4i8 



NA rURE 



IJuNi-; 3, 1909 



self-service and wire-pulling. I am sorry to have to express 

 such an opinion, but I think that this type of person is 

 much too common in all branches of British administration. 

 Worse heads of departments cannot be found. They scoff 

 at the Icnowledge and efforts of others in order to cover 

 their own ignorance and apathy. To them all new dis- 

 coveries are frauds, and all new proposals are charlatanism. 

 They repress every kind of honest endeavour among their 

 juniors ; they fill the best appointments with their own 

 friends; and they truckle to their official superiors in the 

 hope of obtaining further preferment. At last, decorated 

 and pensioned, they leave the field to others of their own 

 stamp — men without an idea or an ideal, except such as 

 refer to their own advancement. These are the persons 

 who are really responsible for the state of things which 

 I have described. 



As a rule, colonial Governments are far too careless in 

 the selection of the men to whom they entrust the health 

 of the public. It is openly said that they often choose 

 either mediocrities or men who they know will be too sub- 

 servient to them to assert the demands of sanitation — which 

 is never a popular theme. At home, no one may be the 

 medical officer of health, even of an English village, with- 

 out possessing a proper diploma entitling him to practise 

 as such ; but it appears that anyone is good enough to be 

 the chief sanitary officer of a whole country. The most 

 amazing appointments are often made. Men of known and 

 approved ability are passed over in favour of others who 

 are supposed to possess special administrative qualifications, 

 which frequently means nothing but a capacity for self- 

 advancement, and both senior and junior sanitary officers 

 complain that their representations regarding anti-malaria 

 work often receive no intelligent attention either from the 

 civil or the military authorities. 



Root-and-branch reforms are required in all these re- 

 spects. The failure of most of our tropical dependencies 

 during ten long years to understand and act upon modern 

 discoveries in connection with malaria, and, indeed, with 

 other diseases, demonstrates that their sanitary services no 

 longer fulfil the purpose for which they are paid and 

 appointed. Reconstruction, similar to that which has 

 revivified the Royal Army Medical Corps, is urgently 

 demanded. It is not too much to ask that no man shall 

 be appointed to an administrative post without previous 

 examination as to his fitness — that no man shall be 

 entrusted with the post of chief sanitary officer unless he 

 can show evidence of having really worked at the subject, 

 of having mastered scientific details, and of having obtained 

 the qualifying diplomas of public health and tropical 

 medicine. He should be placed on the Executive Council, 

 which is now so frequently managed by the heads of less 

 imfKjrtant departments. Proper arrangements should be 

 made for expert inspection and supervision, and much more 

 science, work, and discipline should be demanded, not only 

 in the services, but in those who control them. 



I have now outlined the general course of events. The 

 immediate success which we had hoped for ten vears ago 

 has not been attained. The battle still rages along the 

 whole line ; but it is no longer a battle against malaria. 

 Malaria we know, we understand fully, we can beat down 

 when we please. The battle which we are now fighting 

 is against human stupidity. Those of us who have taken 

 part in it — not too numerous — know what it has been. We 

 have written and lectured ad nauseam ; we have interviewed 

 ministers, members of Parliament, and governors ; we have 

 appealed to learned societies ; we have sought the support 

 of distinguished people ; and we h.ave received — sympathy. 

 We have reasoned, and been ridiculed ; we have given the 

 most stringent experimental proofs, and been disbelieved ; 

 we have protested, and been called charlatans. I think that 

 not one of those young men who have pioneered this 

 itriportant work in the field has ever received thanks for 

 his labours. On the other hand. I know of several who 

 have been actually punished for it. 1 know that all new 

 movements have to face opposition of this kind : but surely 

 the world is becoming too' old for it. We talk much of 

 science, and collect funds for research and teaching, and 

 hold conferences and congresses, and blow trumpets over 

 our doings ; but when a useful discovery re.allv is made, 

 when the cause and methods of prevention of the most 

 important of human diseases have been discovered, taught, 

 NO. 2066, VOL. 80] 



and tried for ten years, this is the way we employ it for 

 the good of humanity ! Of what use is it to make dis- 

 coveries if, when they arc made, they are neglected? 

 Remember that all this time, while we are questioning facts 

 that are proved and methods that are established, hundreds 

 of thousands, nay millions, of poor people are suffering 

 from our dullness. I conclude with an appeal. The matter 

 must be taken up in Parliament and in the Press as 

 vigorously as possible. If some of the officials at fault 

 could be persuaded to accept their pensions and decorations 

 before the usual time, room might be made for more 

 capable men. The few persons who have fought the fight 

 and failed are scarcely able to continue it. If no stronger 

 influences can be exerted, the future of malaria prevention 

 in British dominions will certainly be as barren as the past 

 has been. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — It is proposed, in connection with the 

 Darwin centenary, to confer the degree of Doctor of 

 Science, honoris causa, upon the follovv'ing : — Otto 

 Biitschli, professor of zoology in the University of Heidel- 

 berg ; Richard Hertwig, professor of zoology in the Uni- 

 versity of Munich ; Hermann Graf zu Solms-Laubach, 

 professor of botany in the University of Strassburg ; 

 F. Vejdovsky, professor of zoology in the Bohemian Uni- 

 versity of Prague; and Max Verworn, professor of 

 physiology in the University of Gbttingen. 



During the long vacation the science courses will include 

 the following : — the curator of the herbarium, Mr. C. E. 

 Moss, will give a series of demonstrations and lectures on 

 systematic botany (flowering plants) in the botany school, 

 beginning Tuesday, July 6. Weekly excursions will be 

 arranged in connection with the lectures and demonstra- 

 tions. Mr. K. J. J. Mackenzie will conduct classes on 

 the University farm for a month, beginning on July 6. 

 The classes are specially designed for students who have 

 passed the natural sciences tripos, part i., and propose to 

 take the diploma in agriculture. Dr. Fenton will give a 

 course of fifteen lectures on the outlines of general chem- 

 istry on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. These 

 lectures will begin on July <i. 



The directorship of the Harvard Botanical Garden, which 

 recently became vacant through the resignation of Prof. 

 Goodale, as reported in our issue of May 13, has been 

 filled by the appointment of Mr. Oakes Ames, assistant 

 professor of botany. ' 



Commemoration Day was celebrated at Livingstone 

 College, Leyton, on May 26. The college provides a 

 medical training for missionaries, since the medical part 

 of a missionary's work is now considered of prime import- 

 ance. During the course of an address. Prof. Alexander 

 Macalister said he had confidence in the course of training 

 given at the college, and from his experience in Syria and 

 China he believed it was essential that a missionary should 

 be able to render simple medical aid to natives, and he 

 hoped before long some such training would be regarded 

 as an absolute necessity for every missionary. Dr. M. A. 

 Stein, in the course of a short speech, referred to the 

 valuable surgical aid he had received from an old student 

 of Livingstone College during his explorations in Central 

 Asia. 



P'rom July 6 to July 2.S short courses of instruction for 

 science teachers will be given at the Imperial College of 

 Science and Technology, .South Kensington, London, S.W., 

 in chemistry, light, mechanics, plant physiology, and 

 practical mathematics. Any teacher who wishes to attend 

 one or other of the courses should apply at once for a 

 form of application (Form 501 T) to the Secretary, Board 

 of Education, Whitehall, S.W. The courses are limited 

 to the teachers of classes in science, and in considering 

 applications for admission the Board will have regard to 

 (i) the character of the work done in the class or classes 

 taught by the applicant and the probability of extension 

 of this work ; (2) the qualifications of the applicant as 

 showing the extent to which his previous training will 

 enable him to profit by the instruction given. 



