there was 

 a deficit of £8,538 for 1919-20. The univer- 

 sities were now increasing their tuition fees, 

 and as a result the poor student would be 

 poorer than ever. Thus the difficulties were 

 very great. For many years the trustees had 

 been able to pay all eligible applicants the 

 whole of their class fees, but in 1911-12 they 

 had had to have an allowance system, because 

 the income would not cover the whole of the 

 fee, and since then the trustees had been pay- 

 .ing only a part of the fees. The situation 

 would be further changed in the current year 

 owing to the increase in tuition fees. 



The discussion in which Lord Haldane, 

 Lord Sands, and others took part, centered 

 chiefly in the problem of allocating assistance 

 to the students. It was agreed that steps must 

 be taten to eliminate from the beneficiaries of 

 the fund those applicants whose circumstances 

 were such as to render assistance unnecessary. 

 Proposals were made for strengthening the 

 declaration made by applicants and for an 

 inquiry into individual circumstances. The 

 suggestions were discussed, but a decision will 

 not be reached until the alternatives have 

 been further considered in the light of the 

 views expressed by university authorities and 

 others interested. 



