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THE rapid growth and development of the aircraft industry has necessitated prompt decision and action in handling the many problems in connexion with the erection and equipment of aerodrome buildings, hangars, workshops and factories. In the urgency of providing the industry with all its varied requirements, it is not surprising that lire insurance planning has to a very large extent been crowded out. There are, no doubt, several reasons for this and in the welter of plans and designs that have been drawn and re‐drawn, the necessity of complying with the clients' requirements, numerous rules and regulations of local authorities and Acts of Parliament, etc., the benefits which accrue to wise planning from a fire insurance point of view have not always been fully appreciated. The need for increased output has in many cases pressed very heavily on those making the necessary preparations, and frequently no serious thought has been given to fire insurance planning. There are some persons who are under the impression that, having conformed with the numerous rules and requirements, they have carried out all that can be done in this direction.

THIS issue forms the conclusion of Volume LX of THE LIBRARY WORLD, and from the editorial point of view we regard the last issue as the final stage in the completion of an entirely separate undertaking—in much the same way that we regard December 31st as completing an independent calendar episode—for in one moment a whole present period of time suddenly becomes a part of the past; and we incline to review this (no longer current) volume of THE LIBRARY WORLD in brief fashion, and to mention the considerable changes which it has witnessed, not only in its own make‐up, but also in the make‐up of the library world.

THIS is the month when the public librarian again faces his annual estimates. Things are rarely exactly easy for him. This year may be no exception, as there will be in some places an effort to lop off the non‐essential works of local authorities. It is at this time that some librarians wish the service ceased to be local, because town councillors as a whole believe so much in the local character of government and do not realize that if they reduce on such things as libraries they are placing their own people at a disadvantage in relation to other towns. That is the soundest reason, and one that cannot too often be stressed, for some sort of imposed standard of service, which cannot be varied too greatly because of some temporary condition of local or national finance. We do not anticipate crippling reductions anywhere, but the signs for advance are not more propitious than in the bad old days. We shall be interested to hear of special cases this year, but hope that they will be few. We know that salaries cannot, at present, be greatly affected, but even librarians do not live for pay‐cheques alone; they want books, light, heat and many more things to revive, if not to improve, their service.

The foundation collection of the printed books now forming the Library of the British Museum was that of Sir Hans Sloane. This comprised about 40,000 volumes. To it was added in 1759 the Royal collection, begun in the time of Henry VII and inherited by George II from his predecessors on the throne.

OPTIMISM as to the outlook is shown by the report from Sheffield of a book‐moving day, or perhaps returning‐day would be a better phrase, which involved the return from safe storage to the Central Library of 10,000 books, 5,000 manuscripts and plans, and 10 tons of newspaper files. This probably is the first record of a homeward pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of volumes of books as well as artistic and other treasures from bomb‐proof concealment. It is, however, yet too early for the districts in southern England to undertake the risk involved in such return. The newspapers are wisely silent about the areas in which there is still risk, but they are quite inarticulate as to the nature of the risk and it is clear that it covers a large area. The recent mobilization of air defences at Edinburgh suggests too that the particular type of attack to which Great Britain is still subject may not be confined to the south of England—from the nature of the weapon there appears to be no reason why it should be. Nevertheless, the risk that we think Sheffield takes is a legitimate one. People have returned in large numbers to their own homes; they need libraries and within reasonable limits they should have them. Our best work cannot be done when the valuable part of our stock is in inaccessible places. This return of books will create in many towns a serious storage problem: we can point to libraries which distributed their stock and which through accessions, gifts from evacuated people and other sources of accession, have filled most of the space occupied by their ordinary stock. Most of us need new buildings and our priority for them must be low. The ingenuity of librarians will be severely taxed in this as in many other matters.

Probably the most interesting public library discussion of last month occurred in the Holborn Borough Council on April 12th. At this meeting the Library Committee reported that they had considered what further economies could be effected during the war in connexion with the Local Government Board circular. They found that no substantial saving could be made by suspending the issue of fiction. On the other hand, the four remaining assistants were either attested, or single men who would be required for military service. In these circumstances they recommended, “That, for the period of the war, or until further order, the Holborn Public Library be closed to the public.” This subject was referred to the Law and Parliamentary Committee, which submitted a report. This report seems to us to be so logical and important in its arguments and decisions that we are giving it a place in these editorial columns, as we believe it will be of value not only to London librarians but to others throughout the country, who are faced with similar issues :—

All enforcement of police regulations in every country, the result of which is a supposed encroachment upon personal rights or established prejudices, is attended with great difficulties. The Foods and Drugs Act of the United States, which became a law on the 30th of June, 1906, belongs to this category. The adulteration of foods and drugs had been carried on so long that it was deemed a vested right. The enactment of this law was finally permitted by the lobbies opposed to it in the hope and expectation that it would never be enforced. It so happened that I, as Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, became the enforcing officer of this law by a provision thereof. Immediately I was besieged by interests supposed to be threatened, by strict enforcement, with such persistence and pertinacity as to lead me to believe that they had not expected any opposition on the part of the enforcing officers to their campaign of law paralysis. When they finally learned that it was hopeless to direct their attacks against me they immediately appealed to my superior officers, among them the Secretary of Agriculture, or Minister of Agriculture, as you say in your country, and then finally to the President of the United States. The first results of these appeals to higher authority were extremely favourable to the vested interests. The rulings of the Bureau of Chemistry forbidding the use of alum, saccharin, or chemical preservatives and other deleterious substances in food, were for the most part set aside by executive authority in direct contravention of the provisions of the law. This opposition extended also to spirits and beer. The definitions of the Bureau of Chemistry in regard to the purity of these articles were also contested and carried to my superior officers. The final result of all these appeals was that in many respects the food law was entirely paralysed. In regard to spirits, especially whisky, the contentions of the so‐called rectifiers were adopted as the legal definition of whisky in direct opposition to the provisions of the law and the opinions of the United States courts.

THE Conference has come and gone, leaving pleasant memories behind it of what we believe has been a useful meeting. On other pages our contributors have expressed various views, and with these, in the main, we are in agreement. The Conference was too full, but that was anticipated by all who had glanced at the programme when it was issued. Perhaps, now that criticism has become very articulate on this subject, the future organizers of annual meetings will endeavour to limit the subjects for discussion to a number that can be digested conveniently.

10. When the appointment of a Public Analyst is submitted for the Minister's approval, particulars of the appointment should be given on a form to be obtained from the Department.

There have been large changes in the content of chemistry courses during the post‐war period, particularly at an advanced level. It is believed that the relevance of the existing mathematics course to the changing chemistry syllabus and to what industry expects of the trained chemist is sometimes neglected. This has led (in Constantine College) to a reconsideration of the adequacy of syllabuses in mathematics for existing advanced chemistry courses and to a consideration of the type of course which would be attractive to the industrial chemist. The authors have been supported by a working party and the ideas suggested here result largely from its findings. The object of this paper is to put forward some views as a first approximation in the hope that this will stimulate discussion and criticism of the existing situation. In November of 1964 a two‐day course was held in Newcastle on the teaching of physical chemistry. The lecturers at this meeting were mainly from university departments plus one industrialist and one former university lecturer now at a government research institute. Letters were sent to seven of these lecturers, who were asked what mathematics they considered appropriate for a modern undergraduate chemistry course. Most of the replies indicated what mathematics was being taught to chemistry undergraduates in the department with which the writer was concerned. In addition some information was volunteered by one other university department. In the non‐industrial replies topics were mentioned with a frequency indicated by the number following each topic — calculus (6), matrices and determinants (6), group theory and symmetry (4), vectors (4), differential equations (4) and probability (3). The industrial reply was quite different and discussed the need for the chemist to have an understanding of more industrial mathematics.