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effect, even where large operations, such as the con-struction of the Liverpool Cathedral with a dangerousstone, have reached an advanced stage, for thé costof completion must be greatly enhanced. Indeed, theuse of sandstones for building purposes is likely tocease; since, however, bricks, cement, and limestoneare all home products, no unemployment will becaused thereby. Wnen the proposed-schema has beenratified in whole or in part England will have resumedher usual lead in matters of industrial hygiene. At

present, besides South Africa, New South Wales, inrelation to the county of Cumberland and to theBroken Hill mines, is ahead of us ; and so also arethe Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario. Inseveral American States, where in the CompensationActs the word " injury " is defined to include diseasesarising out of employment, silicosis is covered withother occupational diseases. In continental countries,on the other hand, no compensation has yet beengranted ; but in Germany, at any rate, researchesalready published by L. TELEKY and in progress byF. KOELSCII, must before long result in the granting ofcompensation. Silicosis is one of the most widespreadand fatal of all occupational risks. It has alreadydemanded the attention of the expert advisers of theInternational Labour Office at Geneva, due mainlyto British representation ; and is likely soon to beplaced on the list of compensable diseases for inter-national adoption.

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE MEDICALCURRICULUM.

AT the meeting of the British Association thecommittee appointed to consider the place of normalpsychology in the medical curriculum presented itsfinal report. The committee consisted of the follow-

ing-members: Dr. AV. BROWN (chairman), Dr. R. D.ILLESPIE (secretary), Dr. C. H. BoxD, Prof. E. P.CATHCART, Dr. H. DEVINE, Dr. J. A. HADFIELD, Dr.BERNARD HART, Dr. D. K. HENDERSON, Colonel J. R.LORD, Dr. C. S. MYERs, Prof. G. M. ROBERTSON,Dr. T. A. Ross, and Prof. T. H. PEAR. They findthat of 26 medical schools of the British Isles, 13 offerno courses whatever in normal psychology, while8 offer optional courses and 5 compulsory ones, butsince the report was prepared Edinburgh Universityhas decided to make attendance at a course of lecturesin normal psychology compulsory. Most of themedical schools in the Dominions offer courses in the

subject. The committee report that they havereceived official replies in favour of the provision andvalue of such courses, while the deans of most of themedical schools have responded to their inquiry. Aftercarefully examining existing conditions, the com-

mittee recommend that in every medical school acompulsory course of instruction in normal psycho-logy, of not less than 10 and of not more than 20lectures, should be given during the pre-clinicalyears-preferably in the second year; and that, ’.whenever possible, it should be supplemented by acourse of about ten two-hour meetings in experi-mental psychology. The committee further recom-mend that such instruction should be so planned asto serve as a foundation for subsequent lectures inthe pathology of the mind given during the clinicalyears of the medical course, and it need hardly besaid that from the point of view of the bulk ofmedical practitioners this is a most important pro-posal, as it is in this way that proper correlationof academic instruction with clinical procedure maybe obtained.

Thus psychology and physiology would be taughtat the same stage of the medical curriculum, and thiscombination is from every point of view desirable.It is usual to consider the two subjects as parallel,dealing respectively with the normal functions of thehuman mind and of the human body. Prof. W.McDoUGALL 1 claims a much wider field for psycho-logy, proposing the distinction between the twosciences that physiology studies the processes of-

organs and tissues, whereas psychology studies thetotal activities of the organism. To admit this viewwithout reserve would be to confess that the medical

curriculum which contains no course in psychologyis absurdly inadequate, and indeed future generationsare likely to take this attitude. Meanwhile all will.agree that just as physiology provides the necessarybasis for subsequent instruction in pathology, so a

simultaneous course in normal and experimentalpsychology would be an excellent preparation forthe lectures in morbid psychology which belong tathe clinical years. There can be little doubt as to--the wisdom of the committee’s recommendations.

Psychological medicine was at one time almost con-fined to the study of insanity; to-day it is recog-nised that the disorders of the mind and of thenervous system embrace a far wider field, and thatthe ability to recognise them immediately and totreat them effectively are of enormous importance inthe everyday practice of the family doctor. We nowknow that there is not an organ in the body whose-disorderly function may not be due to psycho-neurotic conditions. The origin and spread of the

exaggerated claims of certain schools of psycho-therapy have been largely due to the lack of previoussystematic training in normal psychology. The

same ignorance has been responsible for the equallyuntenable position adopted by opposite extremistswho ’believe that functional disorders are merely" imaginary " and therefore demand merely " ima-ginary

" remedies, that medical instruction should be-confined to the study of living matter and of material,remedies, and that a knowledge of the workings andinfluence of the mind is of no concern to the ordinarymedical student. However congested be the presentcurriculum, there can be no doubt that by generahdemand the recommendations of the British Associa-tion Committee must soon be carried into effect.

1 The Battle of Behaviorism. An Exposition and an Exposure.By John B. Watson and William McDougall. London : KeganPaul, Trench, Trübner and Co. 1928. Pp. 103. 2s. 6d.

FACTORY INSPECTION.-The Home Secretary hasappointed a Committee to consider and report what addi-tion to the Factory Inspectorate is required, whether anychanges in its organisation are desirable, and what other-measures, if any, can be taken to enable the FactoryDepartment to discharge adequately its duties now andin the future. The members of the Committee are :—Sir-Vivian Henderson (chairman), Sir Gerald Bellhouse,Mr. R. R. Bannatyne, Mr. Kenneth Lee, Miss H.Martindale, and Mrs. C. D. Rackam. The secretaryof the Committee is Mr. L. N. Blake Odgers, of theHome Office.

GERMAN MEDICAL JOURNEY TO EGYPT.-On theoccasion of the centenary celebration of the University ofCairo, the Vienna Committee for Medical Tours Abroadhas arranged a visit to Egypt covering the period Dec. 14th,1928, to Jan. 4th, 1929, the journey out being made byVenice, Brindisi, and Alexandria, returning by Rhodes,Athens, and Corfu. The visit coincides with a Congress ofTropical Medicine and Hygiene in Cairo, and the usualwinter international exhibition of medical arts and sciences.Programme and information from Dr. F. Barach, Vienna 1.Biberstrasse 11.