January ii, 19 12] 



NATURE 



353 



We happened to want to see what the author had to 

 say about the partridge, and naturally turned to the 

 letter P, where no such name occurs. At last we find 

 the bird, together with several other species, under 

 the entry "Common," which, to say the least, is 

 absurd. In fact, the prefix of "common" to the 

 partridge is not required at all. R. L. 



ADMIRALTY REORGANISATION. 



THE official memoranda published by the First 

 Lord of the Admiralty on January 8 are of great 

 interest, but that relating to the Naval War Staff is 

 of much greater importance than the other two. 

 Mr. Churchill discusses at considerable, if not un- 

 necessary, length the distinctions which he believes 

 to exist between "naval and military problems," 

 apparently considering it necessary to justify differ- 

 ences of organisation which will be found at the 

 Admiralty and at the War Office when the new 

 scheme has been developed. The First Lord is an 

 ihle and forcible writer, who might be expected to 

 slate his case well, but it may be questioned if it 

 would not have served his purpose better and have 

 given a clearer understanding of the subject to the 

 public if his memorandum on the Naval War Staff 

 had been less diffuse. The fact is admitted by him 

 that "during the course of years all or nearly all 

 the elements of a War Staff at the Admiralty have 

 Itcen successively evolved in the working of everyday 

 nffairs." The edifice is now to be completed and 

 frowned by combining " these elements into an har- 

 monious and effective organisation." It is proposed 



• to invest the new body with a significance and 

 influence which it has not hitherto possessed, and to 

 place it in its proper relation to existing powers." 

 This is obviously both wise and necessary action ; 

 but it is scarcely to be described as such a radical 

 change as some persons have asserted. 



In the current Navy Estimates provision is made 

 for a Naval Intelligence Department and a Naval 

 Mobilisation Department, each under a naval director 

 (rear-admiral or captain), the former department 

 Including twenty-one naval officers and thirteen 

 rivilians, the latter six naval officers and four civilians. 

 The total cost of these departments is about 22,oooL 

 per annum. Both departments are placed under the 

 l-irst Sea Lord, and their duties are sufficiently indi- 

 ( ated by their names. In the new scheme they will 

 "Dntinue in existence, and a third section is to be 

 added, to be known as the " 0{)erations Division," 

 and to be placed under a director. .All three sections 

 iro to be combined together under a chief of the 

 staff, who is to be "a flag officer, primarily respon- 

 -.ible to the First Sea Lord, and working under him 

 as his principal assistant and agent." "Constant, 

 tree, and informal intercourse between [the three 

 ■><ctions| is indispensable"; and it is laid down that 

 <ach of the directors is "to be kept fully acquainted 

 with the work of their two colleagues." 



All this is admirable, but the principles involved 

 "• in no sense novelties at the Admiralty; nor is it 



• inceivable that the consideration of "war plans" 



which is stated to be the special business of the new 

 section— has not been practised at the Admiralty 

 hitherto. Long-continued peace has tended to drive 

 somewhat into the background the primary import- 

 ance of a scientific study of operations and prepara- 

 tion of "plans of campaign," but it is well known 

 that the great shipbuilding programmes which have 

 liien carried out during the last twenty-five years 



have been based— as they ought to have been on 



strategical plans prepared hv the Admiraltv for the 

 naval defence of the British Empire, its commerce and 



NO. 2202, VOL. 88] 



communications. While this is true, it is equally 

 true that the enormous increase of the Royal Navy, 

 the growth of rival war fleets, and the present com- 

 plex conditions of naval warfare, have all emphasised 

 the need for greater attention and closer study of the 

 subject by competent persons. Consequently there can 

 only be universal and hearty welcome of the endeavour 

 now made to meet the pressing necessity by the 

 development of an advisory War Staff at the 

 Admiralty. 



NOTES. 



M. LippMANN has been elected president of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences for the present year, and Prof. Guyon 

 vice-president. 



The .Academ\- of Sciences of the Royal Institute of 

 Bologna has awarded the Elie de Cyon prize of 3000 lire for 

 191 1 to Prof. E. A. Schiifer, F.R.S., of Edinburgh, for 

 his work on the ductless glands, and especially for his 

 recent work on the pituitary body. 



It is proposed to establish in Dartmouth a permanent 

 memorial to Thomas Newcomen, known for his work in 

 connection with the steam engine, who was born in that 

 town in 1663. A meeting of persons interested in the 

 matter was held yesterday in the Dartmouth Guildhall. 

 The Mayor of Dartmouth, Mr. Charles Peek, and Mr. 

 T. F. Caston, the honorary secretary to the Newcomen 

 Memorial Committee, will welcome suggestions as to the 

 best manner of perpetuating the memory of the inventor 

 and his invention, and be glad to receive contributions. 



The council of the Royal Sanitary Institute offers the 

 Henry Saxon Sncll pr\/.f f(ir competition this year. The 

 prize was founded to encouraj;e improvemeiits in the con- 

 struction or adaptation of sanitary appliances, and is to be 

 awarded by the council at intervals of three years, the 

 funds being provided by the legacy left by the late Henry 

 Saxon Snell. The prize will consist of fifty guineas and 

 the silver medal of the institute, and is offered for an essay 

 on " Suggestions for Improvements in the \'entilating. 

 Lighting, Heating, and Water Supply .Appliances and 

 Fittings for an Operating Room and its .Aiccessory Rooms 

 for a General Hospital of 400 Beds (no Students)." 



.\s influential body of gentlemen interested in the pre- 

 servation of our local antiquities has presented a memorial 

 to the committee now engaged in considering schemes for 

 the future utilisation of the Crystal Palace and its grounds, 

 suggesting the establishment of a National Folk Museum. 

 The nearest parallel to the proposed institution is the 

 Northern Museum at Stockholm, with its offshoot the 

 Open Air .Museum at Skansen. Ihe scheme suggests the 

 erection in the Palace grounds of a scries of typical ancient 

 houses, each provided with appropriate gardens and furni- 

 ture, and an open-air amphitheatre for pageants, folk- 

 songs, and dances. Part of the main building of the 

 Palace might, the memorialists suggest, be devoted to 

 exhibits of domestic art products, toys and games, a folk- 

 lore room, a museum relating to the Royal House, and 

 other exhibits illustrating the origin and evolution of the 

 various departments of national culture. Something of the 

 kind has been attempted in the Pitt Rivers .Museum at 

 Oxford, and the educational value of the culture series 

 arranged by .Mr. H. Balfour supplies good evidence in sup- 

 port of the present proposals. The domestic appliances 

 of past times are now disappearing so rapidly that unless 

 active steps are taken at once it will soon be impossible 

 to supply the exhibits needed h)r a folk museum such as 

 that now suggested. 



