December 20. [900] 



NATURE 



>93 



theatre," at one side of a small area of smooth level bottomland, 

 a sloping bank rises rather steeply to a height of perhaps thirty 

 feet ; along this slope are three or four terraces, not large enough 

 to be of any use for tillage. There is nothing in the eastern part 

 of the United States known to be of Indian origin with which 

 these may be properly compared. 



The author describes the various kinds of burial works of the 

 Indians, and compares the numerous cairns found in Massa- 

 chusetts with Indian stone mounds, but most of these were very 

 much larger than any cairns supposed to be constructed by the 

 Norse. The Indian graves contain skeletons and relics. The 

 stone cairns, the cairns in question, are called graves because they 

 answer,in every particular of size and situation, to those mentioned 

 in diflferent sagas, and are in the midst of various other remains 

 which must be attributed to the Northmen ; and yet, in all that 

 have been examined there has not been found the slightest trace 

 of bone or any object which shows the least indication of being 

 artificial. This, however, is only negative evidence ; the sahie 

 statement is true in regard to the graves of Iceland and Green- 

 land ; anfl not only of the graves in these countries, but also of 

 the house-sites. It is also apparent that they differ from Indian 

 graves even more in the manner of their interior construction 

 tnan in their outward appearance, A. C. H. 



PROGRESS OF SCIENCE TEACHING. 



T^HE first report of the newly organised Board of Education 

 has now been published. It consists of three volumes — 

 the first contains the general report of the Board, the second is 

 concerned only with secondary, and the third volume only with 

 elementary education. A very important part of the second 

 volume comprises the reports of the inspectors of the South 

 Kensington branch of the Board of Education, who have charge 

 of the teaching of science and art in different parts of the 

 country. Without exception the inspectors tell a gratifying 

 story of better equipment, improved methods, and saner ideals 

 in the science schools visited by them. But though there has 

 been a decided step forward there is still much to be accomplished 

 and plenty of need for the best energies of both inspectors and 

 teachers. 



The reports are full of interesting details, it is true, yet certain 

 broad questions touched upon by nearly every inspector are 

 likely to be of greater general interest. The first of these the 

 senior chief inspector, Mr. Gilbert Redgrave, refers to at some 

 length. Readers of Nature are already quite familiar with it — 

 the unsatisfactory condition, that is, of the preliminary education 

 of science and technical students in all parts of the country. 

 Mr. Redgrave says : " I find that in a very large number of cases 

 the work of the teacher in an evening class under this Board is 

 crippled and rendered ineffective owing to the backward state of 

 many of the students who enter the classes, and who are really 

 only qualified for the evening continuation school." As Dr. 

 Ball points out, in his report on the work of the South-Western 

 district, the science inspector has no connection with public 

 elementary education and consequently no means of officially 

 acquainting himself with what provision is made for the teach- 

 ing of science in the elementary school, and there can be little 

 doubt that it is this want of continuity which is very largely to 

 blame for the disparity between what an ex-standard scholar 

 actually knows and what he should be acquainted with if he is 

 to benefit by the instruction of the science class or technical 

 school. Fortunately, local endeavour is doing something to 

 remedy this evil. Mr. Hugh Gordon tells of an arrangement in 

 the county of Durham by which, during the year with which his 

 report is concerned, the County Council refused to girant aid on 

 the attendance of students at a class in a subject unless the 

 students could produce satisfactory evidence to show they 

 possessed the necessary preparatory knowledge, or would attend 

 concurrently such other classes as the teacher considered desirable. 

 Similar instances could be cited, but this example will serve to 

 exemplify what attempts are being made to cope with a real 

 danger to our system of national technical education. 



Another subject which very properly takes an important place 

 in most of the reports is the need of practical instruction in all 

 science teaching. There has, the reports show, been a decided 

 improvement in the amount and character of the practical work 

 in all branches of science, except, perhaps, in the case of 

 physiography. In order to enable teachers to illustrate their 

 lessons with properly prepared experimental demonstrations, 



NO. 1625, VOL. 63] 



and to foster individual practical work for their students, they 

 must be given time in which to prepare such lessons. We are 

 glad to see that Mr. Harold Wager calls prominent attention to 

 this fact in his report on the Yorkshire division. He says : 

 " The governors or managers of many of these schools have not 

 yet fully appreciated the fact that teachers of practical science 

 subjects require a considerable amount of time for the prepara- 

 tion of the experiments for their lessons beyond the time actually 

 devoted to teaching. The necessary preparation for a good 

 practical lesson in the laboratory is no light task, and if the 

 work is to be done properly the teacher must have time for it." 



Some progress in the direction of co-ordinating the work of 

 the numerous local authorities for education has been made, but 

 there still seems to be considerable misapprehension as to the 

 precise limits of the sphere of influence of each committee or 

 other governing body. It is gratifying to see that broad-minded 

 counsels have prevailed in many centres, with the result that 

 the very large amount of energy thereby saved has been devoted 

 to the improvement of the local supply of scientific and technical 

 instruction. Mr. Redgrave sketches a plan by which the dif- 

 ferent schools may work together in a satisfactory and har- 

 monious manner. "The Technical School under the Town 

 Council should be a day school for students who have passed 

 through a course of two or three years in a School of Science, 

 which might be conducted by the School Board, and who may 

 desire to qualify themselves for good positions in industrial or 

 commercial pursuits. The School of Science managed by the 

 School Board would in each case be the preparatory school for 

 the Technical School, but it would also provide an education 

 complete in itself for those who leave school at the age of fifteen 

 or sixteen. The evening classes at the Technical School shouldi 

 be classes in connection with the Board, or with the City andi 

 Guilds of London Institute, while the evening classes under the 

 School Board should in all cases be those of the evening con- 

 tinuation school, and students should be encouraged to prepare 

 for the classes under the Technical Instruction Committee by a 

 course of study in the evening continuation school." Similar 

 plans have, indeed, been already tried with great advantage in. 

 several centres, and it is much to be desired that some such, 

 sensible system of co-operation should be universally adopted. 



Only part of the science teaching given in secondary schools 

 comes within the purview of the reports under consideration, 

 that, namely, which takes place in secondary schools receiving 

 financial aid from the Board of Education. Mr. Buckmaster 

 deals almost exclusively with this part of the work of the South 

 Kensington branch of the Board. Among other matters which 

 his report makes clear is the fact that there is likely to be some 

 difficulty in the future in those cases where the inspector of the. 

 Board of Education and the organising secretary of a County, 

 Council Technical Instruction Committee come to different conclu- 

 sions about a school after inspecting it. As Mr. Buckmaster says, 

 " even in a county area cases may occur where the County 

 Technical Committee will deprecate criticism on the schools it 

 has selected as recipients of its grants." 



The points of interest in this very valuable volume have been 

 by no means exhausted by this brief notice. The chief topics 

 only have been pissed in review; the interested reader must be 

 referred to the reports themselves for a more detailed account of 

 a vitally important subject. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Dr. Arthur Robinson has been appointed professor of 

 anatohiy at King's College, London. 



Science states that in an address to the students of Colorado, 

 College, Dr. D. K. Pearsons, of Chicago, announced that on 

 January i, 1901, he would make the college a gift of 10,000/ 

 towards the cost of completing the new^scientific building now in, 

 course of construction, , 



At the close of his rectorial address at Aberdeen University 

 on Tuesday, Lord Strathcona expressed his willingness to con- 

 tribute 25,000/. to the University if within a year 50,000/. more 

 were raised to complete the buildings and properly equip the 

 University. Mr, Charles W. Mitchell has telegraphed to the 

 Principal that he will be responsible for the whole of the 

 present debt on the University buildings if it does not much 

 exceed 20,000/. Mr. Mitchell is a son of the late Dr. Charles 

 Mitchell, who was a liberal benefactor of the University. 



