June 19, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



901 



The Council of Mathematical Teachers in 

 New England has recently appointed a special 

 committee on the status and welfare of mathe- 

 matics in secondary schools, to investigate and 

 report on current criticisms of high school 

 mathematics. The membership of the com- 

 mittee is as follows: Mr. G. W. Evans, 

 Charlestown High School; Professor F. C. 

 Ferry, Williams College; Mr. A. V. Galbraith, 

 Middlesex School; Mr. F. P. Morse, Eevere 

 High School; Mr. C. D. Meserve, Newton 

 High School; Professor S. E. Smith, Mount 

 Holyoke College; Miss H. E. Pierce, Wor- 

 cester High School, and Professor H. W. 

 Tyler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

 chairman. Correspondence with persons hav- 

 ing special information is invited. 



A CONVENTION of Tau Beta Pi, the honorary 

 engineering society, will be held in Ithaca on 

 June 11, 12 and 13. One delegate from each 

 of the twenty-seven chapters and the five 

 alumni chapters will attend. The general 

 program includes business meetings on each 

 of the three days and numerous excursions 

 and social meetings. 



As we have already announced there will 

 be held a celebration on July 24 to 27 under 

 the auspices of the Eoyal Society of Edin- 

 burgh, of the tercentenary of the publication 

 of Napier's " Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis 

 Descriptio," the work which embodies the dis- 

 covery of logarithms. Lord Moulton will de- 

 liver the presidential address on July 24; and 

 many distinguished mathematicians, astron- 

 omers, actuaries and engineers will make com- 

 munications on July 25 and 27. An exhibi- 

 tion of calculating machines, apparatus and 

 books, and of objects associated with Napier 

 and the history of mathematics, will be held 

 in connection with the celebration. Immedi- 

 ately following a mathematical colloquium 

 will be held on July 28 to 31, under the 

 auspices of the Edinburgh Mathematical So- 

 ciety. The following courses have been ar- 

 ranged for in connection with the colloquium : 

 Two lectures on Nomography, by M. d'Ocagne, 

 professeur a I'Ecole Polytechnique, Paris; 

 four lectures on Infinity in Geometry, by H. 



W. Eichmond, King's College, Cambridge; 

 four lectures on Critical Studies of Modern 

 Electric Theories, by E. Cunningham, St. 

 John's College, Cambridge; two lectures on 

 The Solution of Algebraic and Transcendental 

 Equation in the Mathematical Laboratory, by 

 E. T. Whittaker, professor of mathematics in 

 the University of Edinburgh. 



VNIVEESITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



After several months' investigation the 

 plan of the presidential commission for na- 

 tional vocational education has been pre- 

 sented in the senate in a bill introduced by 

 Senator Hoke Smith, one of the commission- 

 ers. It proposes an expenditure by the federal 

 government of $1,500,000 next year for the 

 salaries of teachers of agriculture, trade, in- 

 dustrial and home economics. The amount 

 would increase automatically each year until 

 1924, when the total would reach $7,000,000. 

 An equal amount must be expended by states. 

 A federal board of vocational education would 

 consist of the postmaster general and the sec- 

 retaries of interior, agriculture, commerce and 

 labor. State boards of not less than three 

 members each would be provided. 



The Sheffield Scientific School, Tale Uni- 

 versity, has received a provisional gift from a 

 graduate of $100,000. This gift is contingent 

 upon the securing of an additional $100,000; 

 the money to be used for the development of 

 a graduate course of one year, and, if possible, 

 two years, as an addition to the present under- 

 graduate course known as the select course, in 

 preparation for business and business admin- 

 istration. 



At the annual commencement of Gustavus 

 Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, an- 

 noimcement was made of the completion of an 

 endowment fund of $250,000. The two larg- 

 est contributors were James J. Hill, of St. 

 Paul, and C. A. Smith, of Minneapolis, each 

 of whom gave $50,000. On the same occasion 

 Oscar J. Johnson was formally inducted into 

 ofiice as president of the institution. 



