620 



KA rURE 



[October 15, 1908 



age at wliich they- are studied. Among the recomiiienda- 

 tions are the following : — (ij the teaching of elementary 

 physical measurements should form part of the mathe- 

 matical course ; (2) preparatory schools should teach 

 natural history (including some physical geography) and 

 the rudiments of physics ; (3) qualitative work deserves 

 respect, and good scientific literature and lectures should 

 not be underrated ; (4) the claims of geography and 

 biology should receive more recognition ; (5) all science 

 work of boys should be brought into closer touch with 

 everyday experience ; (6) more laboratory assistants should 

 be provided. Mr. Eggar commented on the report, and 

 asked for attention to the historical order of discovery in 

 framing courses of instruction. 



Ne.xt on the programme came an open discussion on 

 note-taking and reports of work, which was initiated by 

 the president. Prof. Miall, and subsequently Mr. Fletcher, 

 advised that pupils be trained to arrange their work 

 under heads and subheads, and that these should be the 

 most important feature of their notes. The use of in- 

 telligible contractions was advisable. Prof. R. h. Gregory 

 directed attention to the waste of labour by writing as 

 lecture-notes matter which was easily available in books. 

 The Rev. T. Corcoran urged that the mapping of histories 

 should be performed by the students themselves. He also 

 advocated the introduction of " scientific " note-taking into 

 classical subjects ; in other words, the teachers of classics 

 should take a leaf out of the book of their colleagues on 

 the scientific side. Dr. Kimmins had been impressed with 

 the good quality of the note-taking by .American boys 

 and girls ; they showed the capacity to seize upon the 

 important point in an argument. He objected to the waste 

 of time involved in making fair copies of notes, while 

 admitting that parents gloat over elaborate note-books. 

 Mr. Mayhowe Heller expressed doubts as to the wisdom 

 of demanding notes from quite young students. 



The discussion on clear speaking and reading aloud 

 was opened by Mrs. Mackinnon, w'ho fell under the 

 suspicion of giving us an object-lesson in this art. Besides 

 attending to final consonants and making the children 

 read at a distance from the audience, she made the child 

 give an epitome of the passage before attempting to 

 read aloud. This secures that what is to be read has 

 been understood, which is absolutely necessary for good 

 reading. Miss Cooper wished more attention to be given 

 to phrasing, including stress and pause. Prof. Miall 

 pleaded for a revival of reading aloud in the family. 

 The Rev. Dr. Dclaney having stated that boys come to 

 the university unable to speak properly, despite the years 

 spent in secondary schools, Mr. G. F. Daniell suggested 

 that boys ought to be taught to speak well after, as well 

 as before, the break of voice. Dr. Ernest Gray raised 

 the question of the influence of phonographic writing on 

 speaking. He also spoke of the way in which speakers 

 turn their heads without turning their bodies, and pointed 

 out that no successful orator falls into this error. 



Dr. G. Archdall Reid gave a paper on acquirement in 

 education. He stated that everything we learn is acquired. 

 The new-born baby is not intelligent; he has only great 

 capacity to learn to become intelligent. When we send 

 a child to school we design that he shall not merely learn 

 knowledge more abstruse than that which he can pick 

 up, like a savage, from the ordinary experiences of life, 

 but also acquire right habits of thought or mental 

 dexterities. The best educational subjects at the same 

 time supply useful knowledge and exercise the thinking 

 faculty. KnowledE;e to be useful must be remembered ; 

 to be remembered it must link up wMth our subsequent 

 experiences. Prof. Culverwell disagreed with many of 

 Dr. Reid's views, and put forward theories relating to 

 mental change and the transference of energy within the 

 brain. Profs. H. Browne and R. M. Henry upheld the 

 teaching of classics, and Principal Griffiths objected to the 

 fight between the protagonists of science and classics 

 as a mischievous and unnecessary quarrel. 



Prof. J. K. Green read an important paper on experi- 

 mental studies in education. The author gave a sketch 

 of work which is being prosecuted abroad which will 

 greatly help to lay a wise foundation for future teaching 

 practice. The teacher, as such, is not primarily a re- 



NO. 2033, VOL. 78] 



searcher, but he wants the results of research in a usable 

 form, and university departments of education should be 

 organised so as to provide them. Laboratories have 

 already been instituted in .Antwerp, St. Petersburg, 

 Leipzig, Milan, and Budapest for e.xperimental inquiry 

 into the problems which confront the teacher. Miss 

 Foxley gave an account of the work which is being done 

 in ^lanchester under Prof. Findlay's direction. The 

 audience was impressed with the importance of the sub- 

 ject, and heard with pleasure that a research committee 

 of Section L has been appointed, w^ith Prof. Findlay as 

 chairman and Prof. Green as secretary, to inquire into 

 the methods and results of research into the mental and 

 physical factors involved in education. 



By kind permission of the authorities, visits were paid 

 to Maynooth, Loreto .Abbey Convent School at Rathfarn- 

 ham, Wesley College, Christian Brothers' Schools, 

 -Alexandra College, Mountjoy School, and Artane Indus- 

 trial School. 



The section was indebted to the Rev. T. Corcoran for a 

 useful exhibit of maps to aid in the teaching of Greek 

 and Irish histories. > 



The interim report on the conditions of health in schools, 

 prepared for Section L, was presented in the Physiology 

 .Section. It was, vmfortunately, impossible to arrange a 

 joint meeting of the two sections. Reference was made 

 to the relation between the educational and other sections 

 of the association by Sir Philip Magnus at the opening 

 meeting. He pointed out that Section L was able to 

 help the other sections by discussing the methods of teach- 

 ing the various branches of science with which they were 

 concerned, and he hoped that the older sections would 

 refer to the education section the consideration of problems 

 relating to methods of instruction. 



Twenty-two educational associations were officially re- 

 presented at the meeting, and it is desirable that means 

 should be devised to render the interest thus displayed of 

 more effect in promoting the work of the section and in 

 spreading the influence of that work. 



G. F. Daniell. 



FORTHCOMISG BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 



.Agricultlre. 



George BcH and Sons. — The Farm and the Dairy, Prof. 

 J. P. Sheldon, new edition, illustrated. The Cambridge 

 University Press. — Tropical Agriculture, J. C. Willis. 

 Cassell and Co., Ltd. — Live Stock; Dairy; Equipment, 

 each by P. McConnell, illustrated. Williams and yorgate. 

 — Principles and Practice of .Agricultural Analysis : a 

 Manual for the Study of Soils and Fertilisers and -Agri- 

 cultural Products, H. W. A. M. Wiley, vol. ii.. Fertilisers. 



-Anthropology. 



.-1. and C. Black. — -Ancient Tales and Folk-lore of Japan, 

 R. G. Smith, illustrated. /. -1/. Dent and Co. — Folk-lore 

 in Lowland Scotland, E. Simpson. Macniillan and Co., 

 Ltd. — The Golden Bough : a Study in Magic and Religion, 

 Prof. J. G. Frazer, third edition. Part i.. The Magic .Art 

 and the Evolution of Kings ; Totemism and Exogamy, 

 Prof. J. G. Frazer, 2 vols. Milner and Co., Ltd. — Pre- 

 historic Man, J. McCabe ; Races of Man, Dr. A. C. 

 Haddon, F.R.S. John Murray. — The South African 

 Natives : their Present Condition and Progress, edited by 

 the South .African Native Races Committee. Kcgan Paul 

 and Co., Ltd. — The .Scope and Content of the Science of 

 .Anthropology, J. Dieserud. 



Biology. 

 .ipplcton and Co. — The Cat : its Care and Management, 

 Mrs. Leslie Williams, illustrated ; The Life and Habits of 

 .Ants, Dr. L. L. Dublin, illustrated ; Man in the Light of 

 Evolution, J. M. Tyler; The Sexual Instinct, J. F. Scott, 

 second edition. Edward .Arnold. — Scottish Gardens, Sir H. 

 Maxwell, illustrated. George Bell and Sons. — Biology and 

 its Makers, Dr. W. .A. Locy, illustrated. .4. and C. Black. 

 — The Science and Philosophy of the Organism, Dr. H. 



