476 



NA'rCKE 



[I 



Rniin,! 





W. 

 \{)uUfdj4i- 

 ttf)ii niid < 



I. < 



Sons, 

 n.'l.) 



T 



() 



hildiiMi sicin- 



ullll- lullllll'CtU Ol .11 !■ Ill 



\]\\f\ that llic 1111- 

 ihr lMll(i\\in)4 \\\> 



I I ) ihr Ilimilj'T 



Alli'i' ixanrmiuL;, sdiih- 



iiit; llii-ni |)|-;h licallv', I 



results arc ulilaiind li\ 



tliKi' rhaiaclci Islirs : 



(l,.x,iil„(l is ))rai-tic-all\ ciinipl.ic lor ll: 



- it ihr iiHir.- si-nilicaiit Idicii^n sprc 



cliiiird, s,, niurh ihr hritrr ; ( .• I tht-r.- 



11:1 

 "i 



lii ilish 

 s laii 1 

 f iji'Hin 



«-\ci\ s|)i-cics di'sniiH-i 

 |iiiMorial and vcrlial, af 

 in (ithi-r worils, ri-idlx 

 thi'* |)iitui-cs appruach 

 laiir;uai^i- tile iuulidran 

 result, hnlli lor th( 

 for his iiiiiiesi. I \< 

 mawkish sLiuiimnt 



(;) the (ll-sC|-|ptlo|ls, 



)l the diai^raiiunai ie i 

 .■ienlilic. 'I'lie iiion 



iK.lh 



lie; 11 l\ 

 1 the i;eOIllelric stvle, alld the 



111 simiilili'-d the hett.-r is the 

 diild's iiUcHi_L;enre and actuallv 

 A ants neither hahy-laniiua^e imr 

 nor teleoloijical moralisini; ; lie 



wants solid fact and plenty of it. Those iine photo- 

 {:*rnphs from wild life are rather wasted on him unless 

 thev approafh diaeraniniatic coin]jleteness. '1 he pic- 

 tures he gets most out of ;iri' those whicli resenil)le 

 the best kind of toy, iKun> ly, the lay-fii;ure tvpe, 

 which can be taken to pieces. His imagination does 

 the rest, lie has also an unvoiced demand for sunie 

 adniixturi' of the comparative method and ol exola- 

 tionary theory. 



This is no attempt at paradox, but a t(st(d con- 

 clusion. The teacher is apt to make two mistakes; 

 he either iii.\s to ■'i^et down to the child's irvel," 

 or assumes that the child has no interest, and that 

 this, must be created. As for the first, the child has 

 no diftlcultv in understanding bioloi^ic.d tact or 

 biolojT^ical theorv ; his only handicap is unlaniiliarity 

 with the abstract words .md abstract ide.as used so 

 largely by his elders. It is this alone which consti- 

 tutes the difference of level, and it is the teacher's 

 fault if he cannot make his demonstrations concrete. 

 As for the second, the child's interest needs to be 

 attracted; it exists of itself, and develops bv assimila- 

 tion of material, not of other people's exhoi tat ions. 



Mr. Claxton's book has the merit of giving the 

 child a mixed diet ; facts and pictures, zoological, 

 botanical, and miscellaneous, are judiciously com- 

 bined. Some children never get beyond " fur and 

 feathers," because other roads have not been pointed 

 out. The country-walk method was also Mr. Bar- 

 low's, and it is a good one. 



But the author wastes much effort and space. The 

 bulk of the volume consists of poetry an infallible 

 method of damping the child's interest and of impart- 

 ing error — of antiquated moralisings, and of attempts 

 to stimulate interest — attempts which are nothing but 

 the notes of exclamation which the child himself 

 may supply. There is far too much admiration o\ the 

 wonderfid wisdom and provision of "Dame Nature. "" 

 Of the sparrow-hawk Mr. Claxton says : — " 1 do not 

 think anyone who loves birds can admire this fierce- 

 looking creature, and when I have seen one in a 

 NO. 2206, VOL. 8SJ 



keejwr's bag, I have not had much sympathy 'or her." 



\ . I he waxes enthusiastic over wasp-<'xtermination, 



oil. i.lnuifing, rnufsini:. and ])heasant-shooting, and 

 n,-\' ■ morsel, . 



ihii.,, ■' w..ie,. 



niehlin- \^'''»S 



'^ ■ I...... god- 



orm is not a 



l,;ill,, !,,,, adutius huih. To describe 



(he kesii di colour With .'I l>lue tint." 



■n-i(\ the ni^iii a jarring sound," is scai. 



ii!sfa(tor\. I many kinds of elm in I 



;. hut jxissihiv the common elm .and the wych or 



:■ . In: ;,r, the be,! l-L'iMWil " is s< 



,liat 



I :,, 1 ■ th'- birii .Ml iii..iiiiii.ii |..v .V..- - ...■- 



I,. Ill ~i aieiis. Mam of these, as the robin, 



i,,(,U, ,ui(l -.. iliow, ar.- unfortunate. Many of the 

 plant pictures sulfer from indistinctness. The method 



of Hew ick and Sowerb\- i- 



loon AM) niK'i i:'! i< 



I-,:,hI tiiiii tlu- l'ri}ifiplr^ e/ /)/. 

 Hutchison. I'l). \\ -015. 

 dia^Tams. Third edition, r<vis,d 

 (London: Edward Arnold, k.ii) Pric 



bert 

 .and 

 ged. 



net. 



THACKERAY is said to hav.- remarked that he 

 got some of his best thoui,dits ' when driving 

 homi Irom dining out with his skin full of wine.' 

 We need not doubt it, for the statement embodies a 

 phvsiological truth. lt'-a</.s his skin which was full 

 of wine, for .alcohol dilates the surface blood-vessels. 

 I . . .' Impressed in such a manner, this minor measure 

 i of phvsiological truth is seen on its w.ay tow.ards pene- 

 I tr.it ion of the reader's interest and retention in his 

 J memorv. If any advocate of temperance doubts the 

 sen.se of judgment which a!)i)ears to admit the major 

 portion of Thackera> 's statement as equally a physio- 

 lo<,Mcal truth, he will probably change his mind on 

 readinii^ the excellently balanced articles in this volume 

 dealing with this and similar controvrsial subjects. 

 He will in any case admit the value of the admir- 

 able stvle in which the author's opinions are clearly 

 conveyed, leaving not one of the many "pros" and 

 "cons" swathed in any mist of verbal confusion. 



Nor is this quotation quite a fair sample of the 



many skilful efforts by which Dr. Hutchison has 



secured attention. The effort is more frequently less 



obvious and the measure of truth even greater. One 



might instance cases where his trap is baited with 



.appeals to the special ta>te more intimat^iv ,^^,>,aated 



with his subject. Thus a t.abulated com: ' the 



{ ch.inical constituents of different cheeses ana a lareful 



I consideraiitui of their economical Aalue follows quite 



I naturally the imeresi awakened by this palatable 



prophecy : — 

 j "We mav look forward then, perhaps, to tasting 

 cheeses hitJierto unknown, and to combinations of 

 tlavour as vet unsuspected. We may combine the 

 virtues of Stilton with Gorgonzola, or ttiose of Gruyere 

 j with Roquefort, for the artist of the p;-ilate will have 

 in his hands the precise instruments of science." 



If this book was deprived of these special qualities, 



