April IS, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



369 



the war to recognize the gravity of the prob- 

 lem. A large body of exact knowledge will 

 be available to assist those whose business it 

 will be to set the care and treatment of mental 

 disorder on a new footing. Psychiatry will 

 emerge from the war in a state very different 

 from that it occupied in 1914. Above all it will 

 be surrounded by an atmosphere of hope and 

 promise for the future treatment of the great- 

 est of human ills. 



W. H. R. Rn-ERS 



TJXIVEKSITT OF CAMBRIDGE 



INTELLECTUAL INTERCOURSE BE- 

 TWEEN ALLIED AND FRIENDLY 

 COUNTRIES 



In the beginning of 1917, there was founded 

 in Italy, with its seat at the University of 

 Rome, a society having the title: Associazione 

 italiana per I'intesa intellettuale fra i pcBsi 

 alleati ed amici (Italian society for intellectual 

 intercourse between allied and friendly coun- 

 tries). Its president is Senator V. Volterra, 

 and the names best known in the literature 

 and science of Italy are represented on the 

 committee which directs its work. 



The name of the society is self explanatory 

 — in the publication of a quarterly review, 

 entitled L'intesa intellettuale, its work has al- 

 ready begun in a definite way. The pur- 

 pose of the review, which is the same as that 

 of the society, may be explained as follows : 

 (1) More active and frequent intercourse be- 

 tween universities, academies of science, and, 

 in general, educational institutions of the 

 allied and friendly countries; (2) increased 

 teaching of the Italian language in foreign 

 coimtries, with greater extension in Italy of 

 the teaching of the languages of allied and 

 friendly countries; (3) exchange of teachers 

 of every order and rank; (4) reciprocal ac- 

 knowledgment of the requirements for ad- 

 mission to the universities and courses of 

 lectures; (5) exchange of students either for 

 special study or to acquire general knowledge 

 of the different coimtries; (6) to facilitate the 

 exchange of publications and books and to in- 

 crease knowledge of Italian works; (7) to 



make known by translation the best Italian 

 works; (8) cooperation in the field of science 

 and its practical applications, and especially in 

 the law in regard to questions of private law; 

 (9) intellectual relations of every kind be- 

 tween jjeople who wish to render more close, 

 durable and fruitful the union of the na- 

 tions which fought the battles of civilization 

 together. 



Some of these purposes coincide with those 

 stated in the outline of the plan for an inter- 

 allied research council proposed by Dr. G. E. 

 Hale. In the National Research Council, 

 founded by him at the beginning of the present 

 war. Dr. Hale planned a constant interchange 

 of methods and results which would secure 

 the complete cooperation of the Allies and the 

 United States, and provide means of reaching 

 common agreement between them in regard 

 to the immediate necessities of the war, and 

 now for the more fruitful works of peace. 



Probably in no country other than Italy are 

 to be foimd so many foreign institutions for 

 research in science, literature, history and the 

 arts. These are of course means of coopera- 

 tion and exchange, but the exchange is now 

 only on one side owing to the lack of similar 

 organizations for Italian people in foreign 

 countries. The principal difiiculty in cooper- 

 ating with us is certainly that of language; 

 and there is no doubt that the English and 

 Italian speaking peoples should become more 

 familiar with each other's language in order 

 to acquaint themselves better with Italian and 

 English works. 



As exchange of teachers and students is one 

 of the best methods of overcoming this par- 

 ticular difficulty, in July, 1917, our Ministry 

 of Public Instruction elected a committee 

 with Senator V. Volterra as its president to 

 study and draft a law regulating the exchange 

 of teachers and the interscholastic relations of 

 Italy with foreign countries. Early in 1918 

 the committee presented its plan, in a reiwrt 

 which gives its fimdamental conceptions and 

 principal arrangements. These are given in 

 the first article of the first issue of L'intesa 

 intellettuale and are here summarized. 



