24 
NATURE 
[MarcH 4, 1915 

serving in the ranks. We notice with regret that the 
following officers who proceeded to commissions -from 
the University of London O.T.C. are reported killed :— 
2nd Lieut. T. R. Bottomley, Birkbeck College; 2nd 
Lieut. J. S. Paulson, University College; Lieut. C. D. 
Sneath, University College; 2nd Lieut. C. F. Shaw, 
King’s College; 2nd Lieut. M. A. P. Shawyer, East 
London College; and 2nd Lieut. P. J. Whitehouse, 
East London College. 
The Commanding Officer of the University O.T.C. 
Lieut.-Col. D. S. Capper, announces that a limited 
number of young men who are not students of the 
University will be enrolled for a course of continuous 
training with the view of qualifying for commissions. 
Candidates, who must be between the ages of 18 
and 28 and suitable in every respect for commissions 
in the Army, should attend in person to see the 
Adjutant of the Contingent at the Headquarters, 
University of London, South Kensington. The next 
course of continuous training will commence on 
March 15. 
The Senate on February 24 appointed Dr. C. K. 
Tinkler, D.Sc. (Birmingham), to the readership in 
chemistry, tenable in the home science department of 
King’s College for Women. 
The D.Sc.. degree in biological chemistry was 
granted to R. V. Norris (Lister Institute), and in 
physics to A. H. Ferguson. 
Aw interesting series of special lectures dealing with 
questions of social service is at present being con- 
ducted at the Municipal Technical Institute, Belfast. 
The problems created by the war have aroused much 
interest in social work, and have attracted into the 
field of social service large numbers of voluntary 
workers. Amongst these worlers the need is being 
increasingly felt for a better understanding of the 
principles which should be followed and of the methods 
which should be employed in social effort, as well as 
for a fuller knowledge of the local facilities already 
existing for the amelioration of distress. It is to 
meet the urgent call for such knowledge that the 
authorities of the institute have established the lec- 
tures. The programme of the series, issued in 
pamphlet form and containing abridged syllabuses, 
shows that the course takes a very comprehensive 
view of the whole subject. The lectures fall naturally 
into three main groups. The first group deals with 
fundamental and general questions relating to social 
service, the second group deals with municipal and 
State effort, and the third group treats of voluntary 
agencies. The value of the programme is enhanced 
by the inclusion of lists of the books on social sub- 
jects which are available in the library of the institute 
and in the public libraries of the city. The first lec- 
tures of the series have been exceptionally well 
attended. and it is honed that the outcome of the 
series will be the establishment of systematic courses 
of instruction in various branches of social science. 
More than six hundred members of the staff and of 
present and former students of the institute are 
serving with the naval and military forces of the 
Empire. 
Tue debate in the House of Commons on Friday 
last on the vote for the Civil Service and Revenue 
Department was mainly occupied with the question 
of the alleged shortage of adult labour in agricultural 
districts and the attempt of farmers to induce the 
Boards of Agriculture and of Education to loolx with 
favour on the exploitation of children to take the place 
of men who have enlisted. Tt is satisfactory to learn 
that neither of the Boards in question shows much 
inclination to relax the conditions under which chil- 
dren are now allowed to leave school for full-time 
NO. 2366, VOL. 95] 

; work, yet it is nevertheless disquieting to find that in 
some rural areas it is almost impossible to get magis- 
trates to convict for breaches of the school bye-laws. 
The results of the war have not placed farmers in a 
disadvantageous position as regards prices; on the 
contrary, as is well known, the price of wheat and 
other produce has almost doubled since the war began, 
and the farmer has thus little reason to refuse a 
substantial advance in wages such as would induce 
the labourer in the town to return to the countryside. 
Moreover, the question as to whether there is a 
material shortage is not beyond doubt, since it ‘is 
stated that not more than three per cent. of farm 
labourers have joined the forces. The ery for child 
labour comes mainly from the southern counties, 
where it is admitted that the rate of payment is 
greatly below that of the north and in Scotland. In 
any case, before the child is exploited the labour of 
women at an adequate rate demands to be considered. 
Having regard to the fact that this war is making a 
heavy drain upon some of the best elements of the 
industrial population the nation cannot be indifferent 
to the well-being of the children, both physically and 
intellectually. Everything that is possible, no matter 
how great the sacrifice of material interests, should 
be made to conserve both. We are at war with the 
best-instructed nation of the world, and we cannot be 
too considerate of the present welfare of the nation’s 
children, having regard to the heavy responsibility 
the future will place upon them. 
THE second reading of the Universities and Colleges 
(Emergency Powers) Bill was agreed to by the House 
of Commons on Tuesday, March 2. The Bill gives 
the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge power to 
postpone the date of the determination of scholarships 
in order to enable their holders to enjoy them when 
they return from the war. In the same way, power 
is given to suspend the statutory conditions as to 
residence; to enable the richer colleges to make up 
| the deficit in the tutorial fees by taking money from 
their endowments, and the poorer colleges to postpone 
repayment of capital; the power to make emergency 
statutes, and so. on. In moving the second 
reading of the Bill, Mr. Asquith said that 
the total number of members from each Uni- 
versity serving in the Army and at the front 
is approximately 6000. The total number of 
undergraduates in residence at Cambridge a year ago 
was 3181. It is now 1227. The figures for Oxford 
are approximately the same. This means that two- 
thirds of the undergraduates from the two great Uni- 
versities have volunteered for service, and are now 
serving their country in the Army. Nearly all the 
physically fit undergraduates in residence both in 
Oxford and Cambridge have joined the Officers Train- 
ing Corps, and many of the University buildings 
have been given up for military purposes. This 
transformation in the whole aspect and conditions of 
university life has exposed both the Universities as 
a whole and their constituent colleges to great diffi- 
culties and pecuniary embarrassments. At Cambridge 
the fees normally payable in the scientific department 
of the University are 26,oool. a year; and it is esti- 
mated that this year less than 15,o0o0l. will be paid; 
while other fees, usually amounting to 35,o00l., the 
University authorities estimate will be no more than 
15,0001. In supporting the Bill, Sir Joseph Larmor 
said that when the war is over it will be the duty of 
the country to see that the standard of British learn- 
ing and science is maintained before the world. It 
will be the duty of this nation more than ever before 
to see that the things of the mind are attended to 
after we have obtained success in the material prose- 
' cution of the war. 
