February 14, 1901] 



NA TURE 



2>1^ 



which I have the honour to be a member, but it is a large 

 problem which it has to face, and it is to be hoped that its 

 publication will not fall too much into the way of merely 

 publishing solutions of interesting and sometimes recondite 

 conundrums. 



I should like to see a more rational form of geometrical text- 

 book in common use, in which many of the propositions of the 

 second and fifth books are merely translated into algebraical 

 language, and ratios and symbols more widely employed in the 

 sixth book to shorten many of the propositions. 



Again, no doubt, trigonometry is postponed till too late a date, 

 and in many cases it is not begun at school at all. Why should 

 not every one gain a reasonable notion of the sines, cosines and 

 tangents of angles at a much earlier stage in order to supplement 

 his knowledge of geometry? I would not recommend a 

 beginner to employ himself for hours, as is often the case, in 

 proving long, and to him cumbrous, identities, but leave such 

 work to the professed mathematician. It would be more, 

 profitable for the boy to plot out graphs of the simpler functions 

 on squared paper and thereby gain an early notion of coordinates. 

 He should also be taught much earlier a practical working of log- 

 arithms, and not postpone it until perhaps he has got beyond 

 the binomial and experimental theorems. 



What do we find, too, in the teaching of elementary algebra? 

 There seem to be the same unpractical methods at work here. 

 Boys spend considerable time over the ordinary rules in the 

 early part of their text-books, and often no suggestion is made 

 to them that algebra is but a convenient method of expressing' 

 general ideas in a shorthand form. The fundamental notions of 

 ratio, proportion or variation are kept from them because, if 

 you please, the chapters on them are printed somewhat late in 

 their text-boaks ! Tot frequently the average question merely 

 involves a bristling array of lei ters and brackets which have to be 

 simply eliminated or removed. Seldom is an appeal made to a 

 boy's faculties of sight and touch, and seldom is any apparatus 

 for measurement placed in his way. The present order of things 

 may not do much harm to the boy of mathematical ability, if 

 he means to make a special study of the subject ; but for the 

 rank and file it is wrong, if they are lo coordinate their mathe- 

 matics with a good working knowledge of the calculus of experi- 

 mental science. 



Here I must make mention of a very valuable article by 

 Prof. Perry in Nature of August 2, iQoo, and I only regret 

 that, as I was away at the time, I was not aware earlier of its 

 existence. I need only say that I am heartily in accord with 

 him in advocating some such scheme as he there proposes. To 

 turn now to what I hope may prove a practical suggestion. It 

 would not be possible to change abruptly from the present 

 arrangement to such a scheme ; but the process could certainly 

 be gradual, and a larger, gradually increasing, proportion of 

 hours for experimental work might well be introduced into the 

 curriculum. Surely the University of Cambridge might lead the 

 way and bring into its previous examination some form of 

 physical science, theoretical and practical, in order that all 

 young men may obtain some idea of the practical applications 

 of mathematics. Why is it that so many young men at Cam- 

 bridge find the subject of physics so difficult, and are sometimes 

 induced to abandon it for some other form of science ? My 

 answer is that their previous mathematical education has often 

 been conducted on the wrong lines, and their knowledge is not 

 of tliat kind which is required of them in the laboratories. 



The University of Oxford is, however, a far worse offender in 

 its mathematical papers for responsions and matriculation. The 

 arithmetical papers set are thoroughly on the orthodox lines, 

 and this is very well as far as it goes ; but there is no hint of any 

 application of arithmetic to practical work. The rest of the 

 mathematics required is truly ridiculous ; a candidate may either 

 take an elementary algebra paper, carrying him about half-way 

 through the subject, or a paper on the first two books of Euclid, 

 and the latter alternative is strongly recommended by the author- 

 ities. Note that he must not take both subjects, so that the 

 candidate is given to understand that these two subjects are 

 divided off into separate compartments, and may have no more 

 relation to one another than biology has to Greek iambics. 

 Moreover, from what I understood in a speech at the Conference 

 of Science Masters, a young man who would offer physics for a 

 scholarship does not always meet with the encouragement he 

 deserves from the authorities at certain colleges, and a fortiori 

 no pass candidate is expected to even trouble himself about the 

 subject. 



NO. T633, ^'^L- 63] 



With these difficulties in our way it cannot be expected that 

 very much towards realising Prof. Perry's ideal has yet been 

 achieved ; but, in addition to what I have said, there is no doubt 

 that the number of hours given to the .study of mathematics or 

 physics at our older public schools is woefully inadequate. It 

 is useless to say that so much money is spent on these subjects. 

 Unless more time is given to ihem for each individual boy, 

 satisfactory results cannot be produced, much less can an advance 

 be made towards coordinating the two subjects. 



A great debt of gratitude is due to men like the late Prof. 

 Huxley in furthering the cause of science in the public .schools, but 

 we do not want to stay where we are. An answer to the practical 

 question of how we are to fit tnore time into the working day 

 involves the removal of compulsory Greek and an alteration of 

 the classical scheme. Education is very much in the air just 

 now, and when Lord Rosebery, Sir John Williams and others, 

 in the last few months, speak publicly upon this subject, it is 

 greatly to be hoped that reforms will be brought about. 



The old theory is that it does not much matter what a boy is 

 taught at school provided he is made to work. This, to my 

 mind, is a most mischievous doctrine. The average boy has 

 only a limited capacity and a limited time for learning to fit 

 himself for his life's work, and it must be discouraging to him 

 to find, when he leaves school, that he knows absolutely nothing 

 about the work by which he may be going to earn his bread. 

 Not every boy is capable of becoming a classical scholar with a 

 fine critical instinct ; let those who are by all means be 

 encouraged in every possible way. But it is for the average boy 

 that I plead, and I ask why so much of the old studies should 

 be thrust down his throat when modern life will require of him 

 a knowledge of a great deal besides. 



I do not desire to enter into a long discussion of the merits 

 of a classical education, but in the older public schools some 

 change must be brought about if we are to devote more time 

 to modern subjects, and it is for" this reason that I have intro- 

 duced the question here. A spirit of quasi-medisevalism still 

 seems to be numbing the existence and warping the educational 

 growth of these schools. Far better would it be if a change 

 came about from within ; but will anything short of another 

 Royal Commission bring about the necessary reforms ? 



Athletics fill a large part of school life, and it is natural that 

 they should appear important on a healthy boy's horizon. It 

 is, therefore, all the more necessary he should be properly 

 guided in his work before the time comes when he can judge 

 for himself. Perhaps too much lime may be given to sports ; 

 be that as it may, a boy in each day cannot work more than 

 a certain number of hours, but while he is at work, for heaven's 

 sake let us teach him more of the things which are likely to 

 stand by him afterwards. I have too much respect for the 

 older public schools to wish to see them left behind in the race 

 by vigorous younger sisters ; but we, who are concerned with 

 such schools, cannot shut our ears to the peremptory demands 

 for a more rational education, if our national life and character 

 are to play the same part in the future that they have done in the 

 pa.st. G. H. J. Hurst. 



Eton College, Windsor, February 12. 



The Use of Mosquito Curtains as Protection against 

 Malaria. 



In your issue of December 20, 1900, is described the use of 

 mosquito curtains against malaria in Egypt. It is, I suppose, 

 generally known that in India they have been u<ed for many 

 years in a similar fashion. Between 1872 and 1883 I travelled 

 and camped in some of the most malarious jungles in India. 

 Sometimes I had to travel, like a Boer, in light marching 

 order ; but mosquito curtains, I can well remember, were the 

 last things to be left behind. Their efficacy in those days was 

 attributed to a filtering action ; and, following out this idea, I 

 used (especially in very feverish districts) to employ curtains 

 composed of thin porous sheeting. I' can still recollect the 

 various stories of the efficacy of mosquito curtains against 

 malaria. 



There seems to be an opinion amongst men who go north 

 into the malarial districts of Rhodesia, &c., that Dr. Ross's 

 splendid discovery does not cover quite the whole ground. One 

 can recollect how, in certain countries, certain winds (apart 

 from mosquitoes) inevitably bring attacks of fever, even in those 

 who are apparently free at the time from infection. On the 

 Nilgiris, in Southern India, between 6000 and 7000 feet high. 



