JUNE 28, 1901. ] 
F.R.S. and Capt. Bernier himself. It will 
be remembered that in 1900 the last-named 
gentleman described his proposed route of 
travel after having pointed the courses 
taken by all the previous important expe- 
ditions to the North Pole, including Fridtjof 
Nansen’s important last voyage. 
The following officers were elected : 
President: Principal J. Loudon, LL.D., of 
Toronto University, Toronto. 
Vice-President: Sir James A. Grant, K.C.M.G., 
M.D., etc., Ottawa. 
Hon. Secretary: Sir John G. Bourinot, K.C.M.G., 
LL.D. ; 
Hon. Treasurer: Dr. James Fletcher, F.L.S. 
The following officers of Section IV. 
(Geology and Biology) were elected for the 
ensuing year : é 
President: Professor Frank D. Adams, M.Sc., 
Ph.D. 
Vice-President : Professor T. Wesley Mills, M.D., 
ete. 
Secretary : 
N.B.). 
Mr. G. U. Hay, Ph.B. (St. John, 
H. M. Amt. 
Orrawa, May 27, 1901. 
SCIENCE AND THE LONDON UNIVERSITY.* 
I. 
By the University of London Act, 1898, 
and the statutes and regulations framed in 
pursuance thereof, the long-standing con- 
troversy as to the form and organization of 
the London University was finally disposed 
of. The various colleges and other institu- 
tions doing university work within the met- 
ropolitan area have been coordinated under 
a strong and representative senate, which 
is charged with the duty of providing, for 
the six millions of inhabitants within a ra- 
dius of 30 miles from the University build- 
ing, every kind of instruction of university 
type. To enable the reorganized London 
University to cope with this gigantic task, 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer frankly 
* From the London Times. 
SCIENCE 
1021 
confesses his inability to do more than pro- 
vide the office expenses. If London wants 
a teaching university, London, says the 
Chancellor, must pay for it. In the special 
financial circumstances of the moment this 
appeal to public-spirited Londoners can 
scarcely be considered unreasonable. 
The task of equipping and endowing a 
University can never be a small one, and 
the extent and variety of the needs of Lon- 
don might daunt the munificence even of 
an American millionaire. Fortunately, we 
do not have to start quite from the begin- 
ning. The organization and constitutional 
framework are completed and stand ready 
to start. A large part of the materials for 
a University worthy even of the capital of 
the Empire only await the hand of the 
master builder. What is wanted is, first, 
a comprehensive survey of the field and 
an appreciation of the amount and variety 
of the work to be done. Upon this must 
follow the motive power of money. 
The new university is organized in eight 
faculties, namely, theology, arts, music, 
law, medicine, science, engineering and 
“economics and political science (includ- 
ing commerceand industry).’ But, though 
provision is thus made for all branches of 
University study, old and new, it is already 
clear that London University will have a 
character of its own. The distinctive note 
of the University is evidently destined to 
be that of applied science, or the concrete 
application to every branch of industrial 
and social life of the discoveries and laws 
of the various sciences. It is this side of 
university organization that we must there- 
fore first consider. 
In physical science the London Univer- 
sity holds an honorable tradition, as hay- 
ing been the first to create a science degree. 
At present the University includes three 
‘schools’ of science for men, and two more 
(Bedford and Halloway) for women only. 
Of these, the Royal College of Science, fully 
