March 6, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



395 



of lectures on " The Last Five Centuries of 

 Western Paganism." 



INSTALLATION OF DR. W. F. M. GOSS AS DEAN OF 

 THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING 



The formal exercises incident to the instal- 

 lation of Dr. W. F. M. Goss as dean of the 

 College of Engineering of the University of 

 Illinois occurred February 5, in connection 

 with the formal opening of the graduate 

 school of the university. The exercises of 

 installation included two sessions and a tour 

 of inspection through the laboratories of the 

 College of Engineering. 



The program for the morning session began 

 with a brief address by the president of the 

 university. Dr. Edmund J. James, introducing 

 the chairman of the session, Professor James 

 M. White. Professor Ira O. Baker, who for 

 more than thirty years has been identified 

 with the College of Engineering, described 

 some significant events in the development of 

 the college, giving special emphasis to the 

 work of Stilhnan W. Eobinson, the first pro- 

 fessor in the College of Engineering of the 

 University of Illinois, who continued in its 

 service for a period of seven years. Mr. Wil- 

 liam L. Abbott, president of the board of 

 trustees and a graduate of the College of 

 Engineering, discussed briefly the standing of 

 the technical graduate in the engineering pro- 

 fession. Following this, a formal installation 

 address entitled " The State College of Engi- 

 neering"/ was delivered by Dean W. F. M. 

 Goss. This session was made memorable by 

 the presentation of a token of their esteem by 

 his associates in the College of Engineering 

 to Dr. N. Clifford Ricker, a member of the 

 class of 1872, the first professor of architec- 

 ture, for thirty-five years a member of the 

 instructional staff of the University of Illinois, 

 and for the most of this period dean of the 

 College of Engineering. Letters were read 

 expressing interest in the occasion from Dr. 

 Andrew S. Draper, president of the University 

 of niinois from 1894 to 1904; from Professor 

 Stillman W. Eobinson, the first professor of 

 mechanical engineering, now a resident of 

 Columbus, Ohio, and from Professor J. Bur- 

 kitt Webb, the first professor of civil engi- 



neering, later of Stevens Institute of Tech- 

 nology. 



The afternoon session included an address 

 by Mr. Eobert W. Hunt, of Chicago, on " The 

 Value of Engineering Eesearch," and an ad- 

 dress by Mr. Willard A. Smith, of Chicago, 

 on " The Need of Graduate Courses in Engi- 

 neering." 



During the trip of inspection, which oc- 

 curred between sessions, the visitors were- 

 conducted through the several laboratories. 

 Especial interest was shown in the electric 

 test-car which is a normal interurban car 

 equipped with apparatus for observing and 

 for recording the characteristics of the cur- 

 rent absorbed in its operation. This car is 

 operated by the university upon the tracks of 

 the Illinois Traction System. Interest was 

 also shown in the dynamometer car which is 

 the joint property of the Illinois Central Rail- 

 road and the university, and which has re- 

 cently been newly equipped with apparatus 

 for more accurately determining the pull ex- 

 erted by locomotives and the resistance of 

 trains. The steam engineering laboratory, 

 containing the ' experimental boiler used by 

 Professor Breckenridge in his elaborate ex- 

 periments involving the combustion of Illinois 

 fuel, was visited and served as a center of 

 interest for many of the out-of-town guests. 

 The materials testing laboratory, under the 

 direction of Professor Talbot, proved to be of 

 especial interest. The 600,000-pound testing 

 machine, which is installed there, and the 

 work in reinforced concrete, which was seen 

 in progress, proved convincing evidence of the 

 activity of the laboratory in this important 

 field of research. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 

 At a recent meeting of the general council 

 of Glasgow University it was resolved to ask 

 Lord Lister to allow his name to be proposed 

 for the chancellorship, vacant through the 

 death of Lord Kelvin. Lord Lister has re- 

 plied as follows : " I can not imagine any 

 honor that would have gratified me more had 

 my health permitted to accept it, but I am so 

 enfeebled by illness that there is no prospect 

 of my ever being able to visit Glasgow, and 



