As Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts in the present French Government, M. Edouard Herriot has conferred upon Mr. Henry J. Cowell, of Hornsey, who has been a contributor to this Journal for some time past, the rosette of the rank of Officier de l'Instruction Publiquemore particularly in recognition of his deep attachment to the cause of Alsace and of France. Mr. Cowell has been a close and sympathetic student of the affairs and concerns of Alsace and Lorraine for a number of years. He has lectured and written upon this topic on many occasions and in many places. During the War a brochure was written by him under the title of "Alsace and LorrainePast, Present, and Future." Letters from his pen dealing with the present state of affairs in the provinces have appeared of late in the Spectator and the Nation. In 1924 he was the guest of honour for a period of a fortnight of the Comité Alsacien d'Etudes et d'Informations, and in June last he took part in the commemorative gatherings organized to mark the centenary of the death of the Alsatian teacher and pastor, Jean Frederic Oberlin. The distinction conferred on Mr. Cowell is very rarely bestowed outside France. A DISTINGUISHED career was ended on December 13, when the Rt. Hon. Lord Emmott of Oldham died suddenly in London. His work as Deputy-Speaker in the House of Commons (especially in the turbulent days of the 1909 Budget), as Under Secretary for the Colonies, as First Commissioner of Works, and as Director of the War Trade Department; his far-reaching activities in connexion with the Anglo-Belgian Union, his chairmanship of the Committee to Collect Information on Russia, have each received deservedly high tribute in the daily press. His many and highly responsible business associations, too, have been sufficiently outlined to demonstrate his influence on this and other countries. In recording our deep regret at his unexpected passing, however, we think of him in rather wider terms than those of the politician and industrialist. We remember him as prominent among men of affairs who regarded education not as a hobby and a recreation but as something vitally linked to the vast operations which make up the working and leisure life of a community. In the educational world he is, perhaps, best remembered as the Chairman of the Departmental Committee which dealt with the superannuation of teachers, and his speeches after the publication of that Committee's Report showed clearly that his views were not second-hand, but were based upon close study of philosophic as well as economic facts. Chairman of the Association of Technical Institutions (1924) and the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes, he was mainly interested in technical education, which he believed could be, and is being, made liberal in the widest sense. His influence in drawing together the varied academic and industrial bodies into a Committee of Inquiry, which is now inquiring into the relationship of technical education, was just the right kind of influence to further such a pressing but delicate and vast undertaking. Educational affairs have lost a keen and impartial critic who brought to bear on their problems the mind of a university graduate ripened by wide political and business experience; it has also lost one of its most sincere friends. LONGMANS' GEOGRAPHICAL SERIES Book I. THE FIRST BOOK OF GEOGRAPHY With 21 Illustrations and 53 Maps (of which 38 are Coloured). New Edition, 1925. Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d. FOR JUNIOR STUDENTS With 57 Illustrations and 153 Maps, of which 69 are coloured. Revised Edition, 1924. Crown 8vo., 5s. This new edition has been thoroughly Revised and brought up to date in accordance with the decisions of the Peace Treaty. Chapters on some countries have been re-written and fresh chapters are given to such new states as Hungary, Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, and Yugo-Slavia. The Maps have also been revised and boundaries have been altered so as to show the exact position of the new States, as well as the alterations in the boundaries of the old ones. All populations and other figures have been revised in accordance with the Census of 1921. Book III. THE WORLD FOR SENIOR STUDENTS With 277 Diagrams, Illustrations, and Maps (of which 99 are Coloured). New Edition, Revised and Enlarged, 1925. Crown 8vo., 7s. 6d. This edition has been brought up to date, both as regards subject matter and maps, in accordance with the terms of the Peace Treaty. Each new State is treated separately. In some cases new maps are given and new boundaries are shown as far as they have been definitely settled. All the facts and figures are in accordance with the results of the Census of 1921. Book IV. THE BRITISH EMPIRE With 67 Illustrations and 114 Maps (of which 71 are Coloured). New Edition, 1926. Crown 8vo., 4s. 6d. With 138 Illustrations and 14 Maps (one of which is Coloured). New and Enlarged Edition, 1916. Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d. क TEACHERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL (Representative of the Teaching Profession.) 47 BEDFORD SQUARE, December 18, 1926. An Open Letter to all Qualified Teachers. Dear Sir (or Madam), I am directed to inform you that on Tuesday, December 14, 1926, His Majesty the King in Council directed that the Teachers Registration Council should be constituted in future on a new basis. The Council which will succeed the present body on July 1, 1927, will number 48 Elected Members, to whom may be added two Co-opted Members. All of these must be Registered Teachers. The Chairman will be appointed from outside the Council. Of the Elected Members, twelve will be appointed by the Universities of England and Wales. The remaining 36 will be elected by Registered Teachers, voting according to their type of teaching work for the number of representatives allotted to that type. Thus, Secondary School Teachers who are Registered will have three votes each, which they may use in the election of three Head Masters, three Head Mistresses, three Assistant Masters or three Assistant Mistresses according to their own position in the Schools. Specialist Teachers of Music who are Registered will have one vote, to be used in the election of a representative Teacher of Music. The new Council is empowered to remove from the Official Register the name of any person after due inquiry. These changes make it urgently necessary that all qualified teachers should become Registered without delay in order that they may vote at the election next March and thereby enable the Council to fulfil its task of establishing a united Teaching Body, with recognized standards of attainment and professional skill. I am, Dear Sir or Madam, Your obedient Servant, FRANK ROSCOE, Secretary. University College, Swansea, as Principal in succession to Sir Harry Reichel, who is just retiring. Prof. Evans is a product of the ordinary system of elementary education and the first ex-pupil of the Welsh system of secondary education to attain to so important an appointment. Born in 1891, he attended elementary and secondary schools near Swansea. At University College, Bangor, he took a classical degree with first-class honours in both Latin and Greek. After taking his M.A. degree, he was awarded a Fellowship on which, with a Meyrick Scholarship, he proceeded to Jesus College, Oxford, where he took the B.Litt. After a short period of teaching in secondary schools he returned to Bangor as a lecturer in the Department of Classics, going on later to a Chair at Swansea. Prof. Evans has not only developed the classical faculty of Swansea in an effective manner, but he also reveals sound capacity as an administrator. His career proves conclusively that the Welsh secondary and university systems have now reached the point at which they are able to produce men and women capable of holding the highest positions of leadership in the educational system and in social and industrial life. * THE last meeting of the Central Welsh Board was the occasion of the retirement of the Chief Inspector, Dr. Wm. Edwards, after almost fifty years as an inspector under the Board of Education and the Central Welsh Board. A native of Denbighshire, Dr. Edwards took a first-class in both classics and mathematics at Oxford, and became Fellow of Jesus College. From 1877 until 1915 he served as H.M. Inspector of Schools for one of the districts of South Wales. It was then his intention to retire, but the ill health of the Chief Inspector of the Central Welsh Board, Mr. Owen Owen, combined with war-time difficulties, induced him to yield to the wishes of the Central Welsh Board that he become its Chief Inspector until such time as it was possible to appoint a permanent successor. What was intended to be a temporary appointment turned out to be a permanent appointment of substantial duration and of great value to Welsh education. He was one of the pioneers of the movement for giving Welsh its due place in the schools of Wales, one of the earliest members of the Society for the utilization of the Welsh Language, and is now a member of the Departmental Committee on Welsh. Last year he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws of the University of Wales. ONLOOKER. EMPIRE DAY MEDALS.-The Secretary of the Empire Day Medal Association has sent us full particulars of the scheme which has been adopted for the distribution of medals in Great Britain on Empire Day, 1927. In accordance with the wishes of many Educational Authorities, it has been decided that medals will only be issued as the result of competition. The country will be divided into districts, which, for the sake of convenipublic elementary school in the country will be sent 20 medals, ence, will be the present parliamentary constituencies. Every 18 in aluminium and 2 in bronze. The head of the school will be asked to divide the school into 20 classes, 10 for boys and 10 for girls. The winner in each class will be presented with an aluminium medal; the two best essays in each school, one written by a boy and one by a girl, making allowance for age, will receive a bronze medal. In each district all the essays winning bronze medals will be sent to a selection committee, which will award two silver medals for the two best. The 1,200 essays that win the silver medals, that is, two in each district (of which there will be 600), will be submitted to a central Committee in London, which will allot the two Empire Day gold medals which will be presented by the Association. The cost of the medals in each school will be 12s. 6d., and the Committee is now appealing for names of people willing to help, either by themselves collecting the necessary funds, or by forming small local committees to do so in each district. All communications should be sent to the Secretary of the Association at British Columbia House, Regent Street, London. DUSTLESS AND HYGIENIC SCHOOLS On all School, Laboratory, Library, &c., Floors and Linoleums of every description USE FLORIGENE (FLORIGENE means FLOOR-HYGIENE) With over 25 years' reputation (Registered and British made) DURING the CHRISTMAS VACATION for best results. It SAVES TIME, LABOUR and MONEY, and is EASILY APPLIED. "Florigene " also aids the prevention of throat irritation and diseases, has been awarded the MEDAL of the ROYAL SANITARY " ONE APPLICATION of 'Florigene" effectively allays the dust and dirt for These hygienic, labour-saving, and economic advantages are NOT attained Send for particulars, Medical Reports and Testimonials to the Sole Manufacturers— THE Established over 25 years DUST-ALLAYER" co. 4 Vernon Place, Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C. I Established over 25 years Contractors to the British, India, and Colonial Governments, also County and Boro' Education Authorities, &c. ASSOCIATION for the PROVISION of SCIENCE and SPECIALIST TEACHING (Formerly the SCHOOL SCIENCE SUPPLY ASSOCIATION) Schools are provided with the part-time services of fully qualified Mistresses of the Sciences, Mathematics, Geography, and other Subjects, working from convenient Centres, under the direction of the Principal. Science Teachers are given assistance for experimental teaching, in the planning and equipment of Science Rooms, selection of apparatus, &c. Special attention is given to the introduction of the Elementary Science Course in the Middle School and of Biology Courses in the Upper School. Supervision of inexperienced teachers and provision of substitutes. An ADVISORY COMMITTEE includes Representatives of the Association of Headmistresses and of the Private Schools Association, Incorporated. 40 Schools. Year, 1926-7. 12 Centres. School Requisites for the New Term promptly supplied The E.S.A.'s Furniture and Stationery Factories are planned and equipped with the latest machinery, and afford exceptional facilities for the manufacture and very prompt delivery of materials of the highest grade. Furniture . The E.S.A's Furniture Factory and Drying Sheds occupy more than four acres of ground. Large Stocks of essential School Furniture are kept available for immediate requirements-i.e. Desks, Tables, Cupboards, Forms, Easels, Blackboards, Chairs, Stools, &c. Very large stocks of Exercise Books, Science Books, Stationery. Nature Note Books, Examination Paper, Foolscap, Books ... Note Books, Loose-Leaf Files and Devices, Registers, Mark Books, are available for urgent requirements. School Books of all Publishers are in stock, available for immediate despatch. The London Premises are. situated in the centre of the Publishing Trade, consequently urgent orders for Books not in stock are collected by Motor Service and despatched same day. Best discounts given. All miscellaneous Requisites-Pens, Pencils, Chalk, Requisites. Rubber, Ink, Gloves, Mathematical Instruments, Handwork and Kindergarten Material-supplied from Outfitting. Caps, Blazers, Ties, Belts, Shorts, Enamelled Badges, School Outfitting-Hats, Gym. Dresses, Tunics, Hose, Catalogues &c., supplied promptly to order. A most comprehensive series of separate Catalogues |