November 8, 1917] 



NATURE 



i«3 



1851. In 1889 the Commissioners announced their 

 intention of appropriating- from their accumulated 

 funds an annual sum of not less than 5000/. a year 

 for the foundation of scholarships to enable the 

 most promising- students in selected colleges to 

 •continue their studies beyond the ordinary period 

 of three years, provided that they show high 

 promise for advancing- science and its applications. 

 The scholarships are awarded, not by exami- 

 nation, but upon the nomination of the institutions 

 to which they were allotted, and their value is 

 150^. a year for two years, with possible extension 

 , to three years. The principle of selection was 

 \ decidedly in advance of any scheme existing- at 

 the time, and the value of the scholarships is 

 , sufficient to encourage students of high capacity 



to devote time to research, 

 i These scholarships are given for research only, 

 and they are not allowed to be held at the insti- 

 tution where the scholar has graduated. It is 

 acknowledged that nothing has done so much to 

 promote free interchange among the universities 

 ' of the Empire, and also with those of other 

 countries, as the 185 1 Exhibition Scholarships, and 

 they might well form the nucleus of a great 

 ; system of scholarships and fellowships expressly 

 ■ designed to promote that end. Since 1891 the 

 I Commissioners have appointed, on the nomination 

 i of universities throughout the Empire, in every 

 I year twenty research scholars. The number of 

 I workers thus subsidised has been small in com- 

 \ parison with the needs of the Empire ; but it is 

 universally admitted that the results have far more 

 than justified the expenditure. The Consultative 

 Committee, in its Report on Scholarships for 

 Higher Education, notes, however, that in 1916 

 out of 305 scholars known to be at work, only 

 seventy-nine were engaged in industry, as against 

 194 engaged in educational work and thirty-two 

 in Government service. Moreover, of the seventy- 

 nine engaged in industry, twelve had appoint- 

 ments in the United States, and seven more out- 

 side the British dominions. 



The probable reason why two-thirds of these 

 capable research students became teachers at the 

 end of their scholarship periods is that suitable 

 posts were not open to them in industrial works. 

 This waste of capacity for original investigation 

 will not be avoided unless manufacturers offer to 

 trained researchers positions and prospects much 

 more attractive than have been customary. 

 Improvements have certainly been effected since 

 the opening of the war, and the signs are favour- 

 able that the demand will increase when peace is 

 restored. Meanwhile, the governing bodies of 

 our universities and technical colleges should 

 consider whether their resources will enable 

 NO. 2506, VOL. 100] 



original investigators on their staffs to be 

 relieved of the necessity of preparing students 

 for examination in order to train the most gifted 

 of them in the methods of research. Unless this 

 relief is given, and the first duty of the occupant 

 of a scientific chair in an institution of university 

 rank is recognised to be the promotion of research, 

 the award of scholarships will be in vain, and the 

 introduction of graduates into industry will not 

 lead to the developments necessary to make our 

 future position high and secure among the fore- 

 most nations of the world. 



BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY. 



(i) A Bibliography of British Ornithology from 

 the Earliest Times to the End of 19 12, including 

 Biographical Accounts of the Principal Writers 

 and Bibliographies of their Published Works. 

 By W. H. Mullens and H. Kirke Swann. Parts 

 i.-vi. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 

 1916.) Price 6s. net each. 

 (2) British Birds. Written and illustrated by A. 

 Thorburn. In 4 vols. Vol. iv. Pp. vii+io7 + 

 plates 61-80. (London : Longmans, Green, and 

 Co., 1916.) Price, 4 vols., 61. 6s. net. 

 (i) \ X 7 ITH the issue of the sixth part Messrs. 

 » * Mullens and Swann bring to a con- 

 clusion their great "Bibliography of British 

 Ornithology," forming a volume of more than 

 700 pages. This should, perhaps, be considered 

 as only the first section of the whole work ; for 

 hopes are held out that it is to be followed by a 

 geographical bibliography of the same subject, 

 which will be another very laborious and most 

 useful undertaking. 



At the foot of their prefatory note the 

 authors disarm criticism by very fittingly 

 quoting from Dr. Samuel Johnson's preface 

 to his Dictionary : "In this . work, when 

 it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not 

 be forgotten that much likewise is performed." 

 Much, indeed, has been performed in this monu- 

 mental work, and as to omissions, some sixteen 

 pages of addenda and corrigenda go far to 

 supply any there may have been. This later 

 matter has been printed on one side of the paper 

 only for the convenience of those who wish to 

 cut it up and insert in the proper places in the 

 work. 



We have already, when noticing the earlier 

 parts, referred to the general plan of this work, 

 to its far-reaching scope, and to its going back 

 to the earliest days of anything in the shape of a 

 study of our British birds. It goes back, indeed, 

 to Bartholoma'us Anglicus, who flourished about 

 1230—60, and whose " De Proprietatibus Rerum," 

 in the translation printed by Wynkyn de \'\'orde 

 about 1495, is one of the earliest printed 

 works on natural history in the English 

 language. A feature of this final part is 

 the remarkablv full and able bibliography of 

 the "Natural History of Selborne." The manv 



