204 



NATURE 



[April 15, 1920 



general averages vary from area to area, but 

 show, on the whole, a close similarity to those 

 obtained by Roberts and by the Anthropometric 

 Committee for the artisan classes some forty 

 years back, though in this volume there are not 

 enough data to enable the different areas to be 

 contrasted on an ethnographic basis. 



Fig. I.— Graphical representation of physical fitness in each region of Great 

 Britain. The diagrams show for each region the actual numbers and • 

 percentage for each grade, as well as the index of fitness. They 

 provide, therefore, a convenient means of comparing the relative 

 physical condition of the respective populations. 



Physique and general fitness fall off with 

 advancing years, and it is noted from several 

 areas that after the age of fifty practically no 

 recruits of military value are to be obtained. One 

 Commissioner generahses the observations by 

 pointing out that while the physical standard of 

 early manhood was determined by inheritance 

 modified by environment, above the age of forty, 



the determining factor was how a man had lived 

 his earlier life. 



The variation in physique with different occu- 

 pations is very marked, as can be seen from the 

 respective indices of fitness of groups, though it 

 would perhaps be well to defer detailed com- 

 parison until full figures are available. The follow- 

 ing may serve as illustrations : — 



Occupation 



Munition workers and colliers, 



St. Helens 



Colliers, Wigan 



Colliers, West Wales 



Agriculturists, Yorks 



Engineers, Yorks 



Iron and steel workers 



Lace workers 



Woollen trade 



Tailors 



Cotton operatives, Stockport 



This is also seen by comparison of towns — 

 e.g. in March, 1918, Sheffield showed an index 

 of 83-3 with 61 per cent, in Grade i, and Leeds 

 an index of 62 with 14-5 per cent, in Grade i. It 

 is evident that the men of good physique are 

 found in the heavier occupations. Among the 

 causes of low grading, heart disease and tuber- 

 culosis take a high place, while in some areas 

 there is a prevalence of infantile paralysis. Con- 

 trary to expectations raised by the recent cam- 

 paign on public morals, the incidence of venereal 

 disease as a cause of low grading is nearly 

 negligible. A special series of charts shows the 

 full data obtained as to the relation between 

 occupation grading and disease in the London 

 area. Sedentary occupations show the worst 

 results, and it is a question whether in part it is 

 not as much that those of inferior physique gravi- 

 tate to sedentary work as that this in itself is 

 harmful. Heart and circulatory disease, and to a 

 less extent congenital or acquired deformities, 

 constitute the chief causes of deficiency. 



The information available in this volume is such 



as to require almost a separate description for each 



section, and the Ministry is to be congratulated 



on a volume which should be on the shelves of 



i every social worker and reformer. 



The Doctor of Philosophy in England. 



THE neglect on the part of the English uni- 

 versities in not recognising a special faculty 

 of philosophy has been remarkable, but this singu- 

 lar circumstance is of rare interest to the student 

 of the history of universities. It is a curious fact 

 indeed that the title of doctor itself dates, though 

 with some uncertainty, to the first half of the 

 twelfth century at Bologna, and to the middle of 

 that century at Paris. About a century later the 

 doctorate in law and divinity came into use in 

 England, and in the fourteenth century followed 

 that of medicine. In the fifteenth the English uni- 

 versities took the lead in conferring the degree of 

 doctor of music. Yet doctorates in grammar, 



NO. 2633, VOL. 105] 



logic, and philosophy were given in Germany so 

 early as the thirteenth century. Until compara- 

 tively recently the M.A. in England ranked above 

 the Mus.Doc. 



To those acquainted with the history and 

 the evolution of degrees, that of master of arts 

 must carry the greatest respect, if not venera- 

 tion, from the point of view of antiquity, for it 

 conveys with it the first traditions of the spread 

 of learning in Europe, being as it is by far the 

 oldest of degrees. The earliest teachers bore the 

 titles of lord, master, and judge (dominus, magis- 

 ter, judex), which were in common use long before 

 that of doctor. In fact, to this day the German 



