23^ 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



lar. 9, li 



3iXeiiiclxij5* 



Report of the Committee of Council on Education; England 

 and Wales, with Appendix. 1886-87. London : Her 

 Majesty's Stationery Office. 

 We have here a bulky volume rich in statistics. From 

 it the public will learn that the elementary day-schools 

 under Government inspection provide accommodation 

 for 5,145,292 pupils, and have on their books the names 

 of 4,505,825. Whilst the population of the country has 

 increased by i'35 per cent., the school accommodation 

 has risen by 2-93 per cent., and the scholars on the 

 register by 2 '12 percent. We note the curious remark 

 that " the local effort which has resulted in this im- 

 provement may be measured by the diminished support 

 derived from voluntary contributions, and by an advance 

 in the contributions from rates for the maintenance of 

 board schools." It appears that in voluntary schools the 

 average cost per scholar is J^i i6s. 4^d., that in board 

 schools it is _;^2 4s. ii|d. The accommodation in volun- 

 tary schools has increased since 1870 to the extent of 

 1,574,203 seats, and in board schools to that of 

 1,692,505. Six million pounds, without Government 

 aid, have been spent on the erection or enlargement of 

 voluntary schools. 



The school-boards, we are told, have freely availed 

 themselves of their power of contracting debts on the 

 security of the rates, and have thus involved their 

 respective districts to the extent of about nineteen million 

 pounds. 



The actual supply of school accommodation is in 

 excess of the calculated number of children of school age. 

 Nevertheless the Committee think that a new school for 

 1,000 children ought to be opened in London every 

 month for ten months in the year ; a bright prospect for 

 the ratepayer! In England the average annual rate is 

 7d. per _^, but in London it has reached 9d. 



But whilst the volume before us is well stored with 

 facts, it throws little light on the future intentions of the 

 Education Department, and on the prospects of improve- 

 ment. The Committee make no mention of a variety of 

 questions which exercise the public mind. Such, above 

 all others is the desirability of transferring the control of 

 education from themselves to a Minister of Education, 

 directly and individually responsible to Parliament. 

 Such too are several points in connection with technical 

 education. Is a training in applied science to be ex- 

 tended to all children, or only to boys who are found 

 to possess especial aptitude ? Are technical schools to 

 be supported out of the rates, and governed by the local 

 school boards ? Again, is the principle of " free educa- 

 tion " to be encouraged, and are the children to be fed 

 as well as educated at public expense ? In other words 

 are " free dinners and examinations " to be substituted 

 for the panem et Circenses of imperial Rome in her 

 dechne ? Lastly, but not least, is the system of " pay- 

 ment of results " (so-called) to be still maintained ? On 

 this head we note a brief but significant passage in Mr. 

 Blakiston's General Report for 1886 (p. 271): "So 

 engrossed is the common-place teacher with the financial 

 outcome of every item of school work that he is apt to 

 forget that his main duty is to develop the higher faculties 

 of his scholars, not to prepare them to earn grants, or to 

 swell the percentage of passes." Who can fail to see the 

 moral ? 



Thorough Cultivation. By Sir A. Cotton. 



This instructive little book labours under a deficiency 

 which is, in our experience, unique. It bears no name 

 of any publisher, bookseller or printer, nor is it said to be 

 a reprint from any paper or from the transactions of any 

 society. In consequence we cannot recommend it as we 

 should wish to do. The author shows that the soil of 

 England could, under attainable conditions, produce food 

 enough even for her present crowded population, and 

 could, in so doing, provide work for the " unemployed " — ■ 

 that is, if willing to work. An additional benefit v^ould 

 be the cessation of that inrush of our population to the 

 cities, which is simply a case of congestion as dangerous 

 as any occurring in the human body. 



Nottingham Naturalists' Socii ty. Transactions and Thirty- 

 fifth Annual Report, 1887. Nottingham : J. Ellis. 



We are glad to find that this society is not losing 

 ground, though the council conclude that it does not per- 

 form its true functions as a Natural History Society so 

 completely as could be wished. They recommend the 

 formation of sub-sections for the better prosecution of 

 work in various branches of natural science. We 

 suspect that the members have before them a fairly good 

 scope for local work. We believe that the fauna and 

 flora of Sherwood Forest have not yet been as thoroughly 

 investigated as would be desirable. Even in the mere 

 point of localities we are not yet able to map out the 

 haunts of every plant, insect, mollusc, etc., in this small 

 country in connection with temperature, altitude, soil and 

 geological character. Our provincial societies may, if 

 willing, take an honourable share in this vast investiga- 

 tion. 



We perceive that one of the monthly meetings of the 

 society is generally devoted to an exhibition and inspec- 

 tion of microscopic specimens, whilst at the other a paper 

 is read. Four of these papers are here published ; on 

 " Glaciers and Glacier-action," by E. J. Bedford ; on 

 " Spontaneous Generation," by E. Kidson ; on " Smell 

 and Taste," by W. J. Abel ; and " Notes on the Flora of 

 North Notts," by Rev. Hilderic Friend. All of these are 

 worth reading. 



The society offers prizes of ;£i, los., and 5s., 

 respectively, for the three best collections of wild 

 flowers, land and fresh-water shells, rocks and fossils, 

 and butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, etc. The specimens 

 must have been obtained within the five counties, 

 Nottingham, Derby, York, Leicester, and Lincoln, and 

 between April ist, 1887, and April 30th, 1888. 



We notice that there exists also in the same town a 

 " Working Man's Naturahsts' Society." As far as we can 

 judge, in the absence of special information, these 

 societies would prove more efficient if fused into one. 



The Eskimo Tribes : their Distribution and Characteristics, 



especially in regard to Language ; with a Comparative 



Vocabulary and a Sketch Map. By Dr. Henry Rink. 



Copenhagen : Reitzel. London : Williams and 



Norgate. 



The author of this work does not attempt to decide 



what must be regarded as the main question, i.e., 



whether the origin of the Eskimo race was in America 



or Asia ? He goes back no further than the beginning 



of the dispersion over the territories which they at 



present occupy, that is from the extreme north-east of 



Asia along the north-west and north of America as far 



