AJ^ EXPERIMENT IN EDUCATION. 391 



express her wonder and satisfaction at lier daughter's progress in 

 reading, writing, and number. A father, after visiting the depart- 

 ment, said, " My boy isn't learning anything ; he's having a twad- 

 dle of experiments." Three months afterward he said, " My boy's 

 whole attitude of mind is changed ; he looks at the world with 

 new eyes, and is also progressing rapidly in the studies common 

 to children of his age." 



A criticism frequently met was that the vocabulary was too 

 difficult, and, being largely scientific and technical, could not fit 

 children to read children's books. Experience proved the contrary. 

 Reading for ideas, the children were not deterred by a few unfa- 

 miliar words. In reading stories in books, they could usually get 

 the principal ideas ; and to infer the meaning of the unknown forms 

 had much novelty and interest. It was also objected that the ideas 

 themselves were too difficult, and could not possibly be compre- 

 hended by the children. In a language lesson of the second year, 

 Frank gave the sentence, " The soil is thin." A visitor asked, 

 " Did you ever see a well dug ? " " Oh, yes ; at my grandfathers, 

 last summer." " Was the soil there thick or thin ? " " Thick." 

 "How thick?" Looking from floor to ceiling, "Thicker than 

 from this floor to the ceiling." " Then what do you mean by say- 

 ing that the soil is thin ? " was asked in a mocking, disconcerting 

 tone. Frank dropped his eyes in thought ; after a moment he 

 said, " I mean it is thin when you think of all the way down to 

 the center of the earth." This boy entered before he was six years 

 old, and was at this time barely seven. 



Teachers who visited the department said, " You have a com- 

 paratively small number of children from cultivated families ; 

 even similar results could not be obtained in the large, miscella- 

 neous public-school classes." This could be met then by the state- 

 ment only that mind has everywhere the same elemental possi- 

 bilities, and must yield similar results for the same influences, 

 although the time required might be much lengthened. This 

 criticism has now been answered in part by the results of a trial 

 made in the public schools at Englewood, 111., an account of which 

 will appear in a subsequent paper. 



The few scientists who knew of the experiment looked on with 

 favor. " It is the ideal way," said one. " A realization of my own 

 dreams," said another. An eminent leader in educational affairs 

 in this country objected that the great majority of our primary- 

 school teachers could not follow in the same line because lack- 

 ing the requisite body of knowledge. When courses of study for 

 lower schools are made out by eminent specialists with a view to 

 putting into the hands of children the beginnings of their own 

 lines of research, and when school authorities provide courses of 

 lectures and other means of furnishing to teachers the necessary 



