war's effect upon education and literature 55 



of the present war (table 1), tlie number of imiversity students in 

 Great Britain decreased 40 per cent, and in Germany 66 per cent. 

 In the Franco-Germán war, tbe attendance on Germán universities 

 lessened 10 per cent, and in France university student« decreased 15 

 per cent. Thus it will be seen from an examination of all the figures 

 in table 1, that the effect of war upon the attendance of higher edu- 

 cational institntions is greater than any other natioual vital function 

 noted in the table, except literary production. 



Tn institntions for secondary education, as coUeges and lycées (ta- 

 ble 1) the decrease in attendance during the Franco-Germán war was 

 7 per cent in France and 5 per cent in Bavaria (see table 9), there 

 being no data available for the rest of Germany. In the elementary 

 schools (table 1) the decrease in attendance is less than 1 per cent 

 in Great Britain and Germany, except in Great Britain during the 

 Boer war, wher<» there was an increase of 1 per cent. 



INFLTJENCE OF WAR ON LITERATURE 



The pulse-beats of the public consciousness, as it were, of nations 

 are indicated by their newspapers and i^eriodicals wich, to a certain 

 extent, give an insight into the nature of a nation's mind and cha- 

 racter, moráis, customs and the way in which the peo^jle viewthings. 

 But a much deeper insight into the character and mind of a people 

 is shown by their more permanent mental products, as books and 

 special publications. If it is iraportant to know how much bread and 

 meat are necessary to feed the people, it may al so be important to 

 know the quantity and quality of mental food useful for the intellec- 

 tual development of a people '. Here the library is the complement 

 of the school ; for we must not only know how to read but what to read. 



AVAR TENDS TO DECREASE PUBLICATION OF BOOKS 



When raen are killing each other, the newspapers furnishthe great 

 bulk of reading due to intense public excitement, which affects the 

 demand for books. This is borne out by the statistics of the produc- 



' See MentaUty of Xations (by the writer) in connection witli patho-social cou- 

 ditious published in The Open Court, Chicago, August, 1912; also iu Xature, Lon- 

 don, Xov. 14, 1912. Also iu Scientific American. 



