20 
NATURE 
| NOVEMBER 5, 1903 
of many varieties, and some of them are of high commercial 
value. The chief of these are the eucalypts, of which there 
are more than 150 species. Besides the eucalypts there are 
many kinds of casuarinas (the Australian oak), some 
conifers (the Moreton Bay pine, the cypress pine, the brown 
pine, or colonial deal, and others), many acacias (the 
Australian wattle), Banksias, and numerous other varieties. 
The range of Australian wood at present available for 
British commerce is limited. Western Australia and Tas- 
mania are the only States that have seriously dealt with 
the question of exporting timber or of using their forest 
resources as a valuable commercial asset. 
Mr. W. Powell described a process for seasoning and pre- 
serving timber which appears to be at once simple and 
effective. The timber is treated with a dilute solution of 
sugar, in which it is boiled until the air in the interstices 
has been got rid of. The timber is then cooled and dried 
at a fairly high temperature. Timber treated in this way 
is much improved, the soft woods especially, both in hard- 
ness and toughness. 
EDUCATION AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 
ale HE educational science section has become the debating 
ground where educational principles can be discussed 
without reference to minor administrative details and class 
distinctions. Increased efficiency is the leading idea, and 
it is promoted by the expression of authoritative opinion 
from a platform of the British Association. Attention is 
there directed to matters requiring consideration by authori- 
ties responsible for educational work, and the directions in 
which progress can be most usefully made are afterwards 
indicated in reports presented by committees. The work 
of the section is thus both critical and constructive, and its 
sphere of influence increases in extent every year. 
After the president’s address on the morning of September 
10, a discussion on school curricula was carried on through- 
out that day and the next. The material for discussion 
consisted of eight papers received from leading repre- 
sentatives of various branches of educational work in re- 
sponse to an invitation issued by the committee of the 
section. The papers were printed in full in the September 
number of the School World, and the authors are Prof. J. 
Adams, Prof. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S., Miss S. A. 
Burstall, Mr. G. F. Daniell, Mr. W. C. Fletcher, Mr. T. E. 
Page, Mr. J. L. Paton, and Prof. Michael E. Sadler. The 
three main divisions of the subject were :—(1) General 
principles upon which a school curriculum should be con- 
structed ; (2) the education of girls; (3) commercial educa- 
tion. To concentrate attention upon specific points, several 
propositions were formulated, and the authors of the papers 
were asked to speak to them instead of reading the papers. 
The propositions which were laid before the meeting during 
the discussion, and received general assent, were as 
follows :— 
(1) It is desirable that specialisation should be deferred 
to as late a period as possible in the school career, and that 
the early curriculum should be so arranged as to lay a good 
foundation in English subjects, with, say, drawing and 
elementary science. 
(2) It is to be regretted that the influence of public school 
entrance and scholarship examinations encourages the pre- 
mature devotion of too much time to classics; it would be 
desirable that the study of Latin should not be taken before, 
say, twelve years of age, and that the language teaching 
up to that time should be confined to the mother tongue 
and one modern language. 
(3) That a large measure of practical instruction should be 
included in the school course, and that both literary and 
practical instruction should be given throughout and made 
interdependent. 
(4) It is desirable that in organising the curriculum there 
should be some differentiation, especially in science, between 
courses of study for boys and those for girls, more par- 
ticularly between twelve and sixteen years of age. 
_ (5) That for all girls literary instruction is of the highest 
importance; at some period of their school life practical 
instruction in the domestic arts should be provided, based 
on and correlated with elementary science teaching. 
(6) With the view of obviating over-pressure, injury to 
NO. 1775, VOL. 69] 
health and superficiality, girls who intend to proceed to 
college, or enter a literary profession, should in general 
remain at school until eighteen years of age. 
(7) It is desirable that county and borough councils and 
other authorities offering scholarships for girls to enable 
them to proceed to college should not expect them to take 
up their scholarships before they reach the age of eighteen. 
It is impossible to describe in a few words the many im- 
portant opinions expressed in the papers and during the 
discussion, but there was general agreement that the de- 
velopment of intelligence and self-reliance is of prime im- 
portance. ‘The discipline of scientific studies was generally 
recognised, and also the necessity of making courses of 
instruction more practical than hitherto; that is to say, 
pupils should be active rather than passive in their attitude 
towards knowledge. 
This is the touchstone which will test the quality of all 
educational work, whether in the humanities or in science, 
but as science deals with things more than words, it has 
special claims for recognition in the school curriculum, Mr. 
Balfour a short time ago, in referring to the relative advan- 
tages of classics and science as school subjects, expressed 
himself as doubtful whether scientific studies could supersede 
with advantage the traditional course of classics in schools. 
In connection with his remarks, it is of interest to refer to 
the following statement made by Mr. A. C. Benson in the 
School World for October in continuation of the discussion 
on curriculum :—‘ I have taught classics at Eton for nearly 
twenty years to boys of every degree of capacity. I have 
found that as a basis for teaching able boys they are excel- 
lent. But the effect of the present crowded curriculum, 
with classics as the basis, upon boys of ordinary or limited 
capacity is so absolutely negative, from the educational 
point of view, that I should hold that it would justify almost 
any experiment being tried.”’ 
Here we have an acknowledgment by a teacher of ex- 
ceptional experience and ability of the failure of classical 
instruction so far as the average boy is concerned. This 
in itself is sufficient to justify the plea of the reformer for 
a readjustment of school studies on a broader basis than 
that at present adopted. In the discussion on curriculum, 
Mr. T. E. Page, a representative of literary culture, asked 
what branch of natural knowledge men of science wished 
to be taught in schools, and urged that there was a diversity 
of opinion upon this matter. The answer is, of course, 
that the subject is not so important as the method. It 
matters little whether botany, physics, chemistry, or any 
other science subject is used as the basis of instruction pro- 
vided that they are studied practically under encouraging 
conditions and in the spirit of scientific inquiry. What 
men of science urge is that scientific studies are capable of 
forming habits of mind—resourcefulness, perspicacity, 
enterprise and initiative—in a way which the traditional 
courses and methods have not accomplished in the past. 
A general view of the work done by the late Dr. Glad- 
stone in connection with the teaching of science in elemen- 
tary schools is contained in the final report of the committee 
on that subject. The committee was first appointed in 
1878, with Mr. Mundella as chairman and Dr. Gladstone 
as secretary, and since 1883 has been annually reappointed 
to continue inquiries on the subject then instituted. The 
chief work of the committee has been to watch and record 
the proportion of children examined in science subjects in 
elementary schools. There has, of course, been a decided 
increase in numbers, but when the character of the work 
which has been done is considered, the committee now re- 
ports that the progress made is undoubtedly unsatisfactory. 
It is beyond question that science has in no way taken its 
proper place in our system of elementary education. Here 
and there work of the very greatest value has been done, 
but such cases are all too rare. 
The report concludes with the remark that, in view of 
the national importance of developing the scientific spirit 
in elementary schools, it is not too much to say that it is 
now the duty of the Association to intervene with con-’ 
structive proposals which will promote such an object. 
Judging from the great success which has attended the: 
labours of the committee on the teaching of chemistry in 
schools and the recent discussion on the teaching of mathe- 
matics, there can be little doubt that a general inquiry might 
now be undertaken with great advantage, and that pro- 
posals might be made which would be of the greatest value 
cn 
