i68 



NATURE 



[October io, 191 2 



thu action iiC the org-anising- committee. We do 

 not look to such meetings to produce any con- 

 tribution to knowledge, but rather to express 

 an attitude of mind and to set an example of a 

 right method of approach to the vexed questions 

 of the day. The eminently sane and statesman- 

 like influence of the Archbishop of York was felt 

 throughout the proceedings, and his opening 

 address contained an excellent summary of the 

 ground to be traversed in these meetings of the 

 Congress, and indicated the point of view from 

 which he desired that it might be surveyed. 



The papers and discussions on town planning 

 and rural housing showed signs of a healthy 

 realisation of the economic aspects of that question. 

 Cottages never will and never ought to be built 

 in any number and let at rents less than their 

 true economic value. Such a course of action, 

 from whatever motives it be adopted, leads in 

 the end to a depreciation of wages. It is, in fact, 

 a return by a circuitous route to the old and evil 

 plan of a subsidy to wages through a widespread 

 extension of a method of outdoor relief — a system 

 which, under the old ante- 1834 Poor Law, proved 

 to be pauperisation in one of the worst forms. 

 Only when it is realised that, as Mr. Raymond 

 L'nwin declared was already the case, it pays to 

 provide good housing accommodation and that 

 garden villages are a better form of investment 

 than potential slums shall we see the end of the 

 long series of lamentable mistakes in housing, 

 some of which have recently been perpetrated 

 afresh in connection with the opening up of the 

 new industrial areas at Doncaster and Dover. 



The question of the falling birth-rate, a fall 

 which is very marked in the manufacturing cities 

 of the northern provinces, wherever women are 

 einployed in factories, was dealt with by Mr. W. 

 C. p. Whetham, F.R.S., who again emphasised 

 the frequent opposition in present circumstances 

 between the economic and the religious aspect 

 of normal family life. The Church of England, 

 unlike the Church of Rome, has not vet grasped 

 the fact that the number and quality of her future 

 niembers, indeed, her very corporate existence, 

 can be made the plaything of social, industrial, 

 and moral forces with which she has neglected 

 to concern herself. 



From the academic point of view, the most inter- 

 esting morning was that devoted, on Thursday, 

 to a discussion of the relation of miracles to the 

 Christian faith, a contribution towards the age- 

 long effort to reconcile intuitive belief and intellec- 

 tual reason and to assign to each their true import- 

 ance in the religious life. The subject was opened 

 In- the Dean of Christ Church (Dr. Strong) with 

 an admirable attempt to determine how far, in the 

 light of all knowledge at present available, it was 

 practicable to answer the question : ".'Vre miracles 

 possible at all?" The Dean gave an excellent 

 account of modern thought relating to the purely 

 mechanical theory of life, which would regard the 

 world as a closed system, controlled bv unerring 

 laws of matter and motion, and in "which the) 

 appearance of a miracle could only be explained 

 XO. 2241, VOL. 90] 



as the result of imperfect observation or incorrect 

 deduction. But he pointed out that recent tend- 

 encies, both in philosophy and biology, would 

 seem to lead away from and not tovi'ards the 

 acceptance of such a mechanical view of nature 

 as the complete and ultimate solution of the whole 

 problem of existence and consciousness. 



Prebendary W'ebb-Peploe's contribution, which 

 was much applauded, served to remind us that for 

 those people who are prepared to adopt intact 

 into their theological belief the experiences attri- 

 buted to Job, Daniel and Jonah, the efforts of 

 learned professors and others to alleviate their lot 

 are both officious and ill-judged. The discussion 

 was closed b\- the .Archbishop, who referred to 

 some of the papers read at the recent meeting of 

 the British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, held at Dundee, and concurred with the 

 Dean that at the present moment It was the 

 mechanical theory of the universe, quite as much 

 as the miraculous basis of Christianity, that was 

 on its trial in the world of thought. His Grace's 

 closing sentences, as reported in The Times, may 

 perhaps be given to sum up the general trend of 

 the whole discussion. "The real meaning of the 

 miraculous was that it was an assurance given 

 to them that, ultimately, the Divine Being was 

 free and master in His own house; and it was the 

 coming forth of that fact into the world that 

 carried with it the consequences that they called 

 miracles." 



NOTES. 



The meeting- to be held at the Mansion House on 

 October 23, in connection with the proposed memorial 

 to the late Lord Lister, is the outcome of a movement 

 which was set on foot bv the presidents of the Royal 

 Society and the Royal College of Surgeons. A large 

 and influential committee has been formed, repre- 

 sentative of scientific, medical, and general interests, 

 both in this country and abroad, and the various pos- 

 sible schei-nes, including a memorial in Westminster 

 .'\bbey, and others of an international character, will 

 be laid before the meeting, which it is hoped will be 

 largely attended. 



The Royal Microscopical Society has arranged to 

 hold a conversazione at King's College, London, on 

 Wednesday, October 16, from 8 to 11 p.m. 



The extension to the Manchester Museum will be 

 opened on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 30, 

 by Mr. Jesse Haworth. An address will be delivered 

 by Prof. W. M. Flinders, F.R.S. 



Mr. E. Grant Hooper, superintending chemist, 

 Government Laboratory, and vice-president of the 

 Society of Chemical Industry, has been appointed 

 Deputy-Government Chemist, in succession to Mr. 

 H. W. Davis, who has retired. 



Sir George D.\rwin, K.C.B., F.R.S. , Plumian pro- 

 fessor of astronomy at Cambridge, who, we regret to 

 learn, has been ill for two or three weeks, underwent 

 a severe operation on Thursday last. On Sunday he 

 spent a bad night, but we are glad to be able to state 

 that he is now making good progress. 



