April 29, 1922] 



NATURE 



565 



A National Council for Mental Hygiene. 



\ GENERAL meeting will be held at 5 o'clock on 

 *" Thursday, May 4, in the rooms of the Royal 

 Society of Medicine, Wimpole Street, in order to 

 decide on the constitution, officers, etc., of the new 

 National Council for Mental Hygiene. The provi- 

 sional committee consists of Sir Courtauld Thomson 

 (chairman). Sir Norman Moore, Sir Charles Sherring- 

 ton, Sir John Goodwin, Sir George Newman, Sir 

 Walter Fletcher, Dr. C. H. Bond, Dr. Bedford Pierce, 

 Prof. George Robertson, Dr. C. S. Myers, Dr. G. 

 Ainsworth, Dr. Helen Boyle, Dr. Edwin Bramwell, 

 Dr. Farquhar Buzzard, Sir Maurice Craig, Lord 

 Dawson of Penn, Sir Horatio Donkin, Prof. Elliot 

 Smith, Dr. Edwin Goodall, Dr. Henry Head, Dr. 

 Crichton Miller, Sir P^rederick Mott, Dr. W. H. R. 

 Rivers, Sir Humphry Rolleston, Dr. T. A. Ross, Dr. 

 Tredgold, and Dr. W. Worth. 



A letter, signed by Sir Courtauld Thomson, 

 appeared in the Times of March 29 which describes 

 the purposes for . which the new Council is being 

 established. It will co-ordinate and encourage the 

 work of the various existing societies which are 

 " engaged in promoting the study of mental dis- 

 orders, the welfare of the insane, the problems of 

 industrial psychology and the various aspects of 

 mental deficiency " ; it will also aim at establishing 

 psychological clinics in general hospitals for the 

 early treatment of mental disturbance, and at improv- 

 ing the education of the medical student in normal 

 and abnormal psychology. In addition, it will attempt 

 to lessen the popular ignorance at present prevailing 

 in regard to the nature and prevention of mental 

 illness, which results in an enormous amount of 

 needless unhappiness and wastage of energy. 



Such National Councils have been and are being 

 formed in various countries on the Continent, 

 moulded largely according to the pattern of the 

 well-known United States National Committee for 

 -Mental Hj'giene, which has done so much to raise the 

 standard of the care and treatment of mental dis- 

 orders in America, and to reinove the widespread 

 prejudice of the public towards these diseases. In 

 America it has given birth to smaller Societies for 

 Mental Hygiene in the various States and to an 

 important Canadian Committee. Ample work awaits 

 the formation of a National Council in Great Britain, 

 aiid we extend to it the cordial welcome which it 

 merits. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Cambridge. — The Report of the Financial Board 

 on the expenditure of the current academic year 

 points out that, despite the Emergency Grant of 

 30,000/., the University depleted its balances by 

 3975/. during the past academic year ; and it is 

 anticipated that there will be a further deficit of 

 7650/. in the current year. The Report of the Royal 

 Commission has not come any too soon unless Cam- 

 bridge is to increase its fees or to cut down its 

 activities. 



Mr. H. G. Carter has been appointed Curator of the 

 1 lerbarium. 



The Linacre Lecture will be delivered on Saturday, 

 May 6, at 5.15 p.m by Sir Humphry Rolleston, on 

 the subject of " Medical Aspects of Old Age." 



London. — The following are among the Public 

 Lectures to be given at University College during the 

 present term : — " Atoms, Molecules and Chemistry," 

 three lectures by Sir J. J. Thomson ; " Insects and 

 Disease," four lectures by Sir Arthur Shipley ; 



Recent Discoveries in Egypt," by Prof. Flinders 



NO. 2739, VOL. 109] 



Petrie ; and " The Expansion of European Civilisa- 

 tion," four lectures, by Prof. W. R. Shepherd, of 

 Columbia University. A copy of the full programme 

 may be obtained by sending a stamped addressed 

 envelope to the Secretary, University College, London, 

 W.C.I. 



It is announced by the Royal Academy of Belgium 

 that a prize of 1000 francs has been established, which 

 will be awarded biennially, under the name of the 

 Prix O. van Ejtborn, for the best work on geology. 



Prof. E. Mellanby will deliver the Oliver Sharpey 

 lectures at the Royal College of Physicians of London 

 on Tuesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 4, at 5 o'clock. 

 The subject of the lectures will be " Some Common 

 Defects of Diet and their Pathological Significance." 



The Ramsay Memorial Trustees will, at the end of 

 June, consider applications for two Ramsay Memorial 

 Fellowships for chemical research. One of the 

 Fellowships will be limited to candidates educated 

 in Glasgow. The value of the Fellowships will be 

 250/. per annum, to which may be added a grant for 

 expenses not exceeding 50/. per annum. Full par- 

 ticulars as to the conditions of the award are obtain- 

 able from Dr. Walter W. Seton, Secretary, Ramsay 

 Memorial Fellowships Trust, University College, 

 London, W.C.i. 



New regulations have recently been made by the 

 Trustees of the Beit Memorial Fellowships for Medical 

 Research. The date of the election of Fellows has 

 been changed from December to July, so that Fellows 

 may commence work on October i, instead of January 

 I, in each year. In future there will be three classes 

 of fellowships, namely, (i) junior fellowships, 350/. 

 per annum. Not more than six junior fellowships will 

 be awarded annually. The usual tenure of a junior 

 fellowship is for three years. (2) Fourth-year fellow- 

 ships, 400/. per annum. On the recommendation of 

 the advisory board, a junior fellowship may be 

 extended for a further period of one year. (3) 

 Senior fellowships, 600/. per annum. A limited 

 number of senior fellowships may be awarded. The 

 usual tenure of a senior fellowship is for three years. 

 No change will be made in the emolument of any 

 fellowship held at the date of coming into force of 

 these amended regulations on May i, 1922. All 

 correspondence of candidates and fellows should 

 be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, Beit Memorial 

 Fellowships, 35 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, W.i. 



The annual report for the session 1920-21 of 

 University College, London, contains some interesting 

 facts which may well be placed on record. The total 

 number of students enrolled for full time courses was 

 2408, of which 1506 were men ; in addition there were 

 more than 700 attending part time courses. In the 

 full time courses, arts and science claim about equal 

 numbers. During the year, donations to the College 

 amounted to a little more than 3000/., a total which 

 includes sums of 1500/. from the Carnegie United 

 Kingdom Trust for the school of librarianship ; 500/. 

 from the Worshipful Company of Drapers, an annual 

 grant to the biometric laboratory which will continue 

 until 1924 ; and a grant of 250/. from the Chadwick 

 Trustees for the departments of municipal engineering 

 and hygiene. The London County Council made a 

 capital grant of 5000/. towards the cost of the com- 

 pletion and equipment of the department of engineer- 

 ing. As in past years, the College has taken an 

 active share in the promotion of adult education by 

 the provision of free public lectures by men of note. 

 In all, some seventy lectures and courses were given 

 and it is estimated that more than 8000 persons 

 attended. 



