4i8 



NATURE 



[January 24, 1918 



Irates the trend of modern medicine and surgerv. It is 

 becoming evident that an increasing contribution to 

 their progress is rendered possible by a detailed study 

 of the chemical processes met with in health and 

 disease, and the influence upon them of substances 

 of known chemical composition. Recent investigations 

 furnish an example. Antiseptic action of substances 

 containing active chlorine was undertaken early in the 

 war by the University in conjunction with Dr' H. D. 

 Dakin. These researches led to the introduction of 

 two antiseptics, chloramine-T and dichloramine-T, 

 which have been widely used in the treatment of war 

 wounds. To carry out efficiently the new schemes in- 

 volved in the above changes, increased laboratory ac- 

 commodation for research will be necessary, and addi- 

 tions to the apparatus in the Department of Physiologv 

 must also be provided. Prof. Raper was appointed, in 

 iqio, lecturer in pathological chemistry at the Univer- 

 sity of Toronto, and held that post until his appoint- 

 ment in 1913 as lecturer in physiological chemistry at 

 Leeds University. He is now on military service. 

 Prof. Evans is also on military service. His pub- 

 lished works comprise a number of valuable papers 

 on subjects of physiology and chemical physiology. In 

 the important branch of the medical school — that which 

 relates to pathology and bacteriology — there are also 

 likely to be interesting developments in the near future. 



A COURSE of four advanced lectures on "The Elec- 

 trical Examination and Treatment of Affections of the 

 Nervous System" will be given bv Dr. A. D. Waller 

 and Miss M. D. Waller in the Physiological Labora- 

 tory of the University of London, South Kensington, 

 on February 5, 12, 19, and 26, the admission to which 

 will be free, without tickets. 



A COURSE of nine public lectures on "Animal Life 

 and Human Progress," arranged in conjunction with 

 the Imperial Studies Committee of the University of 

 London, to be given on Wednesdays at 5.30, will open 

 at King's College on January 30 with a lecture on 

 "Man's Account with the Lower Animals," by Prof. 

 Arthur Dendy. The other lectures to the end of February 

 will be : — Some educational and moral aspects of 

 zoology, Prof. G. C. Bourne; Museums and research, 

 C. Tate Regan; Man and the web of life. Prof. J. 

 Arthur Thomson; The origin of man. Prof. F. Wood 

 Jones. Admission to the lectures is free. Cards for 

 the course may be obtained from the Publications 

 Secretary, King's College, Strand, W.C.2. 



In connection with the work of the Imperial Studies 

 Committee of the University of London, a course of 

 public lectures on " Some Biological Problems of To- 

 day" is being delivered at University College on Mon- 

 days at 4 p.m. The course began on Januarv 21, and 

 the first five lectures- are : — (i)The problem of food, Prof. 

 W. M. Bayliss; (2) War bread and its Constituents, 

 Prof. F. G. Hopkins; (3) Accessory food factors 

 (vitamines) in war-time diets. Miss E. Margaret Hume ; 

 (4) Alcoholic and other beverages. Prof. A. R. Cushny; 

 {s) The possibilities of increased crop production, E)r. 

 E. J. Russell. The lectures are open to the public 

 without fee or ticket. 



The early introduction by Mr. Fisher of an amended 

 Education Bill, referred to last week, shorn of the 

 more objectionable administrative features of the 

 original Bill, has given general satisfaction. It says 

 much for the credit and courage, no less than for the 

 sincerity, of Mr. Fisher and his educational ideals that 

 he^ has not failed to take note of the strong feeling 

 evinced, throughout the country during his educational 

 campaign, against any further increase of bureau- 

 cratic control with respect to the Board of Education. 



NO. 2517, VOL. 100] 



i Parliament is justified in declaring a policy, but it 

 must be left to the local authorities to give it full effect. 

 The Act of 1902, whilst it made the county and borough 

 councils responsible for all forms of education within 

 their areas, failed to make the obligation mandatory. 

 In the present Bill this is remedied, and now they 

 must submit schemes for the approval of the Board to 

 give effect to its requirements, and since the Board 

 commands under the proposed system of consolidated 

 grants large financial control up to 50 per cent, of the : 

 total local expenditure, it can readily call upon recal- ! 

 citrant authorities to fulfil the conditions laid down, j 

 Probably the most difficult will be, having regard to . 

 industrial conditions, to the requirements of agricul- ^ 

 ture, and to the scattered and remote character of cer- I 

 tain rural areas, to make satisfactory arrangements in : 

 respect of the clauses of the Bill which are designed ' 

 to secure the continued education of young people be- , 

 tween fourteen and eighteen. Many different solutions 

 will be required according to the special circumstances 

 of industries and localities. Wide and far-reaching 

 as are the provisions of the Bill, it is, after all, a 

 tentative measure, leading, it is to be hoped, to further 

 developments, in the near future, alike in the provision ,. 

 of maintenance for children declared fit for fuller edu- 

 cational opportunities, in ensuring more complete 

 measures for the care of child-life from the earliest 

 age, and in the raising of the compulsory school age 

 to fifteen, as in the Scottish Bill. The educational 

 features of Mr. Fisher's Bill have met with general 

 approval, and it may be now anticipated with confi- 

 dence that early in the new session Parliament will 

 give the Bill legal effect. 



The Principal, Dr. R. Mullineux Walmsley, in his 

 report at the prize distribution, of the Northampton 

 Polytechnic Institute on January 19, said the manu- 

 facture of high-class munitions upon- a commercial' 

 scale, commenced on July i, 1915, had been continued 

 uninterruptedly to the present time. In the Technical : 

 Optics Department the work of training women 

 students in full-time classes in lens- and prism-grind- 

 ing was vigorously prosecuted. This department has 

 been highly successful, and the value of its work with 

 reference to the prosecution of the war cannot beexag- ■ 

 gerated. Attendances at other classes followed much 

 the same course as in the preceding session, the chief 

 feature being the continual draining off of the senior 

 men both for actual service in the forces and for muni- 

 tions work. As usual, the work has continued to re- 

 ceive the cordial support of the trades affected. What 

 was described in the last report as " looking forward " 

 work, namely, the training of disabled sailors and 

 soldiers to take their places in the life of the country, 

 not only now, but also after the conclusion of the war, 

 was continued. To the end of July, 1917, eleven com- 

 plete courses for training suitable men as electric power 

 sub-station attendants were given, and the whole of 

 the men trained were placed out. In the session now 

 running further courses have been given, and the six- 

 ' teenth course of the series has been started. Fifty- 

 eight members of the staff, 542 members and student?, 

 i and 802 students have joined the colours, and 

 ; there are 104 V.A.D.'s serving in military hospital? 

 abroad and at home. Of those joining the forces ibc) 

 have obtained commissions. Another line of work is 

 the placing of the equipment and staff of the poly- 

 technic at the disposal of the Government. From time 

 to time various members of the senior staff in different 

 departments have been requisitioned for experimental 

 and scientific work intended to aid the prosecution of 

 the war, and as the equipment of the laboratories is, 

 in many directions, very complete, a considerable 

 amount of work has been done. 



