January i8, 191 2] 



NATURE 



173 



by interpolated references to individualism, collectiv- 

 ism, competition, &c. 



The historical summary of the early part of the 

 nineteenth century in respect to adolescent labour 

 and the Acts relating thereto is germane to the sub- 

 ject, but all through there is a lack of clearness as to 

 the aim of the arguments and voluminous quotations. 

 The author bewails the bad state of what he calls the 

 industrial system, or industrial organisation, when 

 what he really means is that there was no system 

 and no attention by the community as a whole to the 

 organisation of industry. The decay of apprentice- 

 ships which he bewails did not arise from the cupidity 

 or caprice of the employers so much as from the 

 actual disappearance of the handicrafts for which the 

 apprentices were being trained. 



Another confusion of ideas occurs in connection with 

 the use of the word " State." The author forgets that 

 the "State" is ourselves. He speaks of the "State" 

 as of some superior aloof deity, who is to carry out 

 the requirements which he has laid down as universal 

 for adolescents. The "industrial system," "the em- 

 ployer," "the capitalist," "the manufacturer," are 

 used- as terms antithetical to the "State." Again, the 

 chapter on the guardianship of the State is a short 

 summary of the laws relating to child labour. Here 

 again, however, the author is dealing with a particular 

 part of his general proposition, and when he comes 

 'n deal with the question of education he necessarilv 



•turns to very vague generalities. 



The book closes with a series of "definite" pro- 



asals. None of these proposals takes any account 

 the boy's own attitude to the question. 



1. That the school age should be raised to fifteen. 



2. That the boy should be under the supervision of 

 Government officials until he is eighteen. That the 



Labour Exchanges and the Advisory Committees 

 attached to them are to keep in touch with every bov 

 by official and voluntary visitors during these three 

 vrars. 



3. That the employment of boys between fifteen and 

 ighteen should be restricted to half-time. 



4. That they should be regularly medically inspected 

 <Iuring those years. 



5. That the Advisory Committees in connection with 

 lie Labour Exchanges should find jobs for all bovs. 



The author omits to make any suggestions for the 

 pecific organisation of the vast additional public ser- 

 vice outlined, except that he places it in the hands of 

 the Board of Trade. Still less does he show how the 

 immunity — that is to say, ourselves — is to be induced 

 ') go on working for our offspring until all of them 

 lie eighteen years of age, or to beg from our neigh- 

 iiurs who have none the means wherewith to feed 

 rid clothe them. It is quite simple to put these 

 unctions on the "State" as a duty, but it does not 

 ok quite so simple when we call the "State" by its 

 iher name. 



He does not realise that the London County Council 

 nay go much farther in making social experiments 

 iian the State can, and that London is becoming a 

 id place for the study of social economics other than 

 hose associated with its own special conditions. The 

 txable capacity of London is considerable, and it is 

 NO. 2203, VOL. 88] 



therefore a good place for sanguine people imbued 

 with "the sentiment of humanitv " and "imaginative 

 reason " to make social experiments from which other 

 parts of the countr}^ may learn useful lessons both 

 of a negative and positive character. 



The happy picture of elementary and secondary 

 education under the County Council will amuse some 

 of its ill-natured critics, and the suggestion that 

 all the youths of the country should be subjected to 

 the supervision of the " State " or the L.C.C. until they 

 are eighteen years old, because parents and employers 

 are no longer to be trusted to discipline and train 

 except as voluntary assistants to Advisory Committees 

 at the Labour Exchanges, will seem humorous to 

 anyone who can appreciate a solemn jest. 



BRITISH AND IRISH FRESH-WATER FISHES. 



The Fresh-water Fishes of the British Isles. By L . 

 Tate Regan. Pp. xxv-l-287. (London : Methuen 

 and Co., Ltd., 191 1) Price 6a-. 



MR. REGAN is to be congratulated upon the pub- 

 lication of this little manual, which should find 

 a place in the library of every person who takes an 

 interest in the natural history of our islands. The 

 lack of a convenient manual of moderate size and 

 modest price must often have been felt by many besides 

 ourselves, and this want has been well supplied by 

 the book now before us. Concise but adequate descrip- 

 tions are given of all fishes native to the fresh waters 

 of these islands, including such marine and estuarine 

 species as are known to ascend into fresh water, and 

 in our opinion Mr. Regan's work marks a distinct 

 step in advance of any of its predecessors. The 

 figures have been drawn by the author himself, and 

 are well adapted for showing the salient features of 

 the fishes illustrated ; in one or two instances they 

 have been drawn from examples which have barely 

 attained the characters of adult fish, but this is not 

 really a matter of very great moment, for the changes 

 due to age, sex, and maturity in each species are 

 generally pointed out in the text and the size of the 

 examples figured is given. The importance of the 

 latter information is, unfortunately, not always as 

 fully appreciated by those who describe fishes as by 

 those who have to identify particular individuals with 

 the aid of the descriptions and figures given. 



The vast bulk of our fresh-water fishes are either 

 salmonids or cyprinoids, and the treatment of these 

 families bv Mr. Regan is in some respects fuller than 

 that accorded by any earlier author. Probably few 

 families provide greater puzzles for the framer of 

 specific definitions than the Salmonidct, and it is not 

 to be expected that the course adopted by Mr. 

 Regan in recognisiog no fewer than fifteen species 

 of char and eight of whitefish will commend itself to 

 all his readers. What constitutes a species is, how- 

 ever, a question upon which any person in possession 

 of the requisite information may form his own views ; 

 the point of practical importance is that Mr. Regan 

 has given us by far the fullest extant descriptions of 

 the numerous forms (whether regarded as species, sub- 

 species, races, or varieties) of char and whitefish found 

 in the lakes of Great Britain and Ireland. In this he 



