TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L. 745 
These numerous complicated syllabaries are the chief cause of Indian 
illiteracy, which is so great that 90 per cent. of the males and 99 per cent. of 
the females are unable to read and write. Out of a total population of over 
315,000,000 there -are nearly 295,000,000 illiterates. Out of 106,655,443 Hindu 
females the Census returned 105,847,870 as illiterate, and there were only 
137,807 readers among 31,883,812 Mahomedan women and girls. é : 
The simple remedy suggested for this lamentable illiteracy is an Indian 
national alphabet based upon the Roman letters supplemented by the phonotypes 
of Sir Isaac Pitman and Dr. A. J. Ellis, with some Romanic letters for special 
Indian sounds. This alphabet would provide for an accurate transliteration of 
all Indian languages, or for a practical phonetic writing of the same. Tn all 
fifty-three types are suggested, but, on an average, only thirty-seven are required 
for a vernacular. The letters are easy to read, facile to write, and suitable for 
printing, and with them an illiterate may be taught to read his mother tongue 
in ten simple lessons. 
It is suggested that Government should appoint a Linguistic Commission to 
go thoroughly into the whole question of Indian illiteracy and recommend a 
code of Roman or Romanic letters, which should be allowed optional use in the 
schools and public courts. If this is done, then the great educational, inter- 
national, economic, and other advantages would soon bring about their general 
adoption. 
In view of the fact that the Indian Government contemplate a wide extension 
of elementary education the present time seems to present a good opportunity 
for such an inquiry, and it is suggested that the British Association should take 
the lead in promoting a memorial to the Secretary of State for India on the 
subject. 
Post-cards giving a complete scheme of Romanic letters for all Indian 
languages, and illustrating their application to Indian vernaculars (and also to 
phonetic English as suggested by Sir Isaac Pitman and Dr. Ellis), will be sent 
to anyone interested on receipt of stamped and addressed envelope. The cards 
give the printing forms of the letters, the script character, the pronunciation, 
and the corresponding Sanskrit or Arabic characters. They also show the origin 
of the present indigenous scripts and give statistical and other information. 
Illustrations of Indian scripts and the suggested Romanic letters with 
specimens of their application to Indian vernaculars and to phonetic English 
were distributed at the meeting. 
3. Educational Research. By OC. W. Kimmiys, M.A., D.Sc. 
The attitude towards educational research has undergone a remarkable 
change in recent years. The psychologist is bending his energies more and more 
towards the solution of important questions of practical education, and the 
practical teacher is recognising to a far greater extent than previously the 
great assistance psychology can render in the solution of the problems of the 
schoolroom. The change of attitude is well exemplified by two books by the 
same author (Professor Hugo Munsterberg, of Harvard)—‘ Psychology and 
Life,’ published in 1899, and ‘ Psychology and the Teacher,’ published in 1910. 
Whether there is a true science of education or whether such a science is 
in course of development is not a matter of concern at the moment. What is of 
more importance is that of recent years scientific methods of investigation have 
been extensively employed in the solution of educational problems, that univer- 
sities have regarded such investigations as being worthy of the award of the 
highest degrees they can offer, and that increased facilities have been given for 
students of psychology and of the theory and practice of education to take these 
subjects to a high university standard in their degree courses in Arts and 
Science (see the recent alterations in the Degree Courses of Study in the 
University of London). 
The so-called ‘ Downfall of the Theory of Formal Training’ is a matter of 
first-rate importance in its relation not only to methods of teaching, but also to 
the allocation of time to many subjects in the school curriculum. Dr. /Sleight’s 
thesis on ‘Memory and Formal Training,’ for which he was awarded the 
