1 84 



NATURE 



[May 3, 1917 



pathologist, and VV. B. Hodgson, who became 

 professor of' political economy in Edinburgh Uni- 

 versity. They should be t'ead by everyone inter- 

 ested in education, and this convenient little 

 volume at the cost of one shilling will enable them 

 to do so. 



Sixty-three years have elapsed since these stimu- 

 lating and powerful discourses were delivered, and 

 some of the illustrative references to the scientific 

 views as well as to the popular superstitions 

 current at that time require explanation or modifi- 

 cation. This is provided by a series of useful notes 

 inserted by the editor after each lecture. 



The lectures are not occupied with denunciations 

 of the "elegant imbecility of classical learning," 

 but with an exposition from various points of view 

 of the advantages to education of the observation 

 of natural phenomena and the scientific study of 

 language. In 1854 there were not more than two 

 or three schools in England where natural science 

 was taught, and in the universities such subjects 

 were almost ignored except where they formed an 

 integ"ral, though subordinate, part of the medical 

 curriculum. We have moved on since that time. 

 An the large schools and some of the small are 

 provided with laboratories and teachers more or 

 less competent. The time given to experiment and 

 observation is, however, quite insufficient, and until 

 headmasters with purely literary qualifications and 

 syrnpathies are got rid of progress will still be slow. 

 Some Questions of Phonetic Theory. By Dr. 



Wilfrid Perrett. Pp., vl+iio. (University of 



London Press, 1916.) Price 25. 6d. 

 This book forms a notable contribution to the 

 literature on the science of speech. The first 

 chapter exposes some current misconceptions as 

 to the position of rest of the organs of speech. 

 In the remaining three chapters (entitled "Willis 

 on Vowel Sounds," "The Wheatstone Test," 

 and "The Compass of the Mouth ") Dr. Perrett 

 deals with the intricate subject of vowel-pitches. 

 He gives examples of the hopelessly divergent 

 results, which have been arrived at by different 

 authorities on acoustics, and endeavours, in our 

 opinion with success, to bring some order into 

 the chaos. ' Naturally the work of those who 

 have contributed to bring about the chaos comes 

 in for strong criticism. Upon Helmholtz Dr. 

 Perrett is particularly severe ; he shows that 

 "wherever it bears upon phonetics Helmholtz's 

 book has no right to be considered authoritative," 

 and states that even in other branches of the 

 theory of sound Helmholtz attained a reputation 

 to which the quality of his work did not entitle 

 him. The Helmholtzian harmonic overtone theory 

 of vowel-quality is shown to be untenable by 

 simple experiments described on pp. 79, 81, and 

 107 — experiments which may be performed with- 

 out difficulty by any phonetically trained person. 



The methods by which Dr. Perrett arrives at 

 his interesting table of vowel-pitches (p. 98) 

 appear to us to be sound. 



We commend the work to the notice not only 

 of those interested in the science of speech, but 

 -also of students of sound generally. D. J. 



NO. 2479, VOL. 99] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 I opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 ' can he undertake to return, or to correspond with 

 i the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 ' this or any other part of Nature. No notice ts 

 I taken of anonymous communications.] 



i Science Teaching and National Character. 



I WAS asked to address a Workers' Educational 

 I Association meeting; was prevented by illness; and 

 i wrote a long letter to the chairman. Phrases from 

 I this letter, referring to the teaching of science, very 

 much abbreviated, appeared in the newspapers. Now 

 Nature (April 19) flagellates me for what I am sup- 

 posed to have said. And, indeed, if 1 had meant 

 anything so grotesque as you naturally inferred from 

 j the disconnected phrases you saw, I should have 

 deserved all your strictures 



What I did say, briefly, was that we had seriously 

 neglected science, not so much in schools as in higher 

 work and in practical life; that we were realising 

 this; but that there was a danger of our trying to 

 mend matters in the wrong way, by cramming too 

 much science into the schools, -where, certainly up 

 to the age of sixteen, the boy would profit most 

 from an education in the "humanities," even if he 

 intended to devote himself to science later. By the 

 " humanities " I meant the studies which deal with 

 the thoughts and actions of man. I added 

 that there was another danger, quite distiqpt in 

 character, attaching to our new-found reverence for 

 physical science, and this was that we might be 

 tempted to imagine that we could apply its concepts 

 and methods to the totally different problems pre- 

 sented by human life. I do not remember whether 

 on this occasion I used an illustration which I have 

 used at other times : that of the older political 

 economy, which, in trying to become an exact science 

 setting forth unalterable laws, had lost touch with the 

 realities of social life. But I did give an illustration 

 from Germany, where, I urged, the attempt to apply 

 the Darwinian theory (misinterpreted) to the life of 

 that strange justice-loving animal, man, had produced 

 the hideous political philosophy of Treitschke and 

 modern Germany, and had largely contributed to 

 bring about the war. I did not say, or mean, or think 

 anything so absurd as that science caused the war, 

 or that Germany's soul had been poisoned because 

 she took science more seriously than we. But it is 

 possible that some of my phrases, hurriedly written 

 from a sick bed, may have cqnveyed that impression. 

 If so, I am glad that you have directed attention to 

 them. Ramsay Muir. 



Manchester, -'Vpril 23. 



We are glad to know that the published extracts 

 from Prof. Ramsay Muir's letter do not represent his 

 views as to the influence of science upon national 

 character. Prof. Muir need not fear, however, that 

 too much attention will be given to science teaching 

 in schools, or that British men of science are likely 

 to leave the working of the human spirit out of con- 

 sideration because this has been done by German 

 historians and philosophers. All that the most ad- 

 vanced reformers of school curricula ask Is that the 

 natural sciences (with geography) shall be given 

 approximately the same amount of school time as 

 three other main groups, namely, languag'es and 

 literature, English and history, mathematics and other 

 subjects, and that up to the ag-e of about sixteen 

 years all these subjects should be fairly represented 

 as essential parts of a general educational course. 



