369 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



NATURE STUDY V. ' GETTING.' 



Mr. S. L. Mosley, writing in one of the London papers, says : 

 ' I often take parties out for nature study, but the main object 

 is usually to make a bouquet. If we come across a fern bank, 

 out come the pocket knives or some other implements for the 

 purpose of uprooting, and I have to interfere. The most 

 beautiful places I purposely avoid for I know they would be 

 visited again and devastated .... What is the reason ? Is 

 it not our " education " system which is on an entirely wrong 

 basis. ? . . . . The whole of our teaching is based on getting 

 money. A child is brought up to believe that the principal 

 thing in life is to get. Rot ! ' If all Mr. Mosley tells us is 

 true, there is certainly something wrong — but is it not the 

 fault of those who teach ? 



A LEEDS WAR MEMORIAL. 



We learn from the Yorkshire Post that at the meeting of 

 the Leeds City Council on November gth. Alderman Wilson 

 asked the Lord Mayor to call the Council together at an early 

 date. ' A great movement was afoot in London to raise money 

 for a national memorial, and, while appreciating this effort, 

 he thought Leeds ought not to overlook the honour due to its 

 men, and to the need for an adequate local memorial. Matters 

 were already developing rapidly. Some time ago an offer 

 was made by the Philosophical and Literary Society to sell 

 their premises in Park Row and hand over the proceeds to the 

 Corporation, together with the whole of the contents of the 

 Museum. The site alone was valued at £50,000, and some of 

 the things in the collection were priceless. The only stipu- 

 lation was that any new scheme should provide a hall for the 

 Society itself, in which to hold its meetings. It would be 

 necessary for the Corporation to provide a site, and it was so 

 much to the good that a suitable open space was already 

 available, worth at least £100,000. Thus, with the gift of the 

 Philosophical Society (£150,000) the scheme would start with 

 a quarter of a million to the good. The Government would 

 hand over to the city a huge collection of war trophies, which 

 ought to be properly housed in a ' temple of fame ' ; and it 

 was quite time the city was provided with an adequate Art 

 Gallery and Central Library. This thing, he said, must be 

 done on a large scale.' The scheme is excellent and if carried 

 out will do much towards placing Leeds in a worthy position 

 with regard to its Museum and Art Galleries. We trust our 

 good friends in Leeds will follow the example of the National 

 Museum of Wales and obtain an experienced Director before 

 the scheme develops. Too often has the mistake been made 

 of leaving a museum building entirely to the architect instead 

 of allowing the director and architect to work together. 



1918 Dec. 1. 



