May II, 1916] 



NATURE 



■66 



tant paper by Dr. E. A. Cockayne on "Gynandro- 

 morphism." Insects with the secondary sexual char- 

 acters of both male and female variously combined in 

 a single individual are favourite curiosities among 

 collectors. Dr. Cockayne is able to describe the in- 

 ternal reproductive organs and the genital armature 

 in several specimens of these abnormalities. He divides 

 such insects into three groups : — (i) Genetic her- 

 maphrodites, with both ovaries and testes and the 

 genital armature of both sexes represented — these are 

 often laterally divided into a male and a female half, 

 though the symmetry is rarely exact; (2) primary 

 somatic hermaphrodites, which have either ovaries or 

 testes, but both male and female structures in the 

 armature; and (3) secondary somatic hermaphrodites, 

 unisexual as regards .the whole reproductive apparatus, 

 but with secondary characters of both sexes in the 

 wings, feelers, or elsewhere. The great majority of 

 the observed cases fall into the second of these divi- 

 sions. Dr. Cockayne accepts the view that sex is a 

 Mendelian unit character, and suggests that in the 

 "halved" gynandromorphs there must be an irregular 

 division of the sex-determining chromatin in the first 

 cleavage of the zygote-nucleus, while in the other types 

 there may be " a failure in the normal process of fusion 

 of the sex-chromosomes of the spermatozoon and 

 ovum" or "a difference in the potency of the factors 

 for sex occurring in the two parents." 



The heredity of bone-fragility in man is discussed by 

 Profs. H. S. Coward and C. B. Davenport in Bulletin 14 

 of the New York Eugenics Record Office. From a 

 number of family histories it appears that this condi- 

 tion (osteopsathyrosis) behaves as a Mendelian 

 dominant often correlated with a blue colour in the 

 sclerotic coat of the eye, but not complicated by special 

 association with either sex-factor. A man and woman, 

 both free from the condition, need not fear, therefore, 

 that it can be transmitted through them to offspring, 

 even though they may have brothers or sisters affected. 



G. H. C. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELUGENCE. 



It is announced in the issue of Science for April 7 

 that Harvard University has received a bequest of 

 io,3ooZ. from the estate of Mr. J. A. Beebe, and one 

 of 10,000/. from the estate of Mrs. W. F. Matchett; 

 the income of both is to be used for general purposes. 



In the House of Commons on May 9, Sir Philip 

 Magnus asked the Prime Minister whether, having 

 regard to the general demand that had been expressed 

 for an exhaustive inquir}- into our present educational 

 system, particularly with regard to the claims of 

 science to occupy a more important place in the 

 curriculum of our schools, he could make any state- 

 ment as to the proposal for the appointment of a Royal 

 Commission to consider and to report uf>on the question 

 of the organisation of education in this country. In 

 reply, Mr. Asquith said : — "When the Government are 

 in possession of the results of the various inquiries 

 they have set on foot it will be possible to decide 

 whether any useful purpose would be served by setting 

 up a Rojal Commission." 



The growing unrest in the minds of thoughtful 

 persons on the subject of public education finds ex- 

 pression in a leading article of the current issue of the 

 Times Educational Supplement, which, during the last 

 twelve months, has consistently pleaded for a, more 

 liberal conception of the aims of education in the 

 elementarj' school and of the necessary extension of 

 the compulsor\- period of school attendance until the 

 age of fifteen, so as to make effective for all children 



NO. 2428, VOL. 97] 



the elements at least of a secondary' education from 

 the age of eleven. .As in many other matters of high 

 importance, the events of the war have brought into 

 clear vision many national shortcomings, not the least 

 of which is to be found in the domam of education,, 

 alike in respect of means and method, subjects of 

 instruction, the length of the school life, and the care 

 of the adolescent. It is clear that the nation cannot 

 hope to maintain and advance its position as a civilised 

 Power of the first rank unless the mental and moral 

 training of its future citizens receives the devoted atten- 

 tion of the best minds of the nation, whose advice and 

 guidance shall be accepted independent of any merely 

 pecuniary considerations. The issue is vital to- the 

 national well-being. Bodies like the Royal Society, 

 the British Science Guild, the Teachers' Guild of Great 

 Britain, various education authorities, and teachers' 

 associations are all moving for an inquiry at the 

 hands of men of high responsibilit}', eminent in the 

 world of science and industrj-, and of men known for 

 their devotion to the educational well-being of the 

 nation. No mere departmental committee, however 

 reinforced, will meet the grave responsibilities of the 

 problems involved. Even in the stress of an un- 

 paralleled war — indeed, because of it — it is essential 

 that immediate steps be taken to review our whole 

 system of education and to find a remedy for the 

 crying evils that beset it. 



In an article in the current Fortnightly Review, by 

 Mr. .Archibald Hurd, we are invited to consider "The 

 German Peril after the War," and its bearing upon the 

 economic well-being of the British Empire. Much in 

 the way of abuse is poured out upon the entire Ger- 

 man nation, who are characterised as the "best- 

 educated and most unmoral people of Europe, whose 

 guile, lack of principle, and innate baseness we have 

 only been in a position to comprehend since this war 

 opened." When the war is over and victory has been- 

 achieved, " Germany with its vast population of from 

 60,000,000 to 70,000,000 will remain . . . with its vast 

 resources organised, prepared to reassert its position 

 in the world." We shall then embark upon an 

 economic struggle scarcely less deadly in its effects 

 than the war in which we are now engaged. It is 

 admitted that German education — skill in applying 

 the fruits of scientific discovery — energy, enterprise, 

 and power of organisation have brought her into 

 strenuous rivalry with Great Britain, but it has been 

 accompanied apparently with a Machiavellian in- 

 genuity of means and purpose unrivalled in the world's 

 history. " Germany has had a monopoly in explo- 

 sives, chemical dyes . . . and many other essentials 

 of modern industry, including laboraton,' and optical 

 glass." "Our sick could not be tended because she 

 controlled essential chemicals," and " in a hundred and 

 one trades Germany has had complete control." The 

 trend of the article favours fiscal measures as the 

 most effective palliative, yet at the same time the 

 nation is urged to reform its system of education and 

 to co-ordinate science and industry. The author, how- 

 ever, fails to realise the true source of Germany's 

 great economic position, namely, her educational 

 efficiency. 



A White Paper issued on April 25 contains reports 

 of the Advisory Committee on grants to Welsh univer- 

 sities and colleges, and of the Departmental Com- 

 mittee on the National Medical School for Wales, 

 which were both made in 19 14, and Treasury minutes 

 thereon, one of which is dated -April iS last. This 

 minute points out that a Royal Commission has now- 

 been appointed to inquire into the organisation and 

 work of the University of Wales and Welsh colleges, 

 and goes on to say that the Treasury is prepared to. 

 concur in the recommendations of the Advisory Coan-. 



