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demand for better organised undergraduate teaching and therecent drive for properly conducted postgraduate pro-

grammes, together with the rapid development of elaborateresearch undertakings, has called for a parkinsonian escalationin work and staff in academic departments. From being ajob that a man could do in the time he had to spare from hisprivate work, a major clinical professorship has become toomuch for one man to do alone. To add another professor,even at titular level, to his department does not add to hisadministrative load, as you suggest, but enables some ofthis to be shared. And I cannot see why additional professorsshould mean less teaching; one would imagine that a pro-fessor would feel more of a moral obligation to teach than anon-professor. (I am not sure whether you advocate thatthose whom you feel should not become, or should not havebecome, professors should spend the rest of their lives as

permanent lecturers or as N.H.S. consultants.)You write with disapproval of the dwindling of research

supported by university funds and you seem to regard moneyfrom other sources as suspect, or at best a necessary evil.Universities in the United States, with which we are so oftenunfavourably compared, rarely support research themselves.Having appointed men of quality, and given them status andbasic accommodation, the university leaves them to find themoney, not only for equipment, but for assistants, secretaries,travel, and even the publication of their results. More than

this, the universities demand that the granting agencies reim-burse them for the provision of the basic facilities on a rateproportional to the size of the grant. In the United States itis commonplace to appoint several professors (" full pro-fessors "), and this becomes, therefore, an academic rankrather than a post. From these professors a departmentalchairman is appointed to take administrative charge, eitherpermanently or in a rotation.

It is a European and outmoded concept to have a singleprofessor in a vast subject, such as medicine or surgery,holding all other academic aspirants in feudal homage through-out his tenure, perhaps 25 years in the chair. I find it difficultto believe that there is such a dearth of suitable applicants.The academic pyramid is certainly steeper than in the N.H.S.-most senior registrars are assured of a consultant post, butonly a minority of senior lecturers can hope to secure a chair.If there really is a shortage of professorial material, this maywell be because good men have left to take up chairs in theUnited States or Australia, or have in despair abandonedtheir academic aspirations for a straight N.H.S. post. We allknow of men with a special skill which is quite unexploitedbecause they can neither find a satisfactory outlet for it in asubservient university post nor time to use it in a busy N.H.S.post. Good practical men, sympathetic, but not wholly com-mitted, to the academic approach, are commonly appointedto N.H.S. posts within the orbit of a professorial unit; withsuch an alternative career structure to hand, it would beabsurd to appoint them unwillingly to professorial chairs, asyou imply is happening.The promise of more chairs, and the inevitable democrati-

sation of academic life which this will bring, is likely to inducemore of our able men to remain within academic depart-ments and to stay in this country. We must readjust the non-professorial pay-scales realistically, and we should look at

university financing (in the medical faculties at least) to seeif we should not be spending more on professors and less ontheir departmental funds. Such annual grants as the univer-sity is able to make amount to little more than petty cashin terms of contemporary research budgets. We might alsoconsider retiring professors earlier, at least from their normalduties. By the time a professor is spending half his timeaway from his department, he should be making room forsomeone who had not yet been issued with a season ticket toall national committees and royal commissions. Old Pro-fessor A’s students got the message home to him last weekwhen they put a

" Visitor to Britain " sticker on his car.Yours,

Prof.

In England Now

A Running Commentary by Peripatetic CorrespondentsSHE had had 7 children while she was married, and, of

these, 5 were in the care of the children’s department in Wales.This left another 5, of whom 4 were in care here already, andthe 5th was the reason why Mother was now telling me thestory of her life. She had just been declared redundant by herunofficial husband. The baby wasn’t very ill, but could not benursed at home because none existed. And I expect that beforelong he will be in care too. Mother is only 34, though she seemsa lot older, and she must have been very good-looking once. Sobaby will probably have a few more brothers and sisters yet, anddoubtless they will also be looked after by the local authorities.The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is

important, and I’m no advocate of free-for-all abortion. Butthere’s room for another one too-the Society for the Controlof Unmarried Multips. How this control could be achievedwould provide lively controversy for decades, but the need isthere all right. The theory is simple. The child who hasn’tgot a Mum or Dad who care about him is going to get hungryfor security if not for food; but if he’d never been conceived,he would have been spared this misery.

"

Appointment to view " the environment of the about-to-be-established chair was arranged ahead of time, and theremust have been excellent reasons for an unexplained half-hourwait on arrival in the deserted secretary’s office. The conductedtour had also been planned beforehand, but soon the seamsbegan to show, pathways began to cross, and apologetic yetsomehow ominous remarks " of course today has been arrangedfor you " did not overcome a growing suspicion. Surprise gaveway to astonishment on entering the dining-room, where fiveother " interested visitors " were about to start their coldbuffet, each trying to assume an air of detachment from, anddisinterest in, his neighbour.

It did not take long for the afternoon schedule to disintegrate.The first, long-established, professor was late, or had forgotten,and when two competitors subsequently and simultaneouslyarrived at the office of the dean, he ushered them in with " Youdon’t mind if I see you both together ? " Then, looking in onedirection: " Tell me all about yourself." Ten seconds of em-barrassed silence was followed by 20 minutes of afternoon-teaconversation which failed to provide any information about thebudget of the new department. After all (North Americansplease note) it’s not your place to find out what you are comingto until we have decided whether you are good enough for us.Forty-five minutes’ further delay before the next appointment.Of course it was all quite unintentional, but it was quite a

contrast to that American university (with the Nobel prize-winners) which offered twice the salary, the space, and almostcertainly a more tactful environment.

...... <p

" Lead poisoning" cried my eminent neurosurgical col-league on hearing of the fourth case of limp in our familywithin a month. Fortunately the last case popped up in Smokythe family cat, and we sought expert advice from the local vet.

" Nonsense! he remarked. ‘‘ It’s not lead poisoning.Smoky fell out of a tree while chasing a sparrow. She’s stretchedher radial nerve and in six weeks she’ll be fine ".

This prompted a review of our other cases. No. 1, Mater,turned out to have a severe sciatica requiring a month’s hospital-isation. Case no. 2 was young Ann, and her limp came from acasual fall off the playhouse roof. After two weeks in bed hertraumatic synovitis of the hip disappeared. Climbing the play-house is now strictly forbidden.. Case no. 3 was the seniorauthor and also proved to be sciatica, possibly contracted fromcase no. 1. His painful limp has gone, having lasted most of ayear. Smoky, the last case, remained partially catatonic fornearly six weeks and then scampered round good as new.

All this shows that when faced with an epidemic there is nosubstitute for seasoned opinion.