27 SEPTEMBER 1957, Page 5

I FIND THE twelfth report of that estimable insti- tution

the Nuffield Foundation a little dis- appointing. When funds of this nature are 'available, I would expect them to be devoted to those fields where the need is greatest : either because relatively little research has been done or because little money is available. In medicine, for example, easily the most pressing problem of the day is mental health; yet it receives only a tiny fraction of the funds being expended on medical research. The Nuffield Foundation is not doing much to redress this balance; only two psychiatric projects are listed. One of them is certainly de- serving : the grant to Professor Eysenck for research into hypnotism. But the other is an effort to develop physiological tests for use in diagnosing mental disorder. The report justifies this on the excuse that 'purely psychological tests have so far been of limited value in helping to resolve these difficulties'; but surely one reason for this is that so little money has been provided for psychological. research?

PHAROS