l62 



NATURE 



[April 7, 1910 



an aid in this or an assistance to mental develop- 

 ment that it is actually mischievous. 



The traditionists (for, after all, tradition, whether 

 of the old "learning" or, in more subtle form, of a 

 sort of class prejudice, seems to be the main reason 

 for the retention of classics as a propaedeutic) reply 

 that the character of the classical tongues, their in- 

 flectional structure and their logical habit, are of great 

 value in the development of the intellect. Instead of 

 asking for proofs of this, we may note the possibility 

 that an efficient study of the vernacular can secure 

 the same results. The Germans (as is shown in a 

 recent report *) are beginning to see this. The 

 classicists may quote anecdotes of this or that distin- 

 guished man who attributed his lucid and logical Eng- 

 lish style to his early training in Latin prose, but the 

 same or a better result could be secured in far less 

 time. If the time now given in our schools to classical 

 and modern languages were given to English, the 

 benefits would be enormous both for the general cul- 

 ture of the people and for the special work of 

 specialists, whether in science or languages, in 

 "technical" or "literary" studies. The English 

 taught in schools as yet is a mere parody of what it 

 might be. It is remarkable that the English language 

 does not possess a single text-book of its natural his- 

 tory that can claim any philosophic or scientific im- 

 portance. 



If English were properly taught as the main com- 

 ponent of a propaedeutic (the other components being 

 elementary mathematics and science, the study of 

 which also needs reorganisation), boys who begin 

 specialisation (for specialisation now perforce begins 

 at school), whether in science or mathematics, would 

 find "literary" studies by no means an obstacle. 

 Thev would have a command of their own language 

 far in advance of the best classical or '• literary " 

 scholar as trained to-day. The result would also be a 

 great benefit to science itself. 



The world has already absorbed the Greek "spirit," 

 but it should not forget the fact that the essence of 

 that spirit is the scientific temper. It must also realise 

 that as knowledge increases in bulk there must be 

 periodic sacrifices of what can best be spared. "The 

 wisdom of the ancients " is a phrase which, if not 

 merelv sentimental, is absurd. Antiquitas saeculi 

 juventus mundi. 



Reform is needed in the school curriculum no less 

 than in the university system. If the propaedeutic 

 there is on sound principles, there will be no fear 

 of scientific students being without a literary training 

 (and this in the best and most useful direction, the 

 mother-tongue), nor, we may add, will there be any 

 risk of "literary" students being without a scientific 

 training. Greek and Latin will then be reserved^ for 

 special university courses, just as Hebrew, or rigid 

 dynamics, or forestry may be so reserved, _ according 

 as the specialist is moved by his own spirit or the 

 spirit of evolution. A. E. Crawley. 



THE CENSUS OF 191 1. 



THE Census (Great Britain) Bill, making provi- 

 sion for the taking of the census of 191 1, was 

 read a first time in the House of Commons on 

 March 4. The Act for the last census, that of 190 1, 

 provided that the schedule should require the following 

 particulars, and no others : — " (a) the name, sex, age, 

 profession or occupation, condition as to marriage, 

 relation to head of family, birthplace, and (where the 



1 "TheTeaching of Classics in Secondary Schools in Germany." (Board 

 of Education Special Reports, vol. xx., 1910.) 



NO. 21 10, VOL. 83] 



person was born abroad) nationality of every living 

 person who abode in everj- house on the night of the 

 census day ; and (b) whether any person who so abode 

 Was blind or deaf and dumb, or imbecile or lunatic ; 

 and (c) where the occupier is in occupation of less than 

 five rooms, the number of rooms occupied by him ; 

 and (d) in the case of Wales or the county of Mon- 

 mouth, whether any person who so abode (being of 

 three years of age or upwards) speaks English only 

 or Welsh only, or both English and Welsh " — a pro- 

 vision suitably modified in the case of Scotland by a 

 reference to the speaking of Gaelic instead of 

 Welsh. 



These requirements have been amplified in the Bill 

 now before Parliament by omitting the limitation to 

 " less than five rooms " in (c), so that all occupiers 

 will have to make a return as to the number of rooms 

 inhabited, and by the addition of a new section : — 

 " In the case of any person who so abode being 

 married, the duration of marriage, and the number 

 of children born of the marriage." ?The first change 

 is of importance, as it will enable the census authori- 

 ties to give tables covering, more completely than was 

 formerly the case, tenements inhabited by the work- 

 ing classes, and it may be hoped that, in the subse- 

 quent tabulation, some distinction as to the ages of 

 persons inhabiting tenements of each given size may 

 be found feasible ; a distinction between children and 

 adults would render possible some better indication 

 of overcrowding than the present somewhat crude 

 measure of " more than two persons to a room." 



The new section requiring a return, in the case of 

 married persons, as to the duration of marriage and 

 the number of children born of the marriage is of 

 the very highest interest, though its full value will 

 not be reached until the results of later censuses are 

 available for comparison. If the returns are tabulated 

 so as to show the number of children for a given age 

 of mother and a given duration of marriage, it will 

 be possible to compare essentially similar marriages 

 in different districts, and some fresh light will be 

 thrown on the present state of legitimate fertility in 

 this country. It is also to be hoped that a sub- 

 division may be found possible according to the occu- 

 pation of the father; it would be sufficient to choose 

 a few typical groups of occupations, and it would 

 hardly be necessary to do more than give tables for 

 England and Wales as a whole. Such tables would 

 afford information of the most important kind, which 

 we do not at present possess in any form. 



No question is included as to religion, except in the 

 case of the Irish census, for which separate provision 

 is made, and the present Census Bill is very dis- 

 appointing in that it makes no attempt to place the 

 organisation of the census on a permanent basis or 

 to provide for an intermediate quinquennial census. 

 It is absurd that so important a part of the stock- 

 taking of the nation, as the census is, should be de- 

 pendent on the chances of party politics, and it is false 

 economy to spend time and money on training a staff 

 for the execution of census work and then to scatter 

 that stafY to the four winds-^only to go through the 

 process again after a few years have elapsed. A 

 smaller but more permanent staff would be much 

 more efficient and could be fully engaged between one 

 census and the next in the carrying out of supple- 

 mentary investigations after the publication of the 

 main report. The necessity for the intermediate quin- 

 quennial census has been shown again and again, 

 but the statement of the President of the Local 

 Government Board that he is " not without hope that 

 a system of quinquennial census may come to be 

 adopted " cannot be said to carry conviction. 



