July 29, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



131 



nmlti-millionaires, and the appreciation of 

 such education by employers generally has 

 reached a point as yet undreamt of here 

 and is growing rapidly, owing to the estab- 

 lishment of an effective worl'cing connection 

 between the manufacturing industries and 

 the colleges. The belief in higher educa- 

 tion may be expected to grow at a com- 

 pound interest rate. This, it seems to me, 

 is the great fact to be taken note of, if —as 

 we undoubtedly must— we are to regard 

 education as an effective means of promo- 

 ting national welfare. It will undoubtedly 

 force on the development of the public high 

 schools. But, as I shall have occasion to 

 point out, American education is for the 

 most part still governed by eminently aca- 

 demic and conservative traditions ; in some 

 respects it lacks depth and practical out- 

 look to a strange extent. 



The movement which has led here, dur- 

 ing the past twenty years, to the erection 

 of technical schools all over the country 

 and of the numerous polytechnics in Lon- 

 don, is only beginning to come into evidence 

 in America. Evening class instruction, 

 such as has grown up under our science 

 and art department, is almost unknown 

 there. 



In New York and other large towms we 

 saw many fine public school buildings. 

 But if buildings are to be regarded as evi- 

 dence of appreciation, we may point to 

 those erected by school boards all over this 

 country; it is probable that in size, niun- 

 ber and appointments they compare not 

 unfavorably with those to be found in 

 America, taking into account the areas 

 dealt with. The building, it must not be 

 forgotten, appeals to the public sense: it 

 can be pointed to with pride. This is dis- 

 tinctly the attitude adopted in America 

 towards the public school buildings. I am 

 not aware that we take particular pride in 

 the erection of our board schools: it is 



rather our habit to grumble at the outlay 

 they involve. 



The Common Schools.— In interior ar- 

 rangements even the most modern schools 

 are not superior to our own. And there is 

 even less attempt made in them to provide 

 pictorial decoration. Thring's great doe- 

 trine of ihinking in shape has, if possible, 

 made less advance thus far in the American 

 common schools than in ours. 



Much has been said of the importance 

 attached in the American schools to the 

 teaching of patriotism and to the practise 

 of saluting the flag which prevails in them. 

 This involves the recitation occasionally of 

 the formula: 'I pledge allegiance to my 

 fla-g and to the republic for which it stands 

 —one nation, indivisible, with liberty and 

 justice for all.' This appeared to me to 

 be a somewhat perfunctory exercise when 

 I witnessed it. Thinking Americans with 

 whom I disciissed the question seemed to 

 regard the practise as of some value in 

 cities like New York and Chicago, where a 

 large alien element has constantly to be 

 absorbed into the population ; but appar- 

 ently they were of opinion that it was un- 

 desirable as a general practise. 



It is almost unnecessary to say that the 

 amount of attention paid in the common 

 schools to reading and composition is in no 

 way sutficient or satisfactory, the neglect 

 of English among English-speaking people 

 being proverbial. Apparently no greater 

 effort is made in the American schools than 

 in ours to lead children to read and to be- 

 come really fond of reading. 



The teaching of drawing is also unde- 

 veloped. Simple measurement work in 

 association with drawing, which is being so 

 much advocated here and which is grad- 

 ually assuming importance in our schools, 

 seems to be almost, if not quite, unknown. 

 I did not learn that the attempt was being 

 made anywhere to put the teaching of 



