142 NATURE 
[OcToBER 19, 1916 . 
the very elasticity ur the system would be a goou 
augury for the future. 4 
A committee of this association has been investigat- 
ing for the past two years into the extent to which 
women have recently replaced men in industry. A 
certain amount of exaggeration exists as to the num- 
ber of women who nave entered our factories or 
undertaken services left vacant by men who have 
joined the Forces. 
figures, about 600,000, as against five million men 
who have joined either the Navy or the Army as a 
consequence of the war. 
The entry of large numbers of women into industry 
has been viewed with a certain amount of alarm by 
the men; and trade unions have naturally stipulated, 
where possible, that these women shall receive the 
same rates of pay for the same work as the men, and 
that when the men return the women shall give place 
to them. 
That there was little ground for alarm as to the 
influx of women can be realised by a consideration 
of a few facts and figures. The majority of men who 
enlisted were workpeople of one sort or another; of 
these, unhappily, some have been killed in battle or 
have been rendered incapable for work. Even so, the 
majority will come home requiring occupation. What 
opportunities will they find? 
To answer this question at all satisfactorily it is 
necessary to consider some determining factors. 
Thousands of men have left indoor occupations and 
their accustomed town life and have been trained, 
drilled, and disciplined under open-air conditions. 
They have lived, worked, and fought in the open 
country in some cases for many months. The new 
experience has had potent effects. Physique has im- 
proved, the outlook on life has changed, in many 
cases new hopes for the future have been formed. 
Inquiry shows that there is a division of opinion as 
to the extent to which disbanded members of the 
Forces will decide on making a radical change in their 
mode of life. Yet the experience of what occurred 
after the South African War warrants us in assuming 
that considerable numbers will only return to indoor 
occupations and town life if there be no alternative. 
It is too soon yet to form an opinion as to what 
opportunities there will be for land settlement. But 
it is known that offers will be made, both at home 
and in various parts of the Empire. A moderate esti- 
mate of those accepting these offers, and of our losses 
of killed and permanently disabled, would be at least 
one million. Then we shall undoubtedly require, at 
any rate for some years, a much larger standing 
Army. Even on a peace footings this at a moderate 
computation may be put at a million men. These two 
figures, and neither of them errs on the side of 
exaggeration, will absorb two million men who will 
be permanently lost to the old occupations. 
Moreover, there is good ground for anticipating 
that if the war concludes before our resources are 
unduly strained, and there is everv prospect that it 
will, there will be a period of good trade. We have 
to restore our own depleted stocks of goods, our mer- 
cantile marine demands a large amount of new ton- 
nage, railways and other transnort services will re- 
auire much new equipment. Turning to the Con- 
tinent, parts of France, Belgium, and other of the 
Entente countries will need reconstruction works of 
considerable proportions, and in this work we shall 
play a great part. World markets, too, have been 
kent short of many manufactured goods. We shall 
be in a position both to finance and carry on a greatly 
extended svstem of industry and commerce. for not’ 
only is our banking svstem vrepared to face this, 
NO. 2451, VOL. 98] 
The total number is, in round , 
but our man force has been greatly improved, and our 
industrial equipment to a great extent remodelled. 
Reverting to the somewhat thorny question of the 
women who have been engaged on what were men’s 
occupations, I see no cause for alarm. Many women 
came forward from motives of patriotism, and will 
gladly resume their former state. The question, I 
believe, will rather be how can we obtain the labour 
necessary to cope with the post-war demand. 
The new equipment of our factories will place us 
in a position to increase very greatly our ouput, and 
this should enable us not only to face a possible labour 
shortage, but if the recommendations made by this 
section of the association meet with a favourable re- 
sponse, our labour force should enter upon a new 
period of prosperity consequent on a remodelling 
which has been rendered possible by a reorganisation 
of our industrial machinery. This new epoch for 
labour would include higher wages, shorter hours, 
and better working conditions. To effect these salu- 
tarv advances both employers and employed need to 
exercise sanity of judgment, frankness in mutual 
discussions, »nd a recognition of the fact that the 
prosperity and material well-being of each is bound up 
in a common effort to maintain and develop our indus- 
trial and commercial position. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
Oxrorp.—The term has opened with a greatly re- 
duced number of undergraduates. Exact figures are 
not yet forthcoming, but they will certainly be small. 
The current issue of the University Gazette contains 
the names of 312 members of the University who have 
lost their lives on active service during the last three 
months, all but a very few having been killed in 
action. The usual lists of lectures, demonstrations, 
and laboratory work have been issued by the heads of 
the various science departments. The programme pub- 
lished by the School of Geography includes lectures by 
the acting director on geographical method and on 
the distribution and economic geography of primitive 
societies; by the demonstrator, on regional geography 
of the British Isles; and by Messrs. Spicer and Ken- 
drew, on land forms and climate. Practical classes 
will also be held. The Committee for Anthropology 
has arranged for lectures on physical anthropology, 
ethnology, theories of totemism, and primitive archzo- 
logy. These will be given by Prof. A. Thomson, Miss 
Czaplicka, Mr. H. Balfour, and Dr. Marett. Demon- 
strations and informal instruction on a large variety of 
subjects connected with anthronology are also 
announced, 
Tit widow of Prof. Gwynne Vaughan has presented 
to the Botanical Department of the University of 
Glasgow the collection of more than 2000 slides, in 
mahogany cabinet. belonging to her late husband, and 
the originals of all his published memoirs, 
A SPECIAL course of short lectures is to be given by 
Mr. E. F. Etchells to the Junior Institution of 
Engineers on alternate Friday evenings, beginning 
on October 20. The subjects are :—'‘A Common- 
sense Notation for Engineers,’”’ ‘‘ The Practical Use of 
Units in the Evaluation of Formule,” ‘‘How to 
Memorise Formule,’ ‘‘ Logic of the Differential and 
Trtegral Calculus.” and ‘‘ Practical and Illustrative 
Examples of the Application of the Newer Concepts.” 
Tue Joint’ Matriculation Board of the Universities 
of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, and Sheffield con- 
ducts a matriculation examination which ensures one 
