NOVEMBER 16, 1916] 
NATURE 
217 
Meteorological Office has received the special thanks of 
the Admiralty for its services in the Mediterranean. The 
world at large has been unaware of these manifold 
activities, imagining that the Meteorological Office 
practically ceased to exist when the daily forecasts in 
the newspapers came to an end. Yet during its silence 
the department has been worked far harder than ever 
before, and it was in recognition of the success of the 
a that the director received the honour of knight- 
ood. 
EDUCATION AT THE BRITISH 
: ASSOCIATION. 
Af TER the presidential address, the section took up 
the discussion of the reform of the primary school. 
Mr. J. C. Legge dealt with handwork, but unfor- 
tunately he spent the greater part of his half-hour 
upon historical and psychological preliminaries. Of 
the constructive suggestions outlined in the abstract 
the most interesting was the idea of finding in the 
soldiers returned from the war a great reservoir of admir- 
able men who might be trained as teachers of hand- 
work. , He concluded with a plea for greater freedom 
to local authorities, a freedom such as would allow 
them to develop along their own lines, under the 
gentlest supervision from a very human central 
authority. Prof. T. P. Nunn pointed out the dangers 
of formality in handwork—a danger from which Mr. 
Legge’s paper was not wholly free, in so far as it 
seemed to separate the activity of muscle and nerve 
from purposefulness. Manual activity must not be 
regarded as an end in itself, a danger which 
it shared with all other school subjects, as 
shown especially by mathematics and geography. 
Some body of central interest, life itself perhaps, is 
essential in order to give meaning to the several parts 
of the curriculum. In school, handwork should be 
an aid to the so-called intellectual subjects, and it 
should be the means of developing the feeling for 
craftsmanship and art. Prof. J. A. Green pleaded for 
a larger place and a new use for books. The booki- 
ness of the primary school was not due to a superfluity 
of books, but to the unrealities for which books stood. 
Rightly understood, it is more books, not fewer, 
that are wanted there. A disappointing discussion fol- 
lowed, in which side-issues rather than fundamentals 
were raised—a result perhaps inevitable when the 
wide range of the subject is remembered. 
A better result was achieved next day, when the 
place of science in secondary and higher education 
was considered. Mr. J. S. Talbot, referring to a com- 
mittee of the Incorporated Association of Headmasters 
which had met recently at Wellington, said there was 
general agreement as to the necessity of finding a 
place for science amongst the subjects essential 
to a good school education. From two and 
a half to four hours a week should be _ pro- 
vided for it in the school time-table of all boys up to 
sixteen. At the same time, they were not agreed that 
the school science of to-day was wholly satisfactory. 
A well-educated boy should surely know something 
of men like Newton, Darwin, and Pasteur, though he 
might now do much science at school without hearing 
of them. Dr, Gray’s precise scheme of reform followed 
broadly the same line. The division between classical 
and modern sides should, he thought, be dropped for 
all boys in public schools before sixteen, though the 
division might take place at fourteen in municipal 
secondary schools, where it would follow technical and 
commercial lines of demarcation.. After sixteen all 
boys should be taught the principles of biology. Dr. 
Hadow dealt with the subject from the point of view 
of the universities. The present first-year work might 
NO. 2455, VOL. 98] 
be better done in the schools, and the three years’ 
university course begin at the end of what is now 
the intermediate course. As to research, the pure 
science student might start immediately he had gradu- 
ated, but applied science men should go to the works 
first and return to the university after a year or two 
there. Dr. E. F. Armstrong deprecated the booky 
man of science. Present methods produced few men 
of any use in business where scientific methods of 
attacking problems were the first essential. But the 
prizes in industry depended in the last resort upon 
capacity for organisation and command. In 
the discussion, all the speakers agreed in  con- 
demning early specialisation and demanding a 
fuller recognition of. science in the _ schools, 
and some further emphasis was laid upon the 
doubt as to whether just the right kind of science was 
being provided for boys amongst whom a large pro- 
portion had literary or linguistic tastes. Similar 
problems in relation to girls’ education were discussed 
in the afternoon, though the issues were narrowed 
down to the school science more suited to girls pre- 
paring for the medical profession on one hand, and 
for domestic life on the other. 
The last meeting of the section was devoted to a 
consideration of the report of the Mental and Physical 
Factors Committee, which had conducted an inquiry 
into the development of facility in the first four rules 
of arithmetic as shown by elementary-school children 
between eight and fourteen years of age. 
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 
' NEWCASTLE. 
SECTION K.. 
BOTANY. 
OPENING ADDRESS (ABRIDGED) By A. B. RENDLE, M.A., 
D.Sc., F.R.S., PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 
SINCE our last meeting the Great War has continued 
to hold chief place in our lives and thoughts, and in 
various ways, and to a greater or less degree, has 
influenced our work. In the case of many botany 
has had for the time being to be set aside, while 
others have been able to devote only a part of their 
time to scientific work. On the other hand, it is 
gratifying to note that some have been able to render 
helpful service on lines more or less directly connected 
with theirown science. The trained botanist has shown 
that he may be an eminently adaptable person, 
capable, after short preparation on special lines, of 
taking up positions involving scientific investigation 
of the highest importance from the points of view of 
medicine and hygiene. 
Some months ago the various sectional committees 
received a request to consider what could be done in 
their respective sections to meet problems which would 
arise after the war. Your committee met and dis- 
cussed the matter, with the result that a set of 
queries was sent round to representative botanists 
asking that suggestions might be presented for con- 
sideration by the committee. A number of sugges- 
tions were received of a very varied kind, indicating 
that, in the opinion of many botanists at any rate, 
much might be done to utilise our science and its 
trained workers in the interests of the State and 
Empire. Your committee decided to arrange for re- 
ports to be prepared on several of the more important 
aspects by members who were specially fitted to dis- 
cuss these aspects, and these will be presented in the 
course of the meeting. These reports will, I am con- 
vinced, be of great value, and may lead to helpful 
See they may also open up the wavy to useful 
work, 
