I04 



NATURE 



[April io, 19 19 



book or a complete account of the geography and 

 history of Northamptonshire and Rutland. He 

 leads his readers in rambles through the country- 

 side, dwelling principally in his descriptions on 

 church architecture and historical anecdote. 

 Modern developments find little place in the book, 

 and the scenery and physical features are only 

 lightly touched on. It is a book written by an 

 archaeologist for leisured readers of a like mind 

 to whom Northampton and Rutland are native 

 shires. Judged from that point of view, it is well 

 written and full of interest. More than a hundred 

 drawings by Mr. Y . L. Griggs ably illustrate the 

 volume, and there is a well-executed map. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor docs not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to 

 return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu- 

 scripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.'] 



Marine Research at St. Andrews. 



In his letter published in Nature of March 27 

 Pi-of. Mcintosh states that, while the country is 

 spending large sums of money on international 

 marine investigations, the Gatty Marine Laboratory 

 of St. Andrews is closed for lack of funds. He also 

 points out that the Gatty Marine Laboratory and its 

 predecessor at St. Andrews were the institutions 

 where many marine zoologists, now occupying im- 

 portant positions here and in the Colonies, received 

 their training. 



In spite, however, of the manner in which the 

 laboratory has been ignored by the Government 

 Departments which might have been expected to give 

 it support, it has been the centre for important marine 

 research, the results of which must be appealed to 

 and recognised long after much of the undigested 

 material accumulated under more pretentious condi- 

 tions has been buried under thick layers of dust on 

 Government shelves. It is certainly a pity that in 

 this cobntry the three Government Departments con- 

 cerned with marine investigations work independently 

 of one another, and that each in turn is prepared to 

 adopt a similar policy with reference to the marine 

 laboratories. 



The marine laboratories have claims which, at the 

 present time when schemes of reconstruction are 

 being considered, should not be forgotten— first, as 

 useful adjuncts of the biological teaching of our 

 universities ; secondly, as centres for training those 

 who are to take part in marine investigations; and, 

 thirdly, as institutions where marine investigations 

 are carried out, often to a large extent by voluntary 

 workers. 



Surely, then, before the Government enters upon 

 schemes of investigation, whether national or inter- 

 national, involving the expenditure of large sums of 

 public money, the first endeavour should be to see 

 that those institutions which have already proved so 

 valuable are maintained and developed to their fullest 

 extent. A. Meek. 



Dove Marine Laboratory, Cullercoats, 

 Northumberland, March 31. 



The Machinery of Government. 



The quotation from Carlyle with which the article 

 on the above subiect opens in Nature of April 3 is 

 singularly appropriate — " A man without a purpose is 

 like a ship without a rudder "—and the comments of 

 the writer are very useful. T add another quotation 

 NO. 2580, VOL. 103] 



from a more obscure source : "A man of great know- 

 ledge and unweariable perseverance can really, by 

 constantly pressing, upon Ministers and Departments^ 

 do more than a tired and harassed ofiicial to shape 

 public ends." There is a substratum of truth in this. 

 The State Department lacks initiative. The Minis- 

 ter's time is taken up in assisting to run the political 

 machine, in doing what is brought to him from his 

 Department, and in seeing through such things as 

 may arise in Parliament in connection with his Minis- 

 try. The Department itself is engaged in administra- 

 tive work, and has little time, or perhaps little in- 

 clination, for devising reforms in the interests of the 

 industry it represents. It may be argued by the 

 Department that such is not the work of an adminis- 

 trative Department ; and those relying on a Depart- 

 ment for taking the initiative in any reform should 

 consider whether they are entitled to do so. 



No one should know better the wants of an industry 

 than the more intelligent and far-seeing among the 

 people who carry it on, and it is for them to see 

 that some means is provided for direct access to the 

 Department for suggestion and consultation. This 

 can be done by the appointment of an advisory 

 council as suggested in the Report of the Machinery 

 of Government Committee. It is a matter of the 

 highest importance to the industries of this country 

 that when a Department is approached with this end 

 in view it should receive the suggestion with sjtti- 

 pathy. 



The methods of appointing the members of an 

 advisory council should be such as to secure, so far 

 as possible, the appointment of men in whom those 

 in the industry have confidence. 



A. T- Brander. 



Visualisation of Features. 



May I direct the attention of readers of Nature 

 to a strange trick that I have found my memory to 

 play me for many years? It occurs in the process of 

 recollection of visual impressions (" visualisation ") of 

 faces. 



Suppose, now, that I am attempting to visualise a 

 face not seen for some time, and that I recollect th^ 

 lower lip to be slightly pendulous, while the nose is 

 large and rather prominent — well, I can visualise each, 

 separate feature correctly, but, so soon as I attempt 

 to visualise the face as a wlioJc, the features are 

 grotesquely exaggerated, so that the lip (to take the 

 above case) appears as a huge, pendulous, quite un- 

 natural growth, and the nose as an equally absurd 

 and grossly unreal structure. 



My meaning may not be very clear to all, but if any 

 other readers have had similar experiences, they will, 

 no doubt, understand it. There is possibly some 

 scientific explanation forthcoming; if so, I should be 

 glad to hear of it. R. F. Powell. 



Hodgsonites, Charterhouse, Godalming, 

 Surrey, March 19. 



The ••Atom." 



"To-DAY many chemists and physicists think that 

 the chemical atoms of the last century are no longer 

 to be considered as indivisible. In that case the old 

 Greek name ' atom ' is no longer fitting, because it 

 denotes indivisibility." The above sentences are quoted 

 from the presidential address of Prof. T. W. Richards, 

 published in Nature of March 27. 



Fifty years a£fo Prof. Bi^zier taught us, his students 

 at Aberdeen University, very emphatically that the 

 word " atom " must be taken in its ■t)riniary Greek 

 meaning of uncut, undivided — not as indivisible, but 

 as what had not hitherto been divided. This was long- 

 before the discovery of radio-activitv. A. A. 



