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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the natures of children, and it is impos- 

 sible to see that any reason can be of- 

 fered for not invoking their services 

 to this important end. Yet, strange to 

 say, our school authorities are the first 

 to resist this reasonable policy. They 

 resent the idea that their system is not 

 already vporkingin perfection, and they 

 virtually maintain that the ignorance 

 of teachers and school officials is just 

 as good for practical guidance as the 

 knowledge and experience of men es- 

 pecially cultivated to deal with cases 

 which are constantly arising, where 

 pupils become the victims of an undis- 

 criminating high - pressure system of 

 school-work. 



An illustration of the subject has re- 

 cently arisen in London, which is at- 

 tracting public attention in the shape 

 of a controversy between an eminent 

 medical man and a prominent Govern- 

 ment official. Dr. Crichton Browne, 

 a distinguished authority on nervous 

 diseases and the treatment of the nsane, 

 pointed out some of the evils attending 

 prevalent school practices, and advo- 

 cated school inspection by competent 

 physicians. Mr. Mundella, a manufact- 

 urer, a philanthropist, and Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the Government Council, who 

 has large direction of the school, took 

 issue with Dr. Browne, and there came 

 a public contention upon the subject. 

 The London " Lancet " reviewed this 

 controversy, and gave reasons for main- 

 taining that Dr. Crichton Browne had 

 the right of it. The subject is bo im- 

 portant that we reprint the " Lancet's " 

 remarks in full : 



Leaving the personal issues involved in the 

 regrettable dispute which has been raised by 

 Mr. Mundella's equivocal mode of traversing 

 Dr. Crichton Browne's report on the subject 

 of " over-pressure of work in public element- 

 ary schools," we turn to the main question : 

 Is it, or is it not, the fact that over-pressure 

 exists, and that it is doing mischief? The 

 case seems to us to lie in a nutshell, and it 

 would be difficult to cast the underlying 

 hypothesis in a more terse form than that em- 

 bodied in one of Dr. Crichton Browne's con- 



cluding sentences. No one alleges, or for a 

 moment supposes, that the Vice-President of 

 the Council, or any influential member or of- 

 ficial of the Educational Department, is either 

 willful or careless in the matter. It is simply 

 a question of policy ; and the most that need 

 or can be justly said is said in these words : 

 "It is quite possible that a scholar, whose 

 body is twelve years old, but whose brain 

 stopped growing at eight, might by his pleas- 

 ing exterior and superficial sharpness impress 

 the inspector with the idea that he is rather 

 clever, while all the time he is childish, not 

 to say babyish, in intellect, and ineducable 

 beyond the first standard." If this be con- 

 ceded, as we think it must be, then it follows 

 that the inspector is not in a position to deter- 

 mine whether a particular pupil is or is not 

 physically able to do the work required of 

 him or her, and fit safely to be pressed 

 through the educational curriculum. This 

 seems to us to cover every contingency. It 

 is not necessary to argue closely or warmly as 

 to the question of experiences. It is conceiv- 

 able that not a single case of injury may actu- 

 ally have occiured, and yet the system which 

 makes a non-medical inspector — however hu- 

 mane and competent for his proper task — the 

 judge of physico-mental fitness, whether of 

 pupil or pupil teacher, must be indefensible. 

 What are we doing ? Simply this : applying 

 a uniform pressure to a vast multitude of 

 brains, some of which must, in the nature of 

 things, be too weak or too ill-developed to 

 bear the strain thrust upon them. It is a 

 monstrous and inexplicable blunder this in- 

 sistence on a level code of education for all. 

 "Why, even as regards the muscular and gen- 

 eral organism of the soldier and the sailor a 

 medical examination precedes the commence- 

 ment of drill, and medical inspection from 

 time to time keeps the question of health in 

 view. Muscular weakness is not half so seri- 

 ous a bar to physical training as mind weak- 

 ness is to intellectual exercise. How comes 

 it to pass, then, that without any medical 

 examination or supervision whatsoever the 

 brains of a multitude of children, the majority 

 of whom are under-bred and ill- fed, should 

 be subjected to the same discipline and re- 

 quired to do the same task ? It is not consid- 

 ered enough to know the age of a recruit for 

 the army or navy ; means are taken to ascer- 

 tain whether his heart, lungs, and organs 

 generally are healthy, and medical officers 

 are specially appointed to examine him from 

 time to time with a view to determine 

 whether he is bearing the strain healthily ; 

 but no provision whatever is made for testing 

 or watching the immature cerebral orgasn 



