July 12, 19 17] 



NATURE 



195 



decomposed granite : solid granite is reached at a 

 depth of 20 ft. These features, together with a light 

 intermittent rainfall, help to account for the small 

 yield of the reser\'oir, ranging as it does from a few 

 hundred million to a little more than 20,000,000,000 

 gallons per annum^ — not more than about 7^ per cent, 

 of the rainfall. The consumption of water in the dis- 

 tricts supplied has increased from an average of 

 600,000 gallons per day in 1903 to about 2,000,000 

 gallons per day at the present time. 



The success of the measures in course of adoption 

 for the treatment of this grave difficulty of water- 

 supply in Australia will be followed with interest, not 

 merely by engineers and geologists, but by all who 

 have at heart the development of the Empire, and its 

 widespread capabilities for usefulness to mankind. 



Brysson Cunningham. 



THE REPORT OF THE BOARD OF 

 EDUCATION, 191 5-16. 



THE report of the Board oi Education for the year 

 19 15-16 is a document to which, in the present 

 state of public expectation, more than usual interest will 

 be attached. It is naturally concerned in large measure 

 with the work and problems of elementary- education, 

 upon which by far the larger proportion of the public 

 funds are, by the ver}- circumstances of the case, ex- 

 pended. But it is now fairly generally admitted that 

 we cannot have a sound solution of the problems of 

 education, or raise an educational edifice worthy of 

 the name, or secure the right type of educated elec- 

 torate, or place education upon its highest plane, un- 

 less we make much more adequate provision for the 

 training of the great mass of the people. 



A grave responsibility- now rests upon the nation, 

 in view of the devastating effects of the war, to pro- 

 vide with the utmost fullness possible for all its 

 children the means of physical, mental, and moral 

 health, and especially to secure ample educational 

 opportunities for the worthy, no matter of what class. 

 The claims of the war during the year under review 

 upon the schools, upon the teaching staffs, even upon 

 the pupils themselves in response to industrial and 

 agricultural demands, have increased in intensity and 

 with unfortunate results, since many school buildings 

 have been closed either for the billeting of troops or 

 for use as hospitals ; the male teaching staffs have 

 been seriously depleted; the classes have necessarily 

 been enlarged, to the grave disadvantage of the 

 pupils ; and in many other ways the work of education 

 has been impeded. There has been a serious decrease 

 compared with 1915 of nearly 26,000 pupils of twelve 

 years of age and upwards in the public elementary 

 schools, due to the large number who have passed 

 into employment. 



The question of the supply of male teachers has 

 become grave, even apart from the exigencies of the 

 war. due in large measure to the inadequate salaries 

 paid and to the poor prospects offered. In the year 

 1916, on August I, the number of boy entrants to the 

 teaching profession in England and Wales was 1063, 

 of girls 5228, or a total of 6291 ; but the real annual 

 demand for entrants, even under normal conditions, is 

 9000, including men and women. Unless this g^ave 

 deficiency can be met by satisfactory measures there 

 can be neither any increase in the length of the school 

 life nor reduction in the size of classes, and it will, 

 moreover, gravely imperil the level of efficiency in the 

 schools reached before the war. The number of men 

 students in the training colleges has fallen from 4242 

 to about 1500, and nearly 4000 men have joined the 

 Army direct from them. It is now proposed, in order 

 to increase the supplv of candidates, to modify the 



NO. 2489, VOL. 99] 



requirements of the bursar system in the direction of 

 the pupil-teacher methods of former days. 



The work of the secondary schools, like that of the 

 elementary schools, has suffered much by reason of 

 the war. The number of schools now recognised as 

 efficient by the Board is 1178, educating some 231,000 

 pupils, a vast advance upon days prior to 1902. Of this 

 number about 9000 were displaced in 1916 by military 

 or hospital occupation of school premises, and other pro- 

 vision far less adequate was made for them. The male 

 staff of the secondary- schools has also suffered much. 

 Upwards of 2600 men have joined the Services since 

 the beginning of the war up to October 31, 19 16. 

 Praiseworthy efforts have been made by the local 

 education authorities and by the teachers of all grades 

 to meet the untoward circumstances of the time, but, 

 as may be expected with but partial success. 



The attendance of students attached to technical 

 schools, schools of art, and other schools and classes 

 for further education has fallen considerably. Many 

 of the schools have been engaged in munition work 

 and in the training of munition workers. There was 

 a serious diminution in 1916 in the evening and 

 part-time schools, the number having fallen from 5413 

 to 3909, as compared with 19 15. Much praise is given 

 in the report to the initiative, adaptability, and public 

 spirit of the universities and technical colleges in 

 rrieeting so successfully the demands set up by the 

 war. 



The universities and colleges have continued to make 

 contributions of the highest value to the national 

 cause in the prosecution of abstruse and laborious 

 researches into technical matters bearing upon the 

 war, and especially in the enlightenment and informa- 

 tion of public opinion. All this has been done with- 

 out in the least ceasing to provide for the needs of 

 those able to pursue the ordinary courses of study. 

 The Government has been able materially to aid in 

 this development bv financial assistance of a special 

 nature. It is noted in the report with much satisfac- 

 tion that greatly increased interest has been displayed by 

 almost all sections of the Press and of the public in the 

 possibilities and problems of the universities, than 

 which there can scarcely be a more hopeful sign. "It 

 is being realised," to quote the words of the report. 

 " more clearlv day bv day how much the welfare and 

 progress of the nation depend upon a highly equipped, 

 accessible, and well-organised system of universit>* 

 education. . . . The war has brought the professor and 

 the manufacturer together, with results which neither 

 is likely to forgret." It has apparently taken a devas- 

 tating war to brinsf about this consummation. Many 

 important benefactions made to universities and col- 

 leges during 19 16 in aid of their respective spheres 

 of work are noted in the report. 



THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION AND 

 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 



FROM the 1916 Year Book of the Carnegie Insti- 

 tution of Washington we learn that the follow- 

 ing grants have been authorised by the Board of 

 Trustees for the current vear : — 



;^227,53o 



