564 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XXXIV. No. 878 



last summer, which he had attended. The 

 congress, which was summoned by the Prin- 

 cipals of McGill University and the University 

 of Toronto, was attended by representatives of 

 fifteen of the nineteen universities in the Do- 

 minion. The representatives of the universi- 

 ties of Alberta and Manitoba were prevented 

 from attending at the last moment, and only 

 two of the smallest universities failed to ac- 

 cept the invitation. Dr. Roberts reported that 

 in addressing the Canadian conference he had 

 instanced, as a few of the questions which 

 seemed to be demanding attention, the follow- 

 ing: The first was whether any common 

 understanding was possible among the univer- 

 sities of the empire as to the extent to which 

 they could recognize each other's entrance 

 examinations; another was the desirability of 

 increased facilities for post-graduate study; 

 a third, the possibility of some plan for inter- 

 change of professors; a fourth, what could be 

 done by universities in regard to the after- 

 careers of their students. There was, further, 

 the whole question of the financial support 

 given from public sources to universities in 

 the British Empire, as compared with the pro- 

 vision for university education made in other 

 countries. There was finally the suggestion, 

 made by Principal Peterson and others, that 

 a central bureau should be formed to furnish 

 information to the universities of the empire 

 upon these and other questions. The princi- 

 pal of Toronto University reported that it had 

 appointed a committee which was carefully 

 considering the list of subjects which should 

 be brought before the congress, and the con- 

 ference finally decided to appoint three com- 

 mittees, one for the western provinces, 

 another for the maritime, and a third for the 

 central provinces. In conclusion Dr. Roberts 

 stated that from conversations with the heads 

 and professors of universities in the eastern 

 parts of Canada, which alone he had leisure 

 to visit, he had formed the impression that the 

 question of enlarged facilities for post-gradu- 

 ate study was regarded as of prime impor- 

 tance from the Canadian point of view. The 

 University of Sydney has appointed Earl 

 Beauehamp, formerly visitor of the univer- 



sity; Professor Anderson Stuart, dean of the 

 faculty of medicine; Professor Warren, dean 

 of the faculty of engineering, and Mr. H. E. 

 BartfF, registrar, as delegates to represent it at 

 the congress next year. The Home Com- 

 mittee has appointed a subcommittee to draw 

 up a detailed program for the consideration 

 of a meeting of the full committee on Novem- 

 ber 4. Inquiries with regard to the congress 

 should be addressed to Dr. R. D. Roberts, at 

 the Congress Office, University of London, 

 South Kensington, London, S. W. — British 

 Medical Journal. 



TECHNICAL JUDGES 



Judges continue to protest against the ab- 

 surdity of their being called upon to pass 

 upon highly technical and scientific ques- 

 tions. Thus Judge Hand, in the course of an 

 opinion which he rendered in a case involv- 

 ing patents in the manufacture of chemicals, 

 took occasion to remark: 



" I can not stop without calling attention to 

 the extraordinary condition of the law which 

 makes it possible for a man without any 

 knowledge of even the rudiments of chemis- 

 try to pass upon such questions as these. . . . 

 In Germany they do quite difl^erently. There 

 the courts summon technical judges to whom 

 technical questions are submitted and who can 

 independently pass upon the issues without 

 blindly groping among testimony wholly out 

 of their ken. How long we shall continue to 

 blunder along without the aid of unpartisan 

 and authoritative scientific assistance in the 

 administration of justice, no one knows, but 

 all fair persons not conventionalized by pro- 

 vincial legal habits of mind ought, I should 

 think, to unite to efl^ect some such advances." 



The need of such a reform as Judge Hand 

 here urges has often been argued. We should 

 not forget, however, that it is possible to meet 

 the difiiculty, in part at least, by extra-judicial 

 means. In point is the plan favored by the 

 New York Chamber of Commerce for settling 

 commercial disputes by arbitrators . selected 

 from an official list. This plan provides for 

 the disposal of technical questions arising in 

 business by men peculiarly qualified by rea- 



