238 



NATURE 



[May i8, 1916 



retains more of the pattern of the non-mimetic 

 species than its two mimetic relatives, L. archip- 

 pus and L. floridensis (eros). The structural fea- 

 tures, worked out by Dr. Eltringham, also con- 

 firm the conclusions derived from pattern, and 

 should have been taken into account in any 

 useful discussion of North American mimicry. 



Criticisms suggested by the illustrations have 

 occupied nearly the whole of the available space, 

 and it is impossible to write on the present occa- 

 sion of the numerous errors contained in the text 

 or to discuss the various arguments advanced by 

 the writer. One general criticism may, however, 

 be made. If we desire, as the author desires, by 

 the study of mimicry to throw light on the course 

 of evolution in general, we must at any rate 

 glance at mimicry between insects of different 

 orders as well as the likeness between butterfly 

 patterns ; for a hypothesis which attempts to 

 explain the latter but cannot explain the former 

 is not only of limited interest, but also unlikely 

 to provide a true interpretation in its own pro- 

 vince. E. B. P. 



THE GROWTH OF THE MIND. 

 (i) Child Training: a System of Education for the 



Child under the School Age. By V. M. Hillyer. 



Pp. xxxix + 299. (London : Duckworth and 



Co., 1915.) Price 55. net. 

 (2) The Foundations of Normal and Abnormal 



Psychology. By Dr. B. Sidis. Pp. 416. 



(London: Duckworth and Co., 1915.) Price 



7s. 6d. net. 

 (i) 'T^O stimulate educational ideas is a most 

 ■*- valuable social service, but the neces- 

 sity of using the method of trial and error in the 

 application of this or that principle to the teach- 

 ing process may come hard on the child, who must 

 submit to be a corpus vile for experimentation. 

 The co-operation of teachers and psychologists has 

 produced many futile and even mischievous 

 "theories of education," and the younger the sub- 

 ject the more dangerous is their practical inci- 

 dence. But this co-operation has recently begun 

 to justify Itself. Teachers with insight, especially 

 in America, have been applying certain approved 

 results of psychology, and their success has been 

 considerable. It is interesting to note that several 

 old-world methods are still found to be among the 

 best; for instance, the two main principles of 

 savage education, imitation and "helping" the 

 parents, and the classical and mediaeval insistence 

 upon drill, are proved foundations of training, 

 especially in the case of the very young. A system 

 like that of Mr. V. M. Hillyer Is practical In the 

 best sense, and soundly based on psychological 

 fact. " It aims to avoid the faults so common in 

 child training — sentimentality, effeminacy, emo- 

 tionalism, mysticism, licence under the guise of 

 freedom, exaggeration of the unimportant or 

 trivial, the attaching of Imaginary value to the 

 symbolic." "The formation of habits, physical, 

 mental, and moral," by direct drill Is the keynote 

 of the system. Mental training, for example, de- 

 NO. 2429, VOL. 97] 



pends on the formation of "brain paths " by repe- 

 tition, and on their increase in number by increas- 

 ing associations. 



The author well remarks : " It is a commonplace 

 in education to say that the forming of character 

 is the chief aim, that it is not so much what is 

 learned, as the character produced, but character 

 is nothing more than the sum total of habits — 

 good or bad," and these are not only moral, but 

 physical and mental. " Habits are formed by repe- 

 tition, and in no other way than by repetition." 

 It is very sensible to say, "the involuntary habits 

 we can form by making the right setting for the 

 child. His playmates, nurses, and, not least, his 

 parents, avIII be his involuntary copies, models^ 

 and habit-formers. The voluntary habits we can 

 form only by practising the child ; they cannot be 

 formed by telling him." Muscle-memory must be 

 exercised, and reaction must be encouraged ; on 

 these lines concentration and speed may be deve- 

 loped. It Is perhaps claiming too much to say : 

 " If you stimulate and exercise the brain cells 

 properly you can develop almost any habits, abili- 

 ties, tastes, faculties you may wish." With young 

 children there Is a danger from excessive drill,, 

 which may induce fatigue, misconstrued so often 

 by the inexperienced teacher, and from excessive 

 habituation, which confines the child in a rut from 

 which he may never escape. In this case his work 

 lacks both individuality and finish. 



If carried out with sympathy and intelligence,. 

 Mr. Hillyer 's system is excellent. Not the least of 

 its positive features is the drill in social habits. 



(2) Dr. Boris Sidis makes a timely protest 

 against "practical pseudo-psychology," and those 

 psychologists "who claim that they have some 

 great psychological truths to reveal to business 

 men, manufacturers, and working men." He also 

 presses the current objection to the use of physical 

 terms and metaphors In the illustration of psychi- 

 cal phenomena, e.g., when Kovalevsky expresses 

 mental activity In terms of mechanical energy, 

 " the writer might as well attempt to change inches 

 into pounds. He who undertakes the examination 

 and study of mental phenomena must bear in 

 mind the simple and Important, but frequently for- 

 gotten truth, that facts of consciousness are not 

 of a physical, mechanical character." 



A disciple of William James, the author attacks 

 the so-called " new psychology " In Its attempt ta 

 make psychology a physical science. But his very 

 lengthy argumentation on the scope and function 

 of the science of mind Is extremely nebulous, and 

 consists more of illustrative phrases than of illus- 

 trative facts. For example, the axiom that 

 "psychological facts cannot be reached by any of 

 the sense organs " Is discussed and Illustrated In 

 about fifty pages without any new light being 

 thrown on the thesis. "Nothing," says Dr. Sidis, 

 "gives me more pleasure than to find myself in 

 accord with the great American psychologist and 

 philosopher (James)." This Is in reference to his 

 own theory of "reserve energy." 



Another theory of the author, that of "moment 

 consciousness," may be described, In view of its 



