452 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 927 



Some of the later crosses agree with other hybrid 

 forms described by systematic botanists. It is 

 remarkable that two such well-marked species as 

 the water avens (G. rivale) and the wood avens 

 {G. urbanum) should produce so many fertile 

 hybrid forms that a very complete series of forms 

 can be obtained connecting the one species with 

 the other. In the discussion which followed it 

 was suggested that the same phenomenon which is 

 happening in Geum is happening in the allied 

 blackberries (Euhus), a genus as polymorphic as 

 Hieracvum, except that in Bubus there are several 

 (perhaps sLx or sixty) true species, most of which 

 are hybridizing with one another, and that many 

 of the so-called "species" of Huius are merely 

 hybrid forms corresponding to those artificially 

 produced hybrid forms of Geum made by Pro- 

 fessor Weiss. 



Several papers on ecological botany were read, 

 of which one of the most important was that by 

 Miss Eayner on the Ecology of the Common 

 Heather {Calluna vulgaris). The semi-popular 

 address, which was well attended, was delivered 

 by Mr. I. H. Burkill (the newly appointed di- 

 rector of the Botanical Gardens of Singapore) on 

 ' ' The Botanical Results of the Abor Expedition. ' ' 



The section was well attended, especially by the 

 younger members, and several interesting excur- 

 sions were made. The visit to Dundee will long be 

 remembered by the members of the section as 

 among the most generally useful and interesting 

 of any meetings of recent years. 



SECTION L EDUCATION 



The Education Section marked in various ways 

 an advance upon the time when it was a mere 

 battleground for those who favored this or that 

 method of teaching particular subjects of the 

 school curriculum. The origin of the section was 

 due, in fact, to men who were in the main con- 

 cerned with the teaching of science. They were 

 not interested in the deeper problems of educa- 

 tion; probably, in fact, they would deny that it 

 had any problems other than those which were 

 concerned with how much of the science master 

 the schools ought to tolerate. Obviously, however, 

 if the section was to justify its independent 

 existence, it must take its own line and call to its 

 councils those who make education in the scientific 

 sense of the term their chief concern. 



The appointment of Professor Adams as presi- 

 dent was in fact a recognition on the part of the 

 council of this claim to independence, and Pro- 

 fessor Adams's address on the possibility of an 



objective standard in education will take rank as a 

 very sane and moderate statement of the present 

 position of the subject as a science. Less directly 

 addressed to the popular mind than is usual, it will 

 be read with marked attention and pleasure by the 

 new school of educational research which is slowly 

 making its way, stimulated perhaps by the influ- 

 ence of the new school of psychology. If it con- 

 tained no new or startling discovery, the presi- 

 dential address pegged out the claims, so to speak, 

 upon which education may hope ultimately to take 

 full rank among the sciences. 



Closely allied to the presidential pronouncement 

 was the discussion on the psychological prtfcesses 

 involved in reading and writing. A report from a 

 research committee presented the latest statement 

 of the results of psychological inquiry, and some 

 admirable papers were read, leading to the general 

 view that much ingenuity is at present misspent in 

 setting up positive hindrances to the rapid acquisi- 

 tion of the art of getting at the meaning of the 

 printed page. 



Less technical in its appeal was the discussion 

 on vocational training. Miss Faithf nil's was in 

 effect the only dissentient voice in the general call 

 for a curriculum more closely directed to the actual 

 situation of school pupils. There was some little 

 uncertainty about the meaning of the word voca- 

 tional. Obviously, if a lad is to spend his life in 

 one of the 95 independent operations which enter 

 into the making of a pair of boots, school time 

 would be wasted if its activities were ■ thus con- 

 fined. The problem of how to give point and mean- 

 ing to school ' ' lessons ' ' has yet to be solved. It is 

 at least a step forward when the desired end ia 

 clearly laid down. 



There were interesting discussions on school 

 leaving certificates and the present position of 

 mathematical teaching. Two distinguished phys- 

 icists. Professor Sylvanus Thompson and Principal' 

 E. H. Griffiths, lamented the loss of Euclidean 

 geometry, though there was a general agreement 

 about the value of the work which men like Dr. T. 

 P. Nunn are doing for the humanizing of mathe- 

 matical studies. 



Not the least important of the actual accom- 

 plishments of the section was the report on school- 

 books and eyesight. The committee has laid down 

 standards of type, etc., which must profoundly 

 affect the production of school-books and the 

 hygiene of school life. It is much to be hoped that 

 the council of the association will give wide pub- 

 licity to that report. 



