288 



NATURE 



[October 28, 1920 



Notes. 



Important changes are announced at the Ministry 

 of Agriculture, the effect of which is the promotion 

 of Mr. F. C. L. Floud to be Permanent Secretary 

 and the liberation of Sir Daniel Hall from oflfice work 

 so that he will be able to keep in close personal touch 

 with agricultural developments in this country as well 

 as abroad, and devote his whole time to the 

 organisation of agricultural education and research. 

 Sir Daniel has been associated with this work 

 throughout his whole official career. The scheme 

 now in operation comprises four essential parts : — 

 (i) Research institutions, where knowledge is gained 

 and agricultural science systematically developed and 

 put into such form that teachers and experts can ure 

 it. At first this work was distributed among a 

 number of university departments, but of recent years 

 there has been a tendency to concentrate it at a few 

 institutions owinf to the necessity for bringing 

 individual workers into closer personal contact with 

 each other and with the large-scale problems of the 

 farmer. {2) Agricultural colleges, where experts and 

 large farmers will be trained, receiving a three years' 

 course of instruction of university character. Most 

 of these colleges are associated with universities 

 which award degrees in agriculture ; for students 

 who do not wish to take degrees there is a diploma 

 course requiring a high standard of technical work. 

 (3) Farm institutes for small farmers and farm- 

 workers who cannot spare three years for college, 

 but have some practical knowledge and are unable 

 or unwilling to go through the ordinary college course. 

 These institutes aim at giving sound courses of in- 

 struction on soil, manure, crops, animal hus- 

 bandry, etc., but it is usually presumed that the 

 student will take up farming in the area served by 

 the institution, and for which the instruction is 

 specially appropriate. (4) Advisory officers. In each 

 county arrangements are made whereby farmers, 

 smallholders, and others may consult the agricultural 

 expert appointed by the county authority in regard 

 ^ to any difficulties they may meet with in their work. 

 The expert is in a position somewhat similar to that 

 of the general medical practitioner, and usually finds 

 that he can deal with a large number of the cases 

 presented to him. He is, however, in touch with the 

 colleges, research institutions, etc., and can always 

 obtain expert advice in any particular problem of 

 special difficulty. 



Prof. T. H. Pear has been elected an honorary 

 secretary of the Manchester Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Societv in succession to Prof. C. A. Edwards. 



Mr. J. A. Brodie will deliver an inaugural address 

 at the opening meeting of the one hundred and 

 second session of the Institution of Civil Engineers 

 on Tuesday, November 2, at 5.30 p.m. 



The British Medical Journal announces that the 

 fourth congress of the Far Eastern .Association cf 

 Tropical Medicine will be held in August, 192 1, at 

 Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies, under 

 the presidency of Dr. W. T. de Vogel. 

 NO. 2661, VOL. 106] 



The University and the Royal Academy of Sciences 

 of Bologna will hold a joint commemoration service 

 for the late Prof. Righi in the lecture hall of the 

 University on November i. This will be the fortieth 

 anniversary of Righi 's first association with the Uni- 

 versity, and an oration will be delivered by Prof. 

 Luigi Donati, director of the Royal School of 

 Engineering. 



A JOINT meeting organised by the Faraday Society 

 and the Sheffield Section of the Institute of Metals 

 will be held at the University of Sheffield on Friday, 

 November 19, to discuss papers dealing with various 

 aspects of electro-plating. Communications are 

 promised from representatives of the scientific side 

 of the electro-plating industry in London, Birming- 

 ham, and Sheffield Anyone desirous of taking part 

 is invited to communicate with the Sheffield local 

 hon. secretary of the Faraday Society, Dr. F. C. 

 Thompson, Department of Applied Science, University 

 of Sheffield. 



We learn from the British Medical Journal that, 

 through the gift of an anonymous fellow, the Royal 

 Society of Medicine has been able to institute a 

 triennial gold medal open to medical practitioners 

 throughout the world. Sir Almroth Wright has been 

 chosen as the first medallist, and the presentation 

 will be made to him by the president of the society. 

 Sir John Bland-Sutton, at 5 p.m., on Thursday, 

 November 11, at i Wimpole Street, and Sir Almroth 

 Wright will afterwards give an address on medical 

 research. 



At the annual meeting of the Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh, held on October 25, the following were 

 elected as office-bearers and members of council : — 

 President : Prof. F. O. Bower. Vice-Presidents : 

 Prof. D. Noel Paton, Prof. A. Robinson, S!r 

 G. A. Berry, Prof. W. Peddie, Sir J. A. Ewing, and 

 Prof. J. W. Gregory. General Secretary : Dr. C. G. 

 Knott. Secretaries to Ordinary Meetings : Prof. 

 E. T. Whittaker and Prof. J. H. Ashworth. 

 Treasurer: Dr. J. Currie. Curator of Library and 

 Museum : Dr. A. Crichton Mitchell. Councillors : 

 Prof. R. A. Sampson, Prof. J. Lorrain Smith, Dr. 

 W. A. Tait, Surg. -Gen. W. B. Bannerman, Mr. 

 H. M. Cadell, Prof. A. R. Cushnv, Prof. F. G. Bailv, 

 Mr. G. J. Lidstone, Dr. R. Campbell, Prof. J. C. 

 Irvine, the Hon. Lord Salvesen, and Prof. J. A. 

 Thomson. 



Wk referred in our issue of September 2, p. 26, to 

 a statement received from a correspondent in India 

 that Sir Alfred Bourne was to be succeeded in the 

 directorship of the Indian Institute of Science, Ban- 

 galore, by an administrator with no scientific experi- 

 ence, and we remarked that such an appointment 

 would be greatly deprecated by scientific workers. By 

 the statutes of the institute, the council appoints 

 a committee at home to make nominations, and 

 from the nominations sent out it selects a name 

 for the approval of the Viceroy, who is patron of the 

 institute. If the council sent home a nomination for 



