386 



NATURE 



[December 2, 1915. 



ignored. The need is especially great in our own 

 country, where isolation from other countries and the 

 existence of immense reservoirs of natural resources 

 have let us seem to keep up with international pro- 

 gress in spite of our wasteful and inefficient methods. 

 It were well to recognise that entry upon world affairs, 

 which we cannot long avoid, will reveal costly weak- 

 nesses. 



The appeal of science for the adoption of scientific 

 methods in the daily life of the people, in the govern- 

 ments of community, State, and nation, in the settling 

 of international questions, is not an appeal for efficiency 

 at all costs. The life that is for ever bent over the 

 exact equation, two plus two are four, a life that 

 tries to express all its experiences in equations equally 

 exact, is liable to be narrow, distorted, unhappy, and 

 misspent. The man who worships scientific efTiciency, 

 like the man who is a slave to gold, or the man who 

 pushes his religion too far, may acquire a harsh and 

 selfish view of life; pity and charity may drop out 

 of his vocabulary. 



Our appeal is for the scientific method of treating 

 the problems which are before us for solution. The 

 scientific method is that which takes account of all the 

 forces acting. It is therefore the just method. It is 

 in full harmony with the golden rule, " Do unto 

 others as you would have others do unto you." It is, 

 if you please, in full harmony with the spirit of Christ. 

 Support is given to research by the Governments and 

 by generous men and women in order that the truth 

 may be found and be made available in the service of 

 mankind. The investigational laboratories of the uni- 

 versities, the observatories, the private institutions for 

 research, have precisely these ideal purposes, and no 

 other purpose. The various activities of the world 

 contribute to the advancement of civilisation in propor- 

 tion as they contain the ideal and the unselfish. That 

 which is purely practical, containing no element of 

 idealism, may sustain existence and to that extent 

 be valuable, but it does not civilise. I believe it is the 

 idealism of pure^ knowledere, the idealism in applied 

 knowled£?e, the idealism in industry and commerce, 

 the idealism in literature and art, the idealism in 

 personal religion, which leavens the life of the world 

 and pushes forward the boundaries of civilisation. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Oxford.— The Herbert Spencer Lecture for 19 16 

 will be delivered by Prof. J. Mark Baldwin, honorary 

 professor of the University of Mexico, in the lecture- 

 room at the University Museum on Wednesday, March 

 15, 1916, at 2.30 p.m. The subject of the lecture is 

 not yet announced. 



The Vice-Chancellor has just issued a memorandum 

 dealing with the present position of University finance. 

 He points out that by voluntary contributions from 

 professors, examiners, and other o'fficials, supplemented 

 by grants from various funds and certain windfalls, 

 the estimated deficit of 12,000^ for the present year 

 has been met, and a small credit balance left to be 

 carried over for next year's working. This, however, 

 does not make the position secure. The deficit for 

 iqi6 can scarcely be less than 12,000?., and it is" shown 

 that the University cannot count on a repetition in full 

 of the voluntary contributions or of many of the grants. 

 The Michaelmas term matriculations have fallen from 

 580 in 1914 to about 250 in the present year, and there 

 seems no prospect of any increase in the number of 

 undergraduates during the war. The heads of depart- 

 ments have made considerable retrenchments, but it 

 is not easy to carry out a verv drastic policy in this 

 direction. It is pointed out that in some cases the 



needs of medical students prevent the closing of a 

 department, and in several of the laboratories impor- 

 tant Government work is being carried on. 



NO. 2405, VOL. 96} 



It is stated in Science that by the will of the late 

 Mr. A. F. Eno, his residuary estate, which may be 

 very large, is bequeathed to Columbia University. 



The eleventh report of the University of Leeds has 

 now been published. It has been found desirable that 

 the annual report should in future appear in the 

 autumn immediately following the close of the financial 

 year, and consequently the present report covers the 

 two sessions 1913-14 and 1914-15, and records the 

 work of the University to September last. Every 

 department of the University has been affected by the 

 war, and the report is an inspiring record of the 

 patriotic response of the staff and students to the calf 

 to assist the country in the great struggle. Since the 

 beginning of August, 1914, 415 members of the Leeds 

 University contingent of the Officers Training Corps 

 have received commissions. In addition to this, a 

 large number of the members of the University have 

 joined the Army and Navy and are serving in the 

 ranks. About one-third of the members of the teach- 

 ing and administrative staff, and about the same pro- 

 portion of the undergraduates who were in residence 

 at the University in the session 1913-14, are now on 

 active service. The roll of the members of the Univer- 

 sity on active service with his Majesty's Forces since 

 the outbreak of the war now includes 917 names. 

 There had been up to the date of the report sixty-six 

 casualties among the members of the University serv- 

 ing with the Forces of the Crown. The University 

 records with sorrow and pride that twenty-eight of its 

 members have fallen in action or from the effects of 

 wounds or poisonous gas. Seven members of the 

 University have received military distinction. 



All admit that the first duty of this country is to 

 bring the war to a successful conclusion from the 

 point of view of the Entente. The matter of para- 

 mount importance is to supply all the needs of the 

 Army and Navy, and no unnecessary obstacle to the 

 success of Lord Derby's recruiting scheme must be 

 tolerated. But the war must end, and peace will bring 

 with it difficulties to be overcome which will rival in 

 magnitude the task of completely vanquishing our 

 enemies. Problems will arise in connection with the 

 health and physique of the nation which will tax the 

 resources of the country's medical service to their 

 utmost limit. The clash of arms will be succeeded 

 by an equally deadly industrial competition. The re- 

 construction of the appalling devastation will call for 

 all the resources of men of science and qualified 

 administrators. It behoves us, therefore, to use our 

 available men with a wise economy in view of the 

 many and varied duties in front of the nation. Special 

 ability in medical or other science, in technology, in 

 everything, must be utilised with prudence. The addi- 

 tion of highly trained men in any branch of knowledge 

 to the ordinary ranks of Army and Navy must be a 

 last resort; and among the men who are added to His 

 Majesty's Forces from time to time those who have 

 graduated at a university, or have been highly educated 

 in some other direction, should be marked out for 

 commissions or special service. There are many . 



students of military age in medical and other colleges J 



whose duty to their country presents difficulty, and 1 



the case of medical students has been discussed widely 

 recently. It has been decided that medical students 

 in their first, second, and third years should be en- 

 couraged to join the combatant forces of the King, 

 and presumably this applies to other students. The 

 fourth and fifth year students, it has been suggested, 



