NOTES. 



575 



the pupil to self-activity in a natural man- 

 ner. Its abuse happens when the subject 

 is presented in a confused manner, or scien- 

 tific precision is lost by using too familiar 

 language or by too much pouring-in without 

 exercising the pupil by making him do the 

 reciting and explanation. The excellence 

 of the text-book method consists in getting 

 the pupil to work instead of working for 

 him ; in teaching him how to study for him- 

 self, and to overcome difficulties by himself, 

 instead of solving them for him. Unless 

 the teacher knows this and directs all his 

 efforts to achieve this end, very great abuses 

 creep in. Thus it may happen that the 

 teacher requires the pupil merely to memo- 

 rize the words of the book, and does not 

 insist upon any clear understanding of it. 

 Indolent teachers lean upon the text-book 

 and neglect to perform their own part of 

 the recitation. But in the hands of the 

 good teacher the text-book is a powerful 

 instrument to secure industry, precision, 

 accuracy, and self-help on the part of the 

 pupil. 



NOTES. 



The theories expressed in the " Month- 

 ly" by Sir. Eaton and Mr. Gouinlock, that 

 constriction of the blood - vessels of the 

 head by tight hats is a chief cause of bald- 

 ness, have been reviewed by Professor T. 

 Wesley ]\Iills, who only partly accepts them, 

 and holds that the principal root of the 

 trouble is in nervous strain. Men, by their 

 position and more intense responsibilities, 

 are more liable to this disorder than women, 

 because they are more subject to mental 

 overwork. " Baldness," this author con- 

 cludes, " is one more of the many warnings 

 of our day — one of Nature's protests against 

 the irregular and excessive activity main- 

 tained in this restless age." 



" There is no reasonable doubt," says 

 J. L. Kaine, of Milwaukee, in a paper on the 

 " Condition of Health in Cities," " that if the 

 public would apply such laws as sanitarians 

 are agreed about, there would be an immense 

 saving in human life and in the time and 

 money now lost through sickness. The con- 

 ditions of health in cities involve only fresh 

 air and wholesome water. Given these, 

 which a man can not provide for himself, 

 and given the exercise of some control over 

 the character of the food-supply, a man 

 can take care of other conditions himself — 

 he can keep a clean skin and be temperate 

 and take exercise." 



The Medico-Legal Society of New York 

 offers the Elliott ¥. Shepard prize of $100 

 for the best essay on any subject within the 

 domain of medical jurisprudence or forensic 

 medicine, with second and third prizes of 

 $75 and $50, respectively, for the next best 

 essays. The competition is open to all stu- 

 dents in the subject througliout the world, 

 upon the condition of their becoming mem- 

 bers of the society. It will close on the 

 1st of April, 1888. Papers designed for it 

 should be sent to the president of the socie- 

 ty, New York. 



Monotonous, continuous sounds are rec- 

 ommended by various persons as promotive 

 of sleep. Any one who has experienced the 

 murmur of the insect and leaf life of a forest 

 knows how quieting it is. So the purling 

 of the waters, the humming of a hive of 

 bees, the buzz of a spinning-wheel, and the 

 murmur of a distant factory, all act as lul- 

 labies. And Mr. S. N. Stewart asserts in 

 the "Scientific American" that there is no 

 better sleep-guard than machinery. A per- 

 son having a spring or electric or water 

 motor to run her sewing-machine need only 

 remove the needle, place the machine near 

 the patient, and let it run. 



The new -work by Dr. Charles Mercier 

 on the " Nervous System and the Mind," 

 which is intended to serve as an introduc- 

 tion to the " Scientific Study of Insanity," 

 will contain an exposition of the new neu- 

 rology as founded by Herbert Spencer and 

 developed by Hughlings Jackson ; an ac- 

 count of the constitution of the mind from 

 the evolutionary stand-point, showing the 

 ways in which it is liable to be disordered ; 

 and a statement of the connection between 

 nervous function and mental processes as 

 thus regarded. 



A BAND of forgers of Swiss lake-dwell- 

 ing antiquities have been detected and 

 brought to trial, who appear to have been 

 carrying on a quite extensive business. 

 Among their deceptions was the installation 

 of a spurious " horn age," which they effect- 

 ed by rudely carving objects of horn and 

 planting them where they would afterward 

 be excavated. 



Dr. Albert E. Leeds, in the American 

 Association, after referring to the rapid pol- 

 lution which local water-supplies are under- 

 going in consequence of the growth of man- 

 ufacturing towns, described what he called 

 the "American System of Water Purifica- 

 tion." It comprises three distinct features : 

 Artificial aeration under pressure ; precipi- 

 tation of dirt, sewage, hardening constitu- 

 ents, and coloring-matters, by harmless pre- 

 cipitants ; and mechanical filtration through 

 filters capable of rapid reversal of current, 

 with cleansing by mechanical means. 



