234 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 560 



includes an element of subjective reaction to the sensation ; 

 it is a jslienomenon of will in its simplest stage. This de- 

 crease of will power, or reacting power, would render the 

 fluctuations of attention greater. The remoteness in time 

 seems to depend on the weakness of attention. As al- 

 ready stated, the actual time does not seem longer ; events 

 are as correctly localized in time as in space. But when- 

 ever a memory of a past event, even though it occurred only 

 a minute ago, is called up, it seems to belong to the dis- 

 tant past. Memories are remoter the fainter they are. 

 The calling up of a memory requires an act of voluntary 

 or involuntary attention. Any weakness of will would 

 tend to produce a weaker — and thus remoter — memory. 

 Since we know that memories grow fainter as the time 

 elapsed is longer, an over- estimation of the past is 

 natural. 



The remoteness of objects in space is due to a conscious 

 or unconscious estimate of the effort necessary to reach 

 them. When the effort is more difficult, as with fatigue, 

 hemp, etc., its amount will be over-estimated ; objects will 

 appear remoter than otherwise although our previous 

 knowledge of their space-relations prevents any distortion 

 of space itself. 



The drug finally produced faint illusions, chieiiy 

 ceilings decorated with colored designs, and finally 

 sleep. It is noteworthy that the progress of the drug 

 took place in stages, there being a continual fluctuation 

 between loss and recovery of power. 



The conclusion seems to be that among the earlier phe- 

 nomena produced by Cannabis Indica the most prominent 

 is a diminution of the power of subjective reaction in sen- 

 sations, or a decrease of primitive volition. This 

 leads to an incapacity for both involuntary and volun- 

 tary attention whereby sensations are dropped out of con- 

 sciousness for intervals of time. The loss of power of at- 

 tention also affects the memories, making them much 

 weaker ; this leads to an over-estimation of the remote- 

 ness of past events although time is not directly over- 

 estimated. The decrease of volitional power leads to an 

 over estimation of the remoteness of objects from the per- 

 son, since to reach them would require more effort than 

 usual. 



Finally, let me suggest some lines of experiment to be 

 performed before and during the influence of hemp : 1st. 

 the rate of voluntary tapping to test the effect on simple 

 voluntary movements; 2nd. graphic records of the time of 

 fluctuation of some sound, to determine the periods of 

 fluctuation of attention ; 3rd. estimation and record of one 

 second of time ; 4th. exj)eriments on will-time. Owing to 

 disagreeable after-effects of the drug on my organism I 

 shall probably be precluded,for some time,from carrying out 

 these experiments myself. 



LETTEES TO THE EDITOE. 



"^Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The 

 writer's name is in all cases required as a proof of good faith. 



On request in advance, one liundred copies of the number con- 

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The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with 

 the character of the iournal. 



Science in the Schools.— A Reply. 



Science of Sept. 29 contains an article by Professor 

 Chapin discrediting the value of scientific instruction be- 

 low the High School, and questioning the wisdom of 

 placing such instruction in the grammar and primary 

 grades. Several evident misconceptions in the mind of 

 the writer both as to the nature and value of such science 

 work impel me to reply. The wisdom of introducing and 

 maintaining in the grades systematic training in the 

 sciences, is believed to be made apparent by the following 

 nearly axiomatic statements. 



1st. The prime function of the school is to educate the 

 individual in order that he may be of the greatest service 

 to society in general and himself in particular. 



2. A person has acquired intellectual culture — is edu- 

 cated — only to the extent that he has learned to use all his 

 mental faculties to the best possible advantage, and has 

 incidentally obtained some knowledge. To quote from 

 most worthy authority, these faculties should be "like a 

 team, which is quick, strong and in harness." 



3rd, Eeal science teaching supplies a training abso- 

 lutely necessary for comjslete mental development, vital, 

 in many cases, to the highest success of the individual. 



4th. The particular training cannot be said to have 

 been obtained generally under the old regime, as is well 

 known by those who have had to deal with the graduate 

 of our grammar grade. 



As a teacher of the natural sciences, who has been try- 

 ing for some time to determine where, what and how much 

 such instruction should be placed in the grades below the 

 High School, allow me to present briefly the results to be 

 accomplished and make some suggestions as to how a 

 place may be made for it even in our already over-crowd- 

 ed courses. Thorough scientific training, such as may be 

 given by skilled teachers, will yield the following re- 

 sults : 



1. The cultivation of the powers of observation ; the ability 

 to ohtain knowledge first hand through the agency of the senses. 

 This, of itself, brings no sj)ecial mental vigor, for savages 

 are known with sight and smell developed to such an ex- 

 tent as to rival that of the beasts about them, and yet 

 who cannot appreciate number beyond the fingers of one 

 hand. Combine such jjower, however, with a mind well 

 trained in other directions and you may expect wonders 

 in the trades and professions. 



2. The preparation of written records of these observations 

 in clear, accurate, concise language, supplemented vnth equally 

 clear and accurate drawings. In this way the quality and 

 value of the observations are to be tested, the facts fixed 

 in the memory and there is supplied a rigid, most valu- 

 able and so sadly needed exercise in the vernacular. 



3. Logical reasoning upon these observations, the deduction 

 of truth and generalization. Logical habits of thought and 

 the ability to generalize, of course, characterize the mind 

 of the scholar, biit by judicious training they may be de- 

 veloped, and even earlier in life than is generally sup- 

 posed by education. If one observes closely a bright 

 active child of three or four years of age, he will be found 

 to be continually forming judgments and generalizing. 

 His conclusions are generally wrong because based upon 

 a too limited number of observations. I have seen an 

 eleven weeks' old iufant make a series of observations, form 

 three identical judgments and then arrive at a general 

 conclusion. There has been so little in our elementary 

 school courses to develop or in any way to call into ac- 

 tion the reasoning faculties, that this characteristic is 

 soon lost sight of. Arithmetic, when jjroperly taught, 

 gives a valuable training in deductive reasoning, but the 

 tendency of even our best texts has been to disregard the 

 discipline and render the processes largely mechanical. 



4. The acquisition of useful knowledge. The amount of 

 useful information to be obtained from a series of prop- 

 erly graded science lessons, extending over a jseriod of 

 eight or ten years, is by no means inconsiderable. A good 

 elementary knowledge may be obtained of botany, zool- 

 ogy, geology, physiology, physics and chemistry; enough 

 for general culture and to enable the pupil to read with 

 some intelligence along any or all of these lines in case 

 he must now leave school. A child of my acquaintance, 

 before he had reached the legal school age, could point 

 out the parts of a fiower, locate the principal organs and 

 bgnes of his body and could identify a dozen and a half 

 of animals by their physical properties. 



