286 
of the rostrum into the arena of business life, 
where things are done, and done with efficiency 
and dispatch. Hence the nation welcomes the 
application of the sound principle that men with 
the ‘business sense,” the intangible ability or in- 
tuition which results from a lifetime passed in a 
successful business environment, should control 
the national effort. Mr. Lloyd George, as a prac- 
tical man, has disposed of the superstition that 
a man af first-class ability in one department of 
human affairs is equally capable in other realms 
of activity. 
The appointments made to the Board of Agri- 
culture will give the greatest satisfaction to 
agriculturists. Mr. R. E. Prothero, who becomes 
President of the Board, has a unique knowledge 
of his subject, both.on the scientific and the prac- 
tical sides. His historical studies have thrown 
much light on the development of the subject, 
and shown how the present agricultural position 
arose, and his experience in connection with the 
Bedford estates has given him admirable oppor- 
tunities for learning what is possible under pre- 
sent conditions. Capt. Bathurst, who will prob- 
ably be Parliamentary Secretary to the Board, 
is well known as a landowner who has made im- 
provements on his own estate and encouraged 
others to do the same. He _ has himself worked 
a small holding so as to acquire that first-hand 
knowledge which cannot be won in any other 
way but by direct contact with the things them- 
selves. If matters have not gone too far, Mr. 
Prothero and Capt. Bathurst ought, between 
them, to be able to put the food problem on a 
sound foundation. They start with the good 
wishes and the confidence of the agricultural com- 
munity. 
The appointment of business men like Sir Albert 
Stanley to the Board of Trade, and Lord 
Rhondda to the Local Government Board, carries 
on the same admirable principle of selection. The 
supreme example lies not only in the new offices, 
the Controllerships of Food and Shipping and 
the Ministry of Labour, but in the choice of the 
men to fill these posts. Lord Devonport, who 
becomes Food Controller, is familiar, as the chair- 
man of the Port of London Authority, not only 
with the magnitude of the traffic of the greatest 
port in the world, but also with the intricacy of 
the details of the greatest food-importing agency 
of all time; roughly, half our total food supplies 
_ are imported, and the major portion of these im- 
ports pass through the London Docks. Sir Joseph 
Maclay, Shipping Controller, started business as 
a clerk, and is now one of the largest private 
shipowners in the countrv; he has that “sense 
of the sea” which is the despair of the landsmen 
NO. 2459, VOL. 98] 
NATURE 
SSS ee 
{DECEMBER 14, 1916 
and the most notable human result of our in- 
sular situation. Sir Alfred Mond, First- Com- 
missioner of Works, is another excellent appoint- 
ment; and Dr. Addison, to whom belong's the chief 
credit for the successful establishment of the 
Ministry of Munitions, rightly carries on the 
work of Minister of that department. Even in 
the case of what have been called the 
“strictly political appointments,” the same prin- 
ciple has been at work; Mr. Hodge, ' the 
Minister of Labour, and Mr. Barnes, the Pen- 
sions Minister, bring to their labours the flair 
which comes from a lifelong association with the 
material, i.e. the working-man, with which they 
have to deal. In such fashion the Prime Minister 
has chosen his colleagues, and with the small 
War Council and his own abundant energy he 
promises that relentless, thorough, and efficient: 
concentration on the winning of the war for which 
we, as a people, have been pining for many 
months. In the long run, democratic government 
is by consent of the governed, and the new rulers. 
of Britain will embark upon their mighty effort 
with the willing consent of the people of this. 
country and of the Empire. 
METEOROLOGY FOR GENERAL READERS. 
The Weather-Map: an Introduction to Modern 
Meteorology. By Sir Napier Shaw. Pp. 94. 
(London: Meteorological Office, Exhibition 
Road, S.W., 1916.) Price 4d. 
TEVER has the demand for natural knowledge 
of all kinds been so insistent as during the 
present war, and scientific information of the most 
various kinds has been placed at the disposal of ~ 
many who have had no previous training in such 
subjects. They and the students of science have 
usually no common language, and the ideas which 
even the simpler technical terms connote are un- 
familiar to them. In these circumstances it is no 
easy matter to place the resources of science effec- 
tively at the disposal of all who may wish to 
utilise them. 
Meteorological science has contributed its 
share, not only in the form of weather fore- 
casts and climatic information, but also in 
placing its knowledge of the upper air at the 
service of aviation, gunnery, etc., to aid in the 
solution of the new problems which are con- 
tinually being formulated. Here, too, some 
acquaintance with the general ideas of modern 
meteorology is necessary if the full meaning of a 
forecast or the climatological description of a 
region is to be understood and adequately appre- 
ciated. Everyone is interested in the weather,. 
which is indeed a consideration in nearly all human 
operations and affects our ordinary avocations of 
peace as well as the operations of war; and though 
in both these cases it may be necessary at 
times to disregard the favourable or unfavourable 
