July 22, 1922] 



NA TURE 



i33 



learn something of, say, the social conditions of the 

 twelfth. Then again, the danger is minimised that a 

 young worker will be given, as is so often the case, 

 an absurd problem, either fully explored, or hopelessly 

 ambitious. In many branches of study the research 

 enthusiasts have got their chance now, and they 

 will have to work hard to justify it. The greatest 

 need is money, so that all subjects may be helped, 

 and our greatest difficulty will be to spend it wisely. 



English Place-names. 



AT a meeting of the Royal Anthropological Insti- 

 tute held on June 27, Prof. A. Mawer, of the 

 University of Liverpool, read a paper on " A Survey 

 of English Place-names." He said that from the 

 earliest times the value of place-names as a possible 

 source of historical knowledge has been recognised. 

 Much early history has frankly been invented from 

 them, and historians have speculated freely as to 

 their meaning. More recently, scholars like Kemble 

 have seen the possibilities latent in place-names ; 

 but until Prof. Skeat first put place-name study on its 

 only secure basis, namely, the study of the early 

 forms of the names, most of the work in this direction 

 was only idle speculation. Conducted on scientific 

 lines, place-name study could do much to throw 

 fresh light on the dark places in the history of our 

 country and its civilisation, where we had no docu- 

 mentary evidence or only such as has long been worn 

 threadbare. Place-names and archaeology are the 

 only unworked sources of evidence still remaining 

 open to us, and these studies should be conducted 

 in close touch with one another. With the aid of 

 place-names, not only should we have fresh light on 

 long-standing problems, but we should also be fur- 

 nished with excellent illustrations of many phases 

 of our history and culture. 



At present we are onhy at the beginning of these 

 studies. Much had been done by individual scholars 

 upon single areas, but it has gradually come home to 

 workers in this field that, in addition to such work, 

 we also need co-operative effort, if ever we are to 

 glean the true harvest of knowledge from place-names. 

 The reasons for this are that (1) no safe inferences, 

 either particular or general, can be drawn with 

 reference to the names of any area except in the 

 light of the full evidence for at least the whole of 

 England ; (2) the range of interests, historical, 

 linguistic, topographical, and archaeological, concerned 

 in the problems of place-names is so wide that they 

 could not' be dealt with adequately by any single 

 scholar. These considerations have moved a small 

 body of scholars representative of the various interests 

 named to initiate, under the patronage of the British 

 Academy, a scheme for a survey of English place- 

 names with a view, not only of the interpretation 

 of the individual names, but also of drawing from 

 them all that wealth of historical and cultural lore 

 which is latent in them. During the first six months 

 of work of the survey, a start has been made in 

 several counties ; many eminent scholars skilled in 

 the various aspects of the work are giving active help, 

 and close relationships have been established with the 

 two public offices most immediately concerned in 

 the matter, namely, the Ordnance Survey and the 

 Public Record Office. 



In opening the discussion, Mr. H. J. E. Peake 

 expressed his gratification that the projected survey 

 of English place-names was not to proceed upon 

 purely linguistic lines, as had been done by earlier 

 workers on this subject, but that archaeological, 

 historical and geographical evidence was to be taken 



into account. The organisation of local branches and 

 local correspondents in this country which the Royal 

 Anthropological Institute had just initiated, might 

 well be of assistance in the work of the survey on these 

 lines. In connexion with the survival of pre-Saxon 

 elements in place-names, to which Prof. Mawer had 

 referred as an instance in which archaeological 

 evidence might be brought to bear upon this problem, 

 he indicated the possible connexion between the 

 element " leek " (e.g. in Leckhampton) and a stone, 

 monument or other, and between the element " wick " 

 (e.g. Wickham) and Roman roads. The unknown site 

 of the battle of YVodensburgh, wrongly identified with 

 Wansdyke, to which Prof. Mawer had referred, he 

 himself had identified by archaeological evidence 

 within the bounds of Aston Priors, the name possibly 

 surviving in the neighbouring YVoodborough. Dr. 

 Singer emphasised the necessity for the study of 

 anthropology of this country, as well as that of the 

 primitive peoples of other parts of the world, to 

 which attention had hitherto been too exclusively 

 directed, and Mr. Nixon gave instances of explana- 

 tions of Yorkshire place-names which he had obtained 

 by investigations in Norway. 



University and Educational Intelligence. 



Aberdeen. — The recent graduation ceremony on 

 July 13 was one of the heaviest ever carried 

 through ; there were 224 degrees conferred, which 

 included 101 in arts and education, 60 in science 

 and commerce, and 57 in medicine. The special 

 graduation of the previous week was devoted wholly 

 to conferring the degree of LL.D. on ex-President 

 Taft. The Vice-Chancellor, Sir George Adam Smith, 

 presided on both occasions. 



Edinburgh. — Mr. J. A. S. Watson has been ap- 

 pointed to the chair of agriculture and rural economy 

 in succession to Prof. Robert Wallace, retired. Prof. 

 Watson was demonstrator in botany under Sir Isaac 

 Bayley Balfour, afterwards continuing his studies 

 in Germany, America, and Canada. He has been 

 lecturer in agriculture in the University for some time. 



At the graduation ceremony last week a " record " 

 number of five hundred graduates were capped by 

 the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alfred Ewing. The B.Sc. 

 degree in mining was conferred for the first time. 



Leeds. — Dr. W. MacAdam has been appointed 

 medical tutor and registrar. Dr. MacAdam is a 

 graduate of Glasgow University. He was awarded 

 the Brunton Memorial prize as the most distinguished 

 graduate in medicine of the year, and, after complet- 

 ing his University course, held the McCunn scholar- 

 ship and the Carnegie scholarship in physiological 

 chemistry. For two years he was senior assistant 

 tuberculosis officer in Sheffield, and was ;it the same 

 time a demonstrator in Sheffield University. He 

 has been lecturer in pathology at the University and 

 has held a number of medical posts. Mr. H. \Y. 

 Symons and Mr. P. J. Moir have been appointed 

 clinical assistants in surgery ; both have been 

 closely associated with hospital work for some years. 

 These appointments, to new full-time posts, mark 

 an important step in the development of the clinical 

 teaching of medicine and surgery. 



Manchester. — The Council has appointed Prof. 

 J. S. Dunn to the Procter chair of pathology and 

 pathological anatomy in succession to Prof. H. R. 

 Dean. Prof. Dunn at present holds the chair of 



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