NOVEMBER 22, 1906| 
NATURE 
89 
“how to learn,’’ that they are deficient in 
resource, in self-help, in curiosity of the right kind. In 
the majority of cases they are quite incapable of thinking 
for themselves, and in a large number of cases they cannot 
express their ideas, if they have any, in simple English. 
Such consequences necessarily follow from the old bad 
system of ‘* payment by results ’’ in the elementary schools, 
and from obsolete and defective methods of teaching, 
coupled with the worship of examinations, in the secondary 
schools. 
The type of school proposed for filling the *‘ gap,’’ under 
whatever name it may be known, is one which aims at 
taking the best children of the elementary schools 
sufficiently early in their career to enable them to reach 
a somewhat higher standard of attainment than is aimed 
at in the elementary schools themselves. For good reasons, 
which are set forth in the report, the age at which the 
change from the elementary school should be made is 
considered by the committee to be not less than twelve 
years. At this age the best pupils of the schools, selected 
by some simple qualifying examination combined with 
reports from the head teachers, are to be drafted into 
the new type of school. In this school the length of the 
course is to be three years, so that the pupils should re- 
main there until they are fifteen years old. To ensure 
this, it is felt that the parents of all pupils so transferred 
should be put under a moral obligation to maintain them 
at the school until the completion of the period, though it 
is recognised that it is not practicabie to make the obliga- 
tion a binding one in the legal sense. 
The curriculum in the new type of school will differ 
within certain limits according to the needs of the locality 
in which it is placed, being different for (a) country dis- 
tricts, (b) the smaller towns of 20,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, 
and (c) large towns. Whilst specialised instruction such 
as is proper to the technical institute or the trade school 
is excluded, the aim of the school, in whichever of the 
above environments it may be placed, is to prepare the 
pupils more thoroughly for their life-work. Speaking 
generally, the curriculum is to consist (1) of what are 
usually classed as humanistic subjects ; (2) of scientific and 
mathematical subjects; and (3) of manual instruction, with 
some physical training. In the humanistic section the 
English language and literature is to form the basis of 
the instruction, it being recognised that it is not possible 
to teach a foreign language effectively under the con- 
ditions, and Latin is of course excluded. History and 
geography are taken as subdivisions of the main subject. 
Class singing and religious instruction come under the 
same section, to which, on the whole, about one-third of 
the teaching time is to be devoted. In the scientific and 
mathematical subjects are included arithmetic, algebra, and 
the principles of geometry, all as applied to practical 
calculations ; account keeping, as distinct from book keep- 
ing; graphical methods of calculation, mensuration, and 
elementary natural science, with experimental work done 
by the pupils and varied according to the environment. 
To this group of subjects another third of the time is to 
be given. The manual instruction includes, for boys, 
general wood and metal work, treated from an educative 
standpoint, and aiming at the training of hand, eye, and 
brain; in addition there is definite instruction in drawing 
of the non-professional kind, machine drawing, for instance, 
being excluded. For girls this manual instruction is re- 
placed by training in domestic subjects and housecraft. 
Finally, about two hours per week are to be devoted 
regularly to physical training, which, of course, will differ, 
not only as between boys and girls, but also in different 
localities. 
One great difficulty in carrying out this scheme is that 
of obtaining the right kind of teachers. It is insisted upon 
more than once that what is important is the method of 
teaching rather than the matter. The ideal teacher, it is 
pointed out, should be a man of character and ability, with 
freshness of mind, thoroughly alive to the environment, and 
thoroughly sympathetic with his. pupils; he should be 
quite free from the old trammels which grew up in 
the dark ages referred to above, in which it will be 
remembered that the teacher who wished to rise to the 
higher posts in his profession was encouraged to pile 
certificate upon certificate in a great variety of subjects, in 
NO. 1934, VOL. 75] 
been taught 
few, if any, of which, as results showed, was he really 
qualified to teach. Suggestions are made as to the training 
of these teachers, some of which appear to the writer not 
to be very practicable, more especially the suggestion that 
the teachers should spend one year in actual workshops. 
Apart from the difficulty of getting employers to be bothered 
with such men in their factories, the writer is of opinion 
that the year could be far more profitably employed in 
other directions, as the smattering obtained by so. short 
an experience and so limited a view of commercial life is 
apt to be more harmful than useful. It is important to 
notice that the report emphatically recognises that for 
special technical subjects special teachers are required ; 
but then these subjects are ruled out of the curriculum of 
the schools under consideration, and, indeed, such subjects 
as shorthand, machine drawing, book-keeping, industrial 
chemistry, and typewriting, some of which even modern 
schoolmasters are often inclined to view with favour, are 
set aside as unsuitable in any scheme of general education, 
whether secondary or elementary. 
Considerations of space will not allow us to dwell upon 
many other important matters of detail which are handled 
in a masterly manner in this valuable report; suffice it to 
say in conclusion that it will well repay careful study, and 
certainly ought to be perused by everyone who is interested 
in the rapid developments which are taking place in the 
educational world. R. M. W. 
ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS. 
HE leading feature of the current issue (No. 180, vol. 
xxxvii.) of the Journal of the Institution of Electrical 
Engineers is the paper on the overhead equipment of tram- 
ways by Messrs. R. N. Tweedy and H. Dudgeon, 
especially in view of the fact that the overhead system has 
been so abused of late years by the general public, and 
thousands of pounds sunk in other schemes of electric 
tramways which might have been enormously reduced if 
the prejudice which exists against the overhead system on 
account of its supposed ‘‘danger’’ had been removed. 
The authors throughout the paper make a strong appeal 
for more economy in the capital outlay of tramway equip- 
ment, and show how in their opinion this may be brought 
about in the case of the overhead system. 
Dealing with the size of pole to be employed, the authors 
are strongly of the opinion that we err seriously on the 
side of using too heavy and too strong poles, straining 
them too much, and consequently having larger span wire 
and more concrete for fixing than is necessary. Also they 
would do away with the usual cast-iron bases which pro- 
tect the poles, as being not only a waste of money—being 
unnecessary—but also an actual source of danger, in that 
they prevent the pole within them from being painted when 
the outer portions are done—unless the box is lifted, a 
costly process—and allow water to accumulate inside the 
case which causes the pole to rust badly. 
The same remarks apply to the collars which it is 
customary to place round the joints in the poles, and water 
is liable to do much damage here also. If the bases are 
not done away with they must be ventilated and drained, 
so as to prevent the accumulation of water from sweating. 
The collars also must be drained properly. More economy 
is to be brought about in the trolley-wire itself, as in the 
authors’ opinion too large a section is now being used, and 
they think that from 56]. to Sol. per mile may be saved 
on this charge alone. Again, referring to the * hangers,”” 
the authors strike out strongly for the use of malleable 
iron in place of bronze and gun-metal fittings, which are 
so dear to some engineers—and are also dear in price 
as compared with malleable iron properly galvanised. 
No local action takes place—with the malleable iron 
hanger—between the span wire and hanger as is the case 
with bronze hangers, and from experience iron hangers 
have been found to last longer than bronze or brass ones, 
though the oxidation of the iron bolts is one of the difficul- 
ties attendant on the overhead system. The authors suggest 
three methods of overcoming the difficulty :— 
(a) The insertion of a shield between trolley-wire ear 
and the hanger to prevent the trolley wheels throwing 
