The Senior Science Society

Mr. J. Farrell, of E.S.U., believed in tolerance and magnanimity, and also thought it an unnatural phenomenon to praise rugger above art. Mr. T. M. Jenkinson disagreed; it was more difficult to get into a school team than into an orchestra, and there was scope for initiative in the former, not in the latter. Mr. R. Fleming (E.S.U.) and Mr. R. L. Evans were the respective seconders. Among speakers from the floor was Mr. Giles Shaw, who fully lived up to the reputation of the two worthies of whom his name is composed. Indeed, we do thank the E.S.U. greatly for their participation in this debate, and hope that this will not be an isolated example of co-operation. They carried their motion by 45 votes to 15, with 7 abstentions.

And so ended another debating year. D.B.I.

The Senior Science Society, in only its second term of existence in its present form, had another successful series of lectures on such diverse topics as Microscopic Pond Life, Astronomy and Space Travel, and Antibiotics.

For the first meeting J. M. Lennox and K. Gosling gave interesting and informative lectures on "Cathode Ray Tubes", and "Microscopic Pond Life". Cathode rays are electrons travelling in a vacuum, and exhibit several properties by means of which they can be identified. The lecturer illustrated these properties by several experiments. Cathode rays in electronics find their principal uses in X-rays, electron microscopes, oscilloscopes, television, and radar. Pond life can be divided into two categories—Plant life and Animal life. Microscopic Plant Life in ponds consists of various groups of algae, which the lecturer described. The animal life dealt with ranged from the single celled paramecium to the smaller crustaceans such as cyclops and daphnia.

The second meeting took place when Dr. J. W. Belton, of Leeds University, lectured on aspects of "Space Travel and Astronomy". Now that the initial problems of escaping from the sphere of the earth's activity have been partially solved, scientists can consider more seriously the possibility of space travel. With this idea in mind Dr. Belton considered the conditions which exist on the planets within immediate range of the earth, and concluded that the only planet which offered any real promise was Mars.

For the third meeting W. I. Macdonald and R. L. Evans gave a combined lecture on Antibiotics, followed by talks by the Secretary, T. Chilman, on Methods of Analysis, and "Harmonic Motions". W. I. Macdonald, speaking first, outlined the history of antibiotics from its earliest inception with the work of Pasteur, to the work of