i6o 



NA TURE 



[December 9, 1909 



and now, after Gencr.il Woods, Colonel Gorgas, 

 Guiteras, Finlay, and others took the situation firmly 

 in hand, and organised a thoroughly efficient sanitary 

 administration and a special raid upon the breeding 

 places of the Stcgomyia, the death-rate for Cuba has 

 come down to between 11-17 pro niille. In igoy, only 

 one case of yellow fever was reported in Havana." 



Panama, New Orleans, and every other place treated 

 in a like manner have given similar results, and 

 certainlv no sane individual will be found who, after 

 reading "Mosquito or Man?" will deny that the 

 mosquito is the only transmitter of yellow fever, and 

 the remarkable results that follow its destruction. 



Equally remarkable are the results that follow the 

 extermination of anophelines for malaria. It was 

 computed that Ismailia (p. 65), already mentioned, in 

 18S6 had every inhabitant infected. Ross began his 

 anti-malarial campaign there in 1901 ; by 1904 the 

 cases were diminishing fast, until in 1905, 1906, 1907, 

 and igoS, there were no new cases at all, indicating 

 that the disease had been entirely stamped out. One 

 would like to multiply further examples, but space 

 forbids; those desiring more must read the book for 

 themselves. There is little to criticise adversely in the 

 work. Of omissions one might notice what was the 

 first anti-malarial and yellow-fever campaign in the 

 West Indies, namely, that conducted on the Morne 

 and Vigie in .St. Lucia in the year 1901, and also the 

 pioneer work done on the destruction of mosquitoes 

 for filariasis in Barbados. 



Of errors, on p. 128, in the sentence "then after 

 a latent period of three days the Stegomyia," &c. — 

 should manifestly read "thirteen" days. On p. 133, 

 " Man suffering from yellow fever after the fifth day 

 is the reservoir " should read " Man suffering from 

 yellow fever on the second or third day or before the 

 fifth is the reservoir." 



The book is clearly and ably written, is most in- 

 teresting to read, is nicely illustrated by beautiful 

 photographs, and we cannot do anything but praise 

 the author for its production. 



INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 



TECHNIC.VL education may be regarded as falling 

 naturally into two main divisions, (i) the educa- 

 tion of the higher ranks of those engaged in industrial 

 work, and (2) the education of the rank and file. 

 From time to time one or other of these divisions 

 occupies the more prominent place in the public in- 

 terest. Recentlv, probably as a result of the discussions 

 following the publication of the reports of the Poor 

 Law Commission, special prominence has been given 

 in the Press and elsewhere to the problem of the indus- 

 trial education of those who will become in the near 

 future the skilled workmen, artisans, and craftsmen 

 of this country. Two recent attempts to influence public 

 opinion in this matter may be here briefly recorded. 

 Probably the more useful of the two is an attempt to 

 organise a National Industrial Education League, the 

 main object of which, in the language of its promoters, 

 is " to make elementary education go hand in hand 

 with industrial training, and to stop the criminal 

 waste of the nation's best asset by giving our boys, 

 before leaving school, a sound elementary industrial 

 training." This proposal "has already received the 

 approval of fifty-seven trades' councils, and of the 

 representatives of 3,000,000 of industrial workers." 

 In addition, promises of support have been received 

 from many large employers of labour, distinguished 

 educationists, and well known public men. Special 

 stress is laid upon the fact that, " while the present 

 system of technical education has benefitted many, 

 it has left uncared for, and can never reach, the bulk 

 NO. 2093, VOL. 82] 



of the children who are destined to become industrial 

 workers." 



The second recent noteworthy attempt to arrive at 

 some definite agreement in the matter was a confer- 

 ence held on p'riday, December 3, at the Mansion 

 House, at the invitation of the Lord Mayor, to con- 

 sider (i) the development of industrial training in both 

 elementary and trade schools, and (2) the organisation 

 of facilities for bringing boys and girls who are 

 leaving the public elementary schools into better 

 touch with the openings that exist in the industrial 

 and commercial world. The conference was attended 

 bv a number of representatives of the London County" 

 Council Education Committee, manv large employers 

 of labour, and delegates from trades unions. It is 

 probable that the London Countv Council, at whose 

 suggestion the conference was called, will not profit 

 much by the deliberations of the conference. .'\s no 

 definite resolutions were submitted for discussion, there 

 was a tendency to neglect general principles and treat 

 side-issues only. Running throughout most of the 

 speeches, however, was a belief in the impossibility of 

 reviving the old system of apprenticeship and the 

 consequent necessity for some form of educational 

 work to give the necessary industrial training formerly 

 supplied by the apprenticeship system. 



Interest in industrial education is now extending to 

 the political parties. Thus the National L^nion of 

 Conservative and Constitutional Associations, at its 

 recent annual meeting in Manchester, passed a resolu- 

 tion urging 



" that the Conservative leaders at once pusli forward a 

 scheme of development of technical, scientific, and agri- 

 cultural education for Great Britain and Ireland, and that 

 this scheme must be linked with the system of primary 

 education." 



On the other side of the political platform, the Labour 

 partv has passed resolutions at recent conferences 

 demanding a free national system of primary, second- 

 ary, university, and technical education. At the 

 forthcoming annual conference of the -Labour party 

 to be held in January, 1910, the conference will be 

 asked 



" to observe the increasing tendency to make use of boy 

 and girl labour in monotonous and uneducational industrial 

 work as fatally destructive in its results upon the health, 

 character, and subsequent industrial efficiency of the boys 

 and girls themselves . . . and to urge upon the Govern- 

 ment the desirability of so amending the Factory and 

 Education .Acts as to secure to every boy and girl between 

 the ages of fourteen and eighteen efficient physical and 

 technical training." 



.-\s the question of industrial education is one which 

 affects the working classes more than any other 

 section of the community, it is obvious that any future 

 legislative action on the matter will be considerably 

 influenced by expressions of opinion from bodies such 

 as the Labour party and the trades unions. There 

 is a danger that organisations of this type may be 

 tempted to use their influence to give an unduly utili- 

 tarian bias to the education of boys and girls in the 

 elementary and continuation schools. This danger is, 

 however, more apparent than real, as is shown by 

 (i) the vigorous support given by trades unions and 

 similar bodies to the Workers' Educational Organisa- 

 tion, the object of which is to secure university educa- 

 tion in literature, history, political economy, and the 

 like for working men, and (2) the general undercurrent 

 of opinion among workmen that the financial benefits 

 of trade and technical education will ultimately fall 

 to the employer and not to the workman. 



-At the present tijiie much controversy is taking place 

 respecting the question of apprenticeship. Is it desir- 

 able to revive the system of apprenticeship, and if 



