March 6, 19 19] 



NATURE 



The British Journal Photographic Almanac and 

 Photographer's Daily Companion, 1919. Edited 

 by George E. Brown. Pp. 644. (London : 

 Henry Greenwood and Co., Ltd., 1918.) Price 

 IS. 6d. net. 

 It is very satisfactory that this annual has sur- 

 vived the war, for it is indispensable wherever 

 photography other than mere routine work is 

 actively carried on. The present volume is the 

 fifth issued since August, 1914, and suffers the 

 most severely of all from the restrictions that 

 necessity has imposed upon us. However, even 

 this is a substantial volume, in which none of the 

 main features that we have been led to expect 

 art- omitted. The article by the editor is on 

 "Photographic Definitions," and these are 

 arranged according to subject in a series of sec- 

 tions, each of which is a kind of running com- 

 mentary on the subject of its title. The com- 

 mercial uncertainty of the present time is shown 

 by the comparatively few prices that are given 

 in the advertisements. The most useful section 

 to the student, the "Epitome of Progress," shows 

 that notable advances have been made in the 

 X ience of photography, as well as in the prices 

 of materials. We regret that formulae for the 

 use of metol and glycin as developers are not 

 given. Metol, certainly, is as generally useful as 

 ever it was. Perhaps these were removed because 

 of their "enemy origin," but they have for some 

 time been "British-made," and figure in at least 

 two or three places in the advertisement pages. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



•!i- Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 xpressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to 

 ■ turn, or to correspond ivith the writers of, rejected nianu- 

 r ripis intended for this or any other part of Nature. No 

 notice is taken of anonymous commtmications.] 



The Directorship of the Natural History Museum. 



jfc^jHE Director of the British Museum (Natural 

 '^History) is about to retire, and we learn with deep 

 apprehension that the principal trustees, with whom 

 the appointment rests, have received, or are about to 

 rfcrive, from the general body of trustees a recom- 

 mendation to pass over the claims of scientific men 

 and to appoint a lay official, who is at present assis- 

 ■ tant secretary. The former directors, Sir Richard 

 Owen, Sir William Flower, and Sir Ray Lankester, 

 ■1 like the present director, Sir Lazarus Fletcher, were 

 all distinguished scientific men. The Natural History 

 Museum is a scientific institution. There is a large 

 staff of scientific keepers and assistants. The director 

 has to represent natural history to the public, to other 

 scientific institutions at home, in the Dominions and 

 Colonies, and in foreign countries, and to the many 

 Government Departments with which the museum 

 has relations. He must represent it with knowledge 

 and authority. There are few posts with such possi- 

 l)ilities of advancing the natural history sciences, of 

 making them useful to the nadon, and of interpreting 

 them to the public. The existence of the post is a 

 great stimulus to the zeal and ambition of zoologists 

 and geologists. 



Vhv arguments alleged in favour of the recom- 

 mendation are trivial. It is stated that a former 

 director was allowed by the trustees to leave the 

 administrative details to the member of the clerical 

 tff whom it is proposed to promote, that he per- 



NO. 2575, VOL. 103] 



formed these duties with ability, and during the 

 tenure of the present director retained and extended 

 his powers. It is urged that the tenure of the new 

 director would be short, as he would have to retire 

 in two years under the age limit. It is pleaded that 

 promotion would entitle him to a larger pension, and 

 that he need not be called director, but only acting- 

 director. 



Plainly, if the assistant secretary be the only man 

 who knows the details of administration, it is im- 

 portant that the permanent director should be ap- 

 pointed at once, in order to have the opportunity of 

 learning them before taking them over. In actual 

 fact there is nothing in the administrative work of 

 the directorship that could not be learned in a few- 

 weeks or months by any person of ordinary intel- 

 ligence. At least two of the present keepers are 

 eligible for the vacancy, have attained the necessary 

 scientific standing, and have ample experience of the 

 museum itself. To pass over these or several eminent 

 and eligible men not on the staff in favour of one 

 of the ordinary office staff would be an affront to 

 scientific men and of grave detriment to science. 



W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S. (Honorary Pro- 

 fessor of Geology and Palaeontology, Man- 

 chester). 

 J. CossAR EwART, F.R.S. (Professor of 



Natural History, Edinburgh). 

 F. W. Gamble, F.R.S. (Professor of Zoology, 



Birmingham). 

 J. S. Gardiner, F.R.S. (Professor of Zoo- 

 logy, Cambridge). 

 Walter Garstang, D.Sc. (Professor of Zoo- 

 logy, Leeds). 

 E. S. Goodrich, F.R.S. (Aldrichian Demon- 

 strator of Comparative .\natomy, Oxford). 

 W. A. Herdman, F.R.S. (Foreign Secretary, 

 Royal Society, Professor of Natural His- 

 tory, Liverpool). 

 S. J. HiCKSON, F.R.S. (Professor of Zoology, 



Manchester). 

 J. P. Hill, F.R.S. (Jodrell Professor of 



Zoology, London). 

 W. E. HoYLE, D.Sc. (Director, National 



Museum of Wales). 

 .-Xrthur Keith, F.R.S. (Hunterian Professor 

 and Conservator of the Museum of the 

 Royal College of Surgeons). 

 J. Graham Kerr, F.R.S. (Regius Professor 



of Zoology, Glasgow). 

 E. W. MacBride, F.R.S. (Professor of Zoo- 

 logy, Imperial College of Science). 

 W. C. McIntosh, F.R.S. (Emeritus Professor 



of Natural History, St. .Andrews). 

 J. E. Marr, F.R.S. (Woodwardian Professor 



of Geology, Cambridge). 

 P. Chalmers Mitchell, C.B.E., F.R.S. 



(Secretary, Zoological Society of London). 

 E. B. PouLTON, F.R.S. (Hope Professor of 



Zoology, Oxford). 

 R. C. Punnett. F.R.S. (Arthur Balfour Pro- 

 fessor of Genetics, Cambridge). 

 A. C. Seward, F.R.S. (Master of Downing 

 College, and Professor of Botany, Cam- 

 bridge). 

 .\. E. Shipley. F.R.S. (Master of Christ's 

 College and Reader of Zoology, Cambridge). 

 W. J. SoLLAs, F.R.S. (Professor of Geology, 



Oxford). 

 Jethro J. H. Teall, F.R.S. (lately Director 

 of the Geological Survey of Great Britain). 

 J. .Arthi'r Thomson, LL.D. (Professor of 

 Natural History, .Aberdeen). 

 February 27. 



