November 7, 1901] 



NA TURE 



be utilised in unravelling the genetic connection o( humin 

 races : it was only inculentally, when I became aware of the 

 extraordinary degree of individual variation, that I was drawn 

 into the investigation of features which have been described as 

 " marks of degeneration." The result of my inquiries in this 

 direction has been to show that only two out of the seven 

 features of the external ear which I investigated are correlated 

 with a mental bias towards crime or insanity, viz. a retrograde 

 development of the heli.\ and a persistence of the ear tip. 



My results are the more valuable because I was at first 

 sceptical of the very definite results obtained by continental 

 observers on the insane and criminal classes. It appeared very 

 probable that the definiteness of their conclusions would dis- 

 appear if allowances were made for the populations from which 

 the criminals and insane were drawn and for the influence of 

 race, se.x and colour. After making those allowances, however, 

 there remain a certain number of characters peculiar to these 

 classes, of which those I have cited in the ear are only examples. 

 But, unfortunately for any practical application of Lombrosa's 

 doctrine to the detection of the socially unfit, the physical 

 differences between the sane and the insane or criminal classes 

 are those of degree or ratio, not of kind. The characters may 

 assist in the detection of the class, but not of the individual. 



All that can be deduced from the present investigation is 

 that a slightly greater proportion of the people who have ear 

 tips and retrograde helices give themselves over to crime than 

 those in which these two features are absent. The evidence is 

 just sufficient to justify the suspicion that a small proportion of 

 criminals are criminals because of their physical constitution, 

 and it is certainly the duty of every anatomist to discover how 

 such individuals may be recognised. As yet all the criminal 

 marks we know of can only be stated in relative terms of the 

 class, and have, unfortunately, no application to the individual. 



Arthur Keith. 



SCHOOL BOARD EXHIBITION OF SCIENTIFIC 

 APPARATUS. 



^^NE of the reasons often given as an excuse for not intro- 

 ^^ ducing instruction in the elementary principles of science 

 into the curriculum of elementary schools is the expense involved 

 in providing the necessary apparatus for experimental de- 

 monstrations. It is common to find that school managers have 

 very exaggerated ideas as to the amount of really necessary 

 equipment. Though it has been the custom for some years, at 

 institutions like the Royal College of Science, to instruct the 

 students in training to become science teachers how effective 

 apparatus can be made at a very small cost and with a minimum 

 of mechanical dexterity, the great majority of science teachers, 

 notably those of elementary schools, have had few opportunities 

 of acquainting themselves with the use that may be made of 

 the odds and ends of domestic life to construct instruments 1 

 which can be effectively used in simple work in experimental ' 

 science. i 



The School Board for London has recently taken steps to i 

 remedy this defect in the training of its teachers. Influenced 

 by the heavy expenditure on apparatus to which it has been put, j 

 and convinced that the construction of simple instruments can I 

 be made a valuable assistance in teaching science, the Board has 

 lor some months encouraged its teachers to make apparatus I 

 themselves and to give their pupils opportunities of making i 

 models to illustrate the principles of the lessons they have 1 

 received. The exhibition at the Examination Hall on the | 

 Embankment (see Nature, p. 656) represents the results of 1 

 these efforts up to the present time. Though satisfactory if I 

 considered as the first exhibition and as showing th.it an earnest 

 attempt is being made to give science its proper place in training 

 children for the business of life, there are some directions in 

 which improvement is easily possible. It must be understood 

 that in pointing these out we do not lose sight of the difficulties 

 the organising committee has had to overcome, but desire 

 simply to suggest what may be done to ensure a better set of 

 exhibits next year. 



In the present exhibition the work of teachers, adult students 

 in evening classes and children in day schools are indiscrimin- 

 ately mixed up. The work of comparison is consequently very 

 difficult, and it is to be feared that the boys and girls will be a 

 little disheartened to find their work side by side with that of 

 their instructors and their big brothers in the continuation 



NO, 1671, VOL. 65] 



school. Nor is it easy to lorm an idea of the work of the pupils 

 of different schools. It is only after consulting a catalogue, or 

 reading a label affi-ced to tlie exhibit, that the visitor is able to 

 find the school from which the maker of the apparatus comes. 

 It would be better in the future to have together typical sets of 

 apparatus from different schools. 



It is difficult to estimate the relative importance given to dif- 

 ferent branches of science by the Board. There is a large 

 number of exhibits in statical electricity, but only two pieces 

 of apparatus shown in connection with the study of light and 

 three to illustrate the teaching of physiography. The subjects 

 of heat and voltaic electricity are, judging from the number of 

 exhibits, popular, while acoustics meets with very scant recog- 

 nition. It is disappointing, too, to find so little attention given 

 to Nature-knowledge. From the conditions of city life it is hard 

 for children to get even a nodding acquaintance with the 

 beauties of organic life, whether animal or vegetable, and the 

 school should be able to help the youngsters to learn something 

 of the joys of country life. So much hi>s been accomplished in 

 recent years in the direction of providing simple school museums 

 of common botanical and zoological objects, that it is to be hoped 

 the teachers and scholars will be encouraged to do something in 

 this direction. Then, why is nothing done to familiarise the 

 children with the "starry heavens"? We looked in vain for a 

 simple home-made telescope. Vet teachers have been shown for 

 many years past in the astrophysical laboratory at South Ken- 

 sington how a really effective instrument can be made with 

 cardboard tubes at a trifling expenditure. 



But a good beginning has been made. If more attention is in 

 the future given to some of the subjects we have indicated, and 

 if the work of teachers is separated from that of the taught, the 

 utility of the exhibition will be much enhanced. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — An election to the Isaac Newton Studentship 

 in Physical Astronomy and Optics will be held next term. 

 Candidates must be Bachelors of Arts under twenty-five on the 

 first day of 1902. The studentship is of the value of 200/., 

 tenable for three years. Applications are to be sent to the 

 vice-chancellor between January 16 and 26. 



On November 4, Mr. R. P. Paranjpye, the Indian student 

 who was bracketed senior wrangler in 1899, was elected to a 

 fellowship at St. John's College. 



Prof. William Ra.msay, F. R.S., commenced a course of 

 twelve lectures on "The Recent Developments of Chemical 

 Theory" at University College, London, on Friday last. This 

 course is especially designed for those who have a previous 

 acquaintance with inorganic and organic chemistry and who 

 may wish to know the present standpoint of chemical thought. 



At the annual meeting of the governors of Dundee L'niver- 

 sity College last week Mr. John Morley referred to the signs of 

 increasing interest in universities and the increasing force which 

 must be given to the movement in order to put ourselves in the 

 position of other progressive nations. He hoped that the 

 movement had not yet attained full flood, because "all those 

 who inquired into the conditions of scientific training in 

 Germany and the United States were really — he was not using 

 an excessive word — dismayed when they found the com- 

 parative shabbiness and meagreness of the buildings, funds 

 and equipments in this island. There was no form of care 

 for the public weal more distinctly certain of being reproductive 

 than that care which placed within the reach of the coming 

 generation opportunities for making the best of itself and 

 giving to the Commonwealth the best of its faculties. That 

 was now a commonplace. The immediate question was, what was 

 to be done in order to raise Dundee and other places in Scotland 

 up to the level which public necessities — national necessities — 

 Imperial necessities if they liked — demanded ? " The answer 

 is — and it will serve for practically all institutions for higher 

 education in the British Isles — Increase the teaching resources 

 by building and equipping laboratories, encourage original work 

 rather than the multiplication of successes in examinations, 

 create in the public mind a spirit of sympathy with scientific 

 work, and inspire the Government to action before it is too late. 



A SCHEME for the extension and better equipment of the 

 University of Glasgow, especially in the departments of 



