November 26, 1886 J 



SCIEJ^CE. 



491 



modern languages for the additionals, and has 

 actually founded a modern and mediaeval lan- 

 guages tripos, — the younger universities and 

 colleges will surely follow^. To make Latin com- 

 pulsory, therefore, is, from this point of view, dis- 

 tinctly inimical to educational progress, and is 

 therefore unworthy of an institution which, like 

 the College of preceptors, has in past years done 

 so much to further the modern reforms in middle- 

 class education. 



Sara A. Burstall. B.A. Lond. 



A SURVIVAL OF THE UN FITTEST. 



In his inaugural address before the sanitary 

 congress recently held at York, Sir T. Spencer 

 "Wells, the president of the congress, touched upon 

 a subject of great interest to educators. He said, 

 speaking as a sanitarian, that so far as concerns 

 the mental and physical training of children, and 

 giving women the option of other occupations than 

 those of domestic life, he saw no great cause for 

 alarm. It is an age in which education — at any 

 rate, for the middle classes — must be pushed far 

 beyond the limits which our fathers thought wide 

 enough for us. Mere rule-of-thumb work is al- 

 most out of date ; and there are so many indus- 

 tries in which scientific knowledge and exactness 

 are requisite, that the want of early education 

 cuts off a young man's chances of advancement. 

 A workman must now be something more than a 

 mere machine. He must have head as well as 

 hands, brain as well as muscle ; and, as unedu- 

 cated brains are not worth more in the labor- 

 market than untrained muscle, we must be con- 

 tent to make some sacrifice in their culture. As 

 for the outcry about the dangers of women taking 

 up men's work, it is breath w^asted. A great 

 many failures will outweigh the fevA^ successes, 

 and bring the balance right. 



"For my own part," continued the speaker, " I 

 think women capable of a great deal more than th^y 

 have been accustomed to do in times past. If 

 overwork sometimes leads to disease, it is morally 

 more wholesome to work into it than to lounge 

 into it. And if some medical practitioners have 

 observed cases where mental overstrain has led to 

 disease of mind or body, I cannot deny that I also 

 have at long intervals seen some such cases. But 

 for every such example I feel quite sure that I 

 have seen at least twenty where evils equally to 

 be deplored are caused in young women by want 

 of mental occupation, by deficient exercise, too 

 luxurious living, and too much amusement or ex- 

 citement. 



"Again: we have heard much of late about 

 overpressure from work in schools. This is one 



of the novelties of our time. No doubt it exists, 

 and I think it may in part be traced to some of 

 our sanitary success. We have reduced the 

 mortality of early infancy. Many children who 

 would formerly have died off-hand, are now 

 saved, and find their way into the schools. They 

 are survivals of the least fitted. They live, but 

 they are not strong. They have to submit 

 to the same routine, and be forced up, if pos- 

 sible, to the same standard as the rest. But the 

 effort is too much for them. Their frames are 

 not hardy enough to resist the mental strain. 

 They show all sorts of nervous symptoms, disap- 

 point the teachers, and are the types brought for- 

 ward as victims of the system. 



" The vice of the system is that it is indiscrimi- 

 nate. There is no revision of the recruits, and 

 the tasks are not apportioned to the feeble powers 

 of sanitary survivors. This is an evil which will 

 remedy itself in time by the growing-up of a 

 larger proportion of strong children ; and the 

 pi'esent difficiilty may be got over by a little 

 patience andmor'eration. — a little more regard to 

 sanitary logic. The children must have training- 

 be fore education, and must be put upon some- 

 thing even less than a half-time system." 



THE POSITION OF SCIENCE IN COLONIAL 

 EDUCATION. 



At the recent colonial and Indian exhibition, 

 held in London, considerable attention was given 

 to the condition of education in the colonies. At 

 a conference held on this subject, William Lant 

 Carpenter, B.A., B.Sc, whose scientific work is 

 as well known in this country as it is in England, 

 read a most interesting and \aluable paper on the 

 position of science in colonial education. Mr. 

 Carpenter's paper is of such value that we reprint 

 the major part of it from the London Journal of 

 education. Mr. Car^^enter said : — 



The colonies to which your secretary desii'edme 

 to confine my attention were, Canada generally ; 

 South Africa (the Cape of Good Hope and Natal) ; 

 West and South Australia, Victoria, New South 

 Wales, and Queensland ; New Zealand and Tas- 

 m'ania, the last of which is unfortunately not rep- 

 resented at this exhibition. 



If the term ' education ' be used to include, not 

 merely scholastic and collegiate training, but also 

 any organizations and methods for drawing out 

 the minds and faculties of the people, then a re- 

 view of the position of science in colonial educa- 

 tion should include all provisions for teaching it 

 in any degree or form. Science in primary, 

 secondary, and high schools of whatever kind, in 

 technological schools with a view to its applica- 



