3'62 



NA TURE 



[February 20 1908 



ledge of domestic subjects much more substantial 

 than the smattering- which they now get in the very 

 sluirt periods devoted to this essential part of their 

 education. The experiments in this direction which 

 h-ive been tried in Gloucestersliire have shown that, 

 while the amount of book knowledge which the 

 (rhildren possess may be somewhat smaller, the larger 

 imcunt of contact they have had with things, as dis- 

 tinguished from mere words, makes them, on the 

 average, not less, but more intelligent. 



In the third place, one of the collaborators, Mr. 

 <i. L. Bruce, deals in the third chapter with evening 

 schools in London, and merticns incidentall)' the 

 great drawbacks to evening work of a universitv 

 character, which ars unfortunately imposed by the 

 new teaching university itself (see pp. 132 and 138). 

 There is no doubt much truth in this complaint, and, 

 it a consideration of the question leads us to be care- 

 ful that, in the foundation and working of our newer 

 universities, we do not hand over technical training 

 too largely to the control of those whose experience 

 in this kind of work is either wanting or small, we 

 shall have learnt a good lesson. The most successful 

 technical colleges in the world are probably the Tech- 

 nical High School at Charlottenburg (Berlin) and the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technologv at Boston; 

 neither of them is subordinate to an ordinarv univer- 

 sity, though in each case a flourishing universitv 

 exists side by side in the same town. Both of them 

 liave the right to give degrees, but the basis on which 

 these degrees shall be offered is determined by those 

 primarily interested in technical education ; this is by 

 ?io means always the case in our English universities. 



Lastly, the most important matter dealt with in the 

 book is probably the problem as to whether or not 

 the State ought to make compulsory further attend- 

 ance in continuation schools after a child has left a 

 public elementary school ; and if so, whether it should 

 require employers to offer facilities for such attend- 

 ance so that the child can continue its education with- 

 out undue pressure. The attitude taken by Prof. 

 Sadler in regard to this matter is one which will com- 

 mend itself to most thinking persons ; he asks for no 

 rapid or revolutionary change, but he indicates clearly 

 that the time has come when a step should be made 

 in the direction taken by our most successful Con- 

 tinental competitors ; for he states : — 



" I am convinced that in the end som^ form of com- 

 pulsion to attend day or evening continuation classes 

 between fourteen and seventeen years of age will be 

 found desirable, not so much in' the interest of the 

 picked individuals as in that of the rank and file. 

 Many of the present evils of unemployment may be 

 traced to the lack of educational care and of suitable 

 technical training during the critical years of adoles- 

 cence. Compulsion, however, should 'be accompanied 

 by reduction in the hours of juvenile and adolescent 

 labour where those arc now excessive." 



A careful perusal of the facts and statistics given in 

 this bonk ought to convince our legislators that a move 

 forward should now be made. It is a well-known fact 

 that many of the students attending our evening con- 

 tmuation classes are so tired when they arrive there 

 that only very poor work can be obtained, or indeed 



NO. iqQ9, vol,. 77] 



expected, from them. No such classes are held in 

 Prussia after 8 p.m. ; many of them in this country 

 only commence at this hour. Some wise employer:^ 

 (unfortunately comparatively few in number) allow 

 their j-oung people time in which to improve them- 

 selves, and so to become more useful citizens and 

 better servants, but this practice is hardly likely to 

 become general unless the State intervenes ; that the 

 employer and the nation would benefit in the end few- 

 can doubt. 



\o Government in this country is likely to attempt 

 to deal w-ith a matter of this kind until compelled to 

 do so by public opinion. The volume under review 

 should prove a powerful agency in stimulating the 

 rapid growth of a healthy view of the matter ; we 

 therefore cordially congratulate Prof. Sadler on having 

 once more taken a leading part in hastening an impor- 

 tant educational and social reform. 



J. Wertiieimer. 



ICELAND PAST AND PRESENT. 



Island in Yergangcnheit und Gegemuart. By Paul 

 Herrman. Erster Teil, Land und Leute. Pp. xii 

 + 376. Zweiter Teil, Reisebericht. Pp. vi+316. 

 (Leipzig : \\'. Engelmann. 1907.) Price, 2 vols., 15 

 marks. 



TllLS is an account of travel in Iceland in the 

 sunnner of 1904 by a German schoolmaster. He 

 made the journey in exceptionally favourable cir- 

 cumstances, for, in addition to four months' leave for 

 the special purpose, and a Reise stipendium, the muni- 

 cipal authorities of Torgau provided a locum tencns 

 at the gymnasium during his absence ; while in Ice- 

 land he had the services of the guide who accompanied 

 Thoroddsen on seventeen of his eighteen journeys. 



-A lover of Iceland and an ardent student of the 

 mythology and folk-lore of northern lands, Herr Herr- 

 mann is rather inclined to dwell on the different parts 

 of the .country in their aspect as the scenes of this or 

 that Saga. But beyond this, his observation is keen 

 and thorough. Though the book claims to be " not a 

 geological or geographical, but a popular work," we 

 learn incidentally of the geology, geography, natural 

 history, and botany of those parts of the island visited. 



The work is divided into two volumes, the first deal- 

 ling with " Land and People," the second being a full 

 account of three months on the route along the south 

 and east coasts, from Reykjavik to .Akureyri. If the 

 book is to be regarded as a " popular " work, it would 

 be advisable to read vol. ii. first. Then, having gained 

 from the detailed description of the journey through 

 the most populous and typical parts of the country a 

 clear idea of the land and its inhabitants, the reader j 

 can better follow vol. i., which deals with the land and ' 

 people generallv, and assumes some knowledge of 

 them. 



The voyage from Copenhagen to Reykjavik is de- 

 scribed, mentioning, en passa)it, Edinburgh, the 

 Orkneys and Shetlands, and the islands south of Ice- 

 land, with their myriad sea-bird life. From Reykjavik 

 a trial expedition to Hvalfjordur, Reykholt, and 

 Thingvcllir was undertaken to prove the travellers' 

 fitness for the longer distance along the south and 



