DECEMBER 25, 1913] 
—_ 
Reports of Research Committees. 
Mr. R. S. Adamson presented a report on the 
vegetation of Ditcham Park, Hampshire, Miss M. C. 
Rayner one on the flora of the peat of the Kennet 
Valley, Mr. H. H. Thomas one on the Jurassic flora 
of Yorkshire, and Prof. F. E. Weiss on botanical 
photographs. The last-mentioned report recommends 
that all prints of ecological interest should be handed 
to the newly founded Ecological Society, and that all 
other prints should be housed in the botanical depart- 
ment of the University of Manchester. 
Cy_E. M: 
EDUCATION AT THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 
age meetings of the section of Educational Science 
were in many respects the most successful of 
recent years. Attendance was uniformly good; both 
papers and discussions reached a high level of interest. 
The presidential address has already received a great 
deal of attention, and as copies will probably be still 
more widely circulated, we may expect it to stimulate 
a national educational stocktaking such as cannot fail 
to be fruitful. 
Perhaps the most generally attractive morning con- 
cerned itself with the modern university. Sir Alfred 
Hopkinson, who opened the discussion, made a sym- 
pathetic reference to the time when Oxford and Cam- 
bridge were in effect the sole training ground for 
clergymen, public officials, members of Parliament, 
and Cabinet Ministers. The value of this State ser- 
vice could hardly be exaggerated. The modern uni- 
versities, in receipt of direct grants from central and 
local exchequers, must also concern themselves with 
the old ideal of raising up men and women fitted to 
serve in Church and State, but they must also contri- 
bute directly to the intellectual life of the people about 
them, as centres from which ideals may radiate 
amongst the general public and as sources of inspira- 
tion wherein the merchant and manufacturer may 
learn to care for things outside their business. 
warmly protested against the heresy which regarded 
the university as existing to give degrees, whimsically 
suggesting that the latter must have been invented 
as a substitute for corporal punishment, and he dwelt 
upon the importance of research and of the communion 
between students and men who were engaged in 
advancing knowledge. Finally, he pleaded for free- 
dom. Poverty would be better than wealth from State 
support if it meant State interference and control, 
though the right of the State to lay down conditions 
in respect of grants for special purposes, like the 
training of teachers, could hardly be questioned. 
Sir Philip Magnus dealt with the professional out- 
look of the university, and in that connection wel- 
comed the tendency to reduce the age of entrance. Dr. 
He | 
NATURE 
Maclean, formerly president of the Iowa State Univer- | 
sity, spoke eloquently of the work of universities in the 
United States and of their development since Harvard 
received its first State grant of gool. a year in 1636. 
Mr. Mosely pointed to the danger attached to low 
emoluments. Business offered such attractive prizes 
to first-rate men that the universities were in danger 
of having to recruit their staffs from the second best. 
Dr. Hadow pointed out the variety and contradictory 
nature of the current views concerning universities 
and their function. ‘‘He who steers simultaneously 
for Scylla and Charybdis is in danger of missing 
both.”” He showed the greatly widened area of 
service which State and Church now offered, and 
emphasised the need of special regard to particular 
districts, though in that connection he reminded ‘his | 
NO. 2304, VOL. 92] 
491 
audience of the definition of utilitarianism in educa; 
tion—the application to useful purposes of knowledge 
that had ceased to grow. Sir James Yoxall doubted 
whether the path was as open as it should be to 
youths of ability; and Dr. H. A. L. Fisher reminded 
the section of the claims of women, especially in 
those centres where the district was inclined to regard 
the university purely from the point of view of 
industry and commerce. 
From the point of view of educational science, the 
most important meetings were held in conjunction 
with the psychological subsection. Dr. Kimmins 
made a strong plea for the endowment of research i) 
education, in which he was supported by - Prot. 
Findlay, Dr. C. S. Myers, Prof. Green, and Mr. 
C. L. Burt. We have learned not to trust the 
superficially empirical viewpoint in medicine, and why 
do we cling to it in pedagogy? Nor is the old 
a priori road satisfactory in a study which is con- 
cerned with actuality. Experiment and research are 
essential to progress. The subsequent discussions on 
the psychology of reading and spelling brought out 
the need for a combination of the psychological and 
the pedagogical point of view in researches that 
concern class-room problems. ; 
Sir William Ramsay and Sir Oliver Lodge spoke in 
favour of spelling reform. Sir Oliver Lodge thought 
we should not trouble very much about spelling, 
and Sir William Ramsay seemed to think in a 
phonetically written language there is no bad spelling. 
As to the former view, teachers would reply that they 
are concerned with people who cannot afford to spell 
badly. The president of the British Association may 
misspell words to his heart’s content, but humbler 
people dare not; a spelling reform will not do 
away with error in spelling, nor will it prevent the 
necessity of learning to spell. In any case, there 
will always be a psychology of spelling and a right 
and wrong way of acquiring orthographic efficiency. 
Mrs. Meredith presented an interesting paper on 
suggestion as an educative instrument. It was a plea 
for the rational treatment of the young in the interest 
of later years when the march of events either leads 
to the challenge of fundamental conceptions and much 
painful uprooting, or to intolerance born of prejudice 
derived from the suggestive influences of early life. 
Mr. Burt’s. paper on mental differences in the sexes 
aroused a good deal of attention. He pointed out the 
need for, and difficulty of, distinguishing inborn from 
acquired character. His researches showed that the 
differences were less (but were by no means eliminated) 
when children from mixed schools were compared 
than when children from girls’ and boys’. schools 
were examined. Inborn differences seem to be 
largest in the simplest psychical processes. _Emo- 
tional differences seem smaller, though of. far- 
reaching consequence; on higher levels, differences 
between boys and girls become progressively smaller. 
A discussion on the educational use of museums was 
attended by representative anthropologists and 
museum officials. There was general agreement 
that, whilst much had been done. since the subject 
was discussed at the last Birmingham meeting of 
the Association, there was room for inquiry and 
further development in the direction of making 
museums more effective educational institutions. The 
discussion was opened by papers from Dr. Clubb, 
who described the ideal organisation of a museum 
as he conceived it, and Mr. Horwood, who confined 
his attention to the needs of the elementary school 
engaged in fostering the study of nature. Sir Richard 
Temple urged the importance of good housing and 
of educational arrangement. Donors, as well as 
visitors, were attracted in this way. Dr. Hoyle dis- 
