6iS 



^NAl'URE 



[October 15, 1908 



of much scientific interest. For example, he had no doubt 

 that the volcano was more active during the period of full 

 than of waning moon ; he noted a marked variation in 

 the character of the fumes from the volcano at different 

 times, and he was able to correlate the occurrence of a 

 succession of tidal waves with periods of more than usual 

 activity on the part of the volcano. 



Mr. L. C. Bernacchi, well known in connection with 

 the voyage of the Uiscovcry in the Antarctic, now brought 

 forward an account of his journey in the little explored 

 Rio Inambari region of Peru, where a new field for the 

 rubber trade is opening up. Dr. W. S. Bruce gave an 

 account of his surveying and accompanving scientific work 

 on the island of Prince Charles Fore'land in the Spits- 

 bergen group, an island known for three centuries, but 

 never hitherto surveyed. \ committee of the section, with 

 a grant from the association, had assisted Dr. Bruce in 

 his work, and his lecture was an elaboration of the re- 

 port of the committee. He has produced an almost com- 

 plete detailed map of the island, which has an area of 

 271 square miles, and has studied its geology, zoology, 

 botany, and meteorology. It may be added here, with 

 regard to the other committees of the section appointed 

 for scientific research, that Mr. R. T. Gunther has prac- 

 tically completed his investigation of the oscillation of the 

 land-level in the Mediterranean region, and that Mr. J. 

 Stanley Gardiner's investigations in the Indian Ocean and 

 Dr. A. Strahan's study of rainfall and run-off in certain 

 English rivers are in active progress. 



On Tuesday afternoon the meeting of the section was 

 brought to a close with two papers on a subject of local 

 interest, which pointed to a field for new investigation 

 lymg at our doors. .Mr. Harold Brodrick gave the results 

 of his explorations and measurements in some of the lime- 

 stone caves of the county Fermanagh— Marble Arch Cave 

 and others in the vicinity ; while Dr. C. k. Hill spoke of 

 the_ Mitchelstown caves in the county Tipperary, one of 

 which, though frequently visited bv tourists, is' far from 

 having been explored in its enti'retv, while the other, 

 though discovered at a much earlier date, is never visited 

 now. These caves, unlike those described bv Mr. Brod- 

 rick, which are underground water-courses, are the product 

 of a hydrographic rcs^ime no longer extant; thev are no 

 longer subject to water action, being practically dry and 

 their high antiquity, thus proved, gives them 'a peculiar 



EDUCATION AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 ^ VERY full programme was arranged for each of the 

 four morning meetings, and the attendance of 

 members, although never very large, was remarkably 

 sustamed throughout the sessions. In the afternoons visits 

 were paid to schools of varied types, and no pains were 

 spared by the st.iffs of the institutions in their endeavour 

 lo make these visits as instructive as possible. It was 

 evident that the majority of those present at the dis- 

 cussions were engaged in teaching or in educational 

 admmistration. The " popular " side of Section L has 

 given way to the professional side, which is as it should be. 

 The thoughtful address given by Prof. Miall sounded 

 the right note of scientific investigation and careful 

 criticism (vide Nature, October 8). Prof. Armstrong 

 followed the president with a paper entitled " The Out- 

 look : a Grand Experiment in Education." The author 

 look an optimistic view, chiefly based on his observation 

 that a more practical treatment of the scholar prevails 

 than was the case a few years ago. Schoolmasters and 

 mistresses were beginning to recognise that English really 

 was a language, but the brightest spots were the school's 

 at Osborne and Dartmouth. With the advantages of naval 

 discipline and esprit dc corps the sailor had cut the 

 Gordian knot and broken down the old tradition that the 

 school was a place for literary study. Experimental 

 schools should be introduced into the country, but the hand 

 of the builder should be staved until it was known what 

 was required. He asked for a Royal Commission of 

 Inquiry, consisting of a few competent persons, who 

 should study existing methods of education and make 

 recommendations. 



^o. 2033, VOI,. 78] 



Mr. R. Blair (e.xecutive officer of the London County 

 Cauncil) followed with a paper dealing with the progress 

 made in the organisation of education in the area under 

 the authority of the council. Some idea of the magnitude 

 of the task performed may be gleaned from the annual ex- 

 penditure, which is four and a half millions sterling on 

 elementary and one million on higher education. In the 

 elementary schools the subjects of instruction, in addition 

 to those usually found in public elementary schools, include 

 elementary science, nature-study, domestic economy, 

 manual training, physical e.xercises, swimming, and in 

 certain cases modern languages. By means of conferences 

 and consultative committees the twenty thousand teachers 

 employed have opportunities of expressing their views on 

 the management of the schools. In addition to training 

 their own teachers to the standard of professional qualifi- 

 cation required by regulation, the council provides for 

 further training of practising teachers in connection with 

 London University. The extensive and highly varied work 

 of technical education, from the ordinary evening school 

 to the polytechnic, is being coordinated. With regard to 

 secondary education, the policy of the council is to provide, 

 or assist in providing, secondary education at a moderate 

 fee for those who are able to avail themselves of it, and 

 to offer the advantages of secondary education free of 

 charge to the most promising children from the elementary 

 schools. Omitting private schools, half the pupils are in 

 secondary schools aided by, and nearly one-tenth in those 

 belonging to, the council. Physical education, organised 

 games, and medical inspection are now receiving a large 

 amount of attention, and open-air schools have been in- 

 cluded in the experiments made to deal with physical 

 defects. Necessitous children receive meals through volun- 

 tary funds. As an instance of the scale on which the 

 authority works, we note the item of 900,000 plants and 

 other nature-study specimens supplied monthly by a small 

 botanical department. We can only mention that Mr. 

 Blair expounded clearly the principles which guided the 

 authority (i) In its provision of accommodation for pupils 

 In elementary schools ; (2) in its provision and award of 

 scholarships ; (3) in the training and promotion of teachers. 



Mrs. E. M. Burgwin then read a paper on special 

 schools for the physically defective and the mentally 

 deficient. The permissive .^ct known as the Elementary 

 Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) .Act, i8qc), 

 enables an education authority to take charge of feeble- 

 minded children (not imbeciles) until the age of sixteen. 

 The late London School Board opened its first special 

 school in 1892, and there are now in London eighty-four 

 schools, with a roll of 6006, for the mentally deficient, and 

 twenty-eight schools, with a roll of 2255, for the physically 

 defective. In the case of the mentally deficient, the 

 schools aim at developing intelligence through the motor 

 senses. The aim in teaching the physically defective is 

 to train them to become good workers in spite of their 

 infirmity; for this, expert trade teaching for four years 

 before leaving school is necessary. Only by decreasing 

 tuberculosis can we reduce the number of cripples. 



The second morning was devoted to practical instruction 

 in elementary schools and to education in relation to rural 

 life. Sir Philip Magnus prefaced the reports of the com- 

 mittee on elementary experimental science studies in 

 elementary schools with a review of work accomplished 

 since the appointment of the committee at Southport in 

 1903. He took the opportunity to congratulate the Irish 

 people on the passage of the Irish Universities Act, and 

 on the prospect thereby afforded of securing for all classes 

 of citizens further opportunities of higher education. He 

 sincerely hoped that those who were training to become 

 teachers in elementary schools might reap the advantage 

 of the wider learning and broader views of life which 

 residence at a university offered. Mr. W. M. Heller read 

 the report of the subcommittee, which insisted upon in- 

 cluding in the curriculum experimental work to be per- 

 formed by the pupils. More attention should be paid to 

 aims and methods in teaching elementarv science, and 

 inspectors should understand both subject-matter and 

 methods. Particular emphasis was laid on the import- 

 ance of training girls in the methods of experimental 

 inquiry. With the report are four appendices containing 

 alternative syllabuses and a list of apparatus. 



