i«86 



NATURE 



[April 27, 19 16 



Hiant assistant medical officer. Dr. Hawksley had 

 -always been associated with Liverpool, and was a 

 graduate of the University of the city. His first asso- 

 <;iation with the corporation was as a resident medical 

 officer at the Fazakerley Hospital. Afterwards he held 

 the post of assistant school medical officer, and ulti- 

 mately was appointed an assistant medical officer of 

 health to deal with problems relating to tuberculosis. 

 Following the passing of the National Insurance Act. 

 Dr. Hawksley naturally attained the additional posi- 

 tion of acting chief tuberculosis officer, a post for 

 which his previous experience gave him exceptional 

 qualification. The harmonious relationship which now 

 exists between the Insurance Committee and the cor- 

 poration serves as a lasting monument to his unfailing 

 tact and administrative ability, for upon his shoulders 

 fell much of the original work of organising the Liver- 

 pool tuberculosis scheme. Of his services to his 

 country since war was declared little is known to those 

 at home, but, if his military duties were performed 

 with the enthusiasm, tact, and efficiency which char- 

 acterised his work as a civil servant, the loss to the 

 Army is as deplorable as to the city of Liverpool. His 

 interests were many-sided, for, besides the numerous 

 committees of charitable organisations on which he 

 served, the Atmospheric Pollution Committee has 

 reason to feel the loss of an enthusiastic worker. All 

 who knew Dr. Hawksley will deeply sympathise with 

 his widow and two children in their bereavement. 



The Daily Chronicle for April 24 gives the sub- 

 stance of an interesting letter sent to Prof. Lorentz, of 

 Haarlem, by Dr. Max Planck, professor of mathe- 

 matical physics in the University of Berlin, and per- 

 manent secretary of the Royal Prussian Academy of 

 Sciences. In this letter Prof. Planck recalls the letter 

 addressed to the civilised world in August, 1914, by 

 ninety-three German'' scholars and artists, in which 

 they defended the conduct of their own Govern- 

 ment, and denounced in extravagant language the 

 action of the Allies. Prof. Planck himself was one 

 of the signatories. He now admits that the form in 

 which this letter was written led to regrettable mis- 

 understandings of the real sentiments of the signa- 

 tories. In his opinion, and it is an opinion shared, he 

 says, by his colleagues Harnack, Nernst, Waldeyer, 

 and Wilamowitz-Mollendorff, that letter of appeal was 

 written and signed in the patriotic exuberance of the 

 first weeks of the war. It must not be taken for 

 granted, says Prof. Planck, that at the present time 

 anything like a scientific judgment can be formed with 

 regard to the great questions of the historical present. 

 " But what I wish to impress on you," he writes to 

 Dr. Lorentz, " is that notwithstanding the awful 

 events around us I have come to the firm conviction 

 that there are moral and intellectual regions which lie 

 beyond this war of nations, and that honourable co- 

 operation, the cultivation of international values, and 

 personal respect for the citizens of an enemy State 

 are perfectly compatible with glowing love and intense 

 work for one's own country." 



According to the Times of April 20, the Behar and 

 Orissa Government has issued an account of recent 

 unrest among the Oraons of Chota Nagpur, which is 

 of considerable interest to anthropologists. The un- 

 rest would seem to have been brought about by a 

 number of causes, among them a desire to raise the 

 tribe to the higher social level of Hindu and Christian 

 converts, the general unrest caused by the war, and 

 the withdrawal of German missionaries. The chief 

 cause, however, would appear to be an effort made 

 by the Oraons about August, 1Q15, to expel from their 

 country the evil spirits which they held responsible for 

 the bad crops and the high prices. To effect this 



NO. 2426, VOL. 97] 



object secret meetings were held at night by the 

 younger men, at which powerful mantras, or spells, 

 were recited. Into some of these, it is not unimpor- 

 tant to note, the name of the German Emperor was 

 introduced. Acts of violence followed, and extra police 

 were drafted into the district. But, adds the report, 

 the process of pacification is slow, as the expulsion of 

 evil spirits from one village leads to the alleged trans- 

 fer to another. As might have been expected, the 

 movement was followed by "witch-hunting," in which 

 the general populace took part, as well as the sokas, 

 or " witch-hunters." Several murders have taken 

 place. The whole account is an interesting com- 

 mentary on primitive psychology, with the workings 

 of which readers of Sir James Frazer's discussions of 

 the purification ceremony of "devil-driving," the trans- 

 ference of evils, and the medicine-man will be familiar. 

 It may also serve as a further reminder, should one 

 be needed, of. the importance to officials of an under- 

 standing of the springs of action in a lower race. 



In the recently issued annual report of the Decimal 

 Association for 1915, it is stated that the past year 

 has shown a distinct advance in public opinion in 

 favour of the compulsory introduction of the metric 

 system of weights and measures. It is pointed out 

 that our manufacturers are severely handicapf>ed as 

 regards trade with foreign countries by the retention 

 of our present weights and measures. As the metric 

 system is in use in the majority of foreign markets 

 the British manufacturer who wishes to introduce his 

 goods into those markets is at present obliged to main- 

 tain two systems of weights and measures, both in his 

 works and in his office. On the other hand, his com- 

 petitor on the Continent employs only one system 

 throughout, and that system is understood both by the 

 middleman and the customer. One of the results of the 

 war has been to familiarise the nation with the metric 

 system to a remarkable extent. The presence of our 

 soldiers on the Continent and of Belgian and French 

 refugees in our midst has been an important factor in 

 bringing this about. The nation has already had to 

 experience so many drastic innovations that a reform 

 of our weights and measures would not now meet 

 with that blind opposition from the general trading 

 community which up to the present has been appre- 

 hended by the authorities. The inconvenience experi- 

 enced by the public owing to the exclusion of German 

 and Austrian wares, especially certain classes of goods 

 which have become almost necessaries, must have 

 caused the nation to realise that improvement in our 

 business methods is urgently required. The Associa- 

 tion hopes that the Government will take advantage of 

 the favourable opportunity which war conditions have 

 created for introducing legislation to bring our weights 

 and measures into conformity with those which have 

 been proved by our competitors to be the most suitable 

 for stimulating external trade. 



The address of Sir Hugh Bell to the members of 

 the Political Economy Club on March i, published in 

 the Economic Journal for April, is a valuable con- 

 tribution, especially as coming from a great iron- 

 master in close competition with a great German 

 industry, to the current controversy as to the com-j 

 mercial policy of this country after the war in relation 

 to the Central Powers. Sir Hugh Bell makes it clear 

 that the industrial advance of Germany since 1870 

 has been the fruit mainly of "the German system of 

 education," which "put into the hands of the German i 

 manufacturer the means of conducting his operations 

 in a thoroughly scientific way." "Very carefully 

 trained chemists were turned out of the technical 

 schools by hundreds," and the manufacturers "had 

 the good sense to make use of the materials thus pro- 



