October 7, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



177 



point, showing the ways in which it is liable to be disordered ; and 

 a statement of the connection between nervous functions and men- 

 tal processes as thus regarded. 



— Captain Armstrong of the British steamship ' Alps ' reports 

 to the New York branch Hydrographic Office, Sept. 29, 1887, as 

 follows: 7 A.M., Sept. 23, 1887, off the south coast of Cuba (lati- 

 tude 19° 44' north, longitude 74° 24' west). Cape Guanos bearing 

 N. N. E., distant about 22 miles, felt the shock of a submarine 

 earthquake, lasting about 45 seconds, causing the ship to vibrate 

 fore and aft. At first it appeared as if the valves were thrown 

 open to give an extra shake-up on the engine. 7 miles farther 

 N. E. by N. felt another milder shock, lasting about 7 seconds. 

 8.10 A. M., about 13 miles from the first disturbance, felt three 

 shocks, lasting about two-thirds of a second, at intervals of about 

 a second. At 8.45 A.M. felt another mild shock, lasting about 2 

 seconds. The sea was quite smooth, and had been smooth during 

 the night. When the first shock was felt, the sea appeared to rise 

 higher in a solid body (without the least break) for about 3 seconds, 

 and continued smooth after. Light variable winds prevailed, with 

 calms at intervals. Barometer, 30.05; air, 79; water, 84; mid- 

 night, barometer, 29.95. The high land of Cuba was enveloped in 

 dark lead-colored clouds, sky from N. E. by E. to S. was quite 

 clear, and several water-spouts were visible in a N. N. E. direc- 

 tion. Noon, after passing Cape Maysi, the weather was clear and 

 fine. By the charts I should think the disturbance occurred in 

 more than one thousand fathoms of water. (Civil time.) 



— A correspondent of Nature seeks the opinion of psychologists 

 on the following circumstance : A female child, quick and intelli- 

 gent, when about fifteen months old, learned to repeat the alphabet, 

 shortly afterwards the numerals, days of the week, month, etc., 

 and subsequently scraps of nursery rhymes, English and German, 

 then to spell words of two and three letters. All this was learned 

 readily, eagerly indeed, and for a time she remembered apparently 

 every word acquired, indelibly. At about two years old, further 

 teaching was for a time remitted, as she was observed to be 

 repeating audibly in her sleep what she had learned during the 

 day. Subsequently, tuition was resumed under a governess ; but 

 she had not only forgotten much of what she had previously known 

 perfectly, but learns far less readily than formerly. She is now 

 about three and a half years old, in perfect good health and spirits, 

 quick, and particularly observant, but the capacity for learning by 

 rote is materially diminished. She is remarkably imitative, but 

 shows no faculty whatever for writing, and as little for music. 

 The writer would like to hear of any parallel cases, and what the 

 ultimate development has been, with any opinions upon the cause 

 of their appearances. 



— At the central station of the United States Fish Commission 

 in Washington may be seen a carload of young trout from Wythe- 

 ville, Va., for distribution in Maryland, Virginia, and places adja- 

 cent to Washington. The collection comprises California trout, lake 

 trout, brook trout, and rock bass. Some handsome specimens of gray- 

 ling, artificially propagated, are also shown. The young trout have 

 all been hatched artificially and reared at Wytheville. The com- 

 mission keeps them until they attain a growth of several inches, 

 and then distributes them. A supply of trout will be sent to any 

 person who has on his place suitable waters, and facilities to in- 

 sure proper protection for the fish. A dozen young trout are suffi- 

 cient to stock an ordinary pond or lake, and one hundred to stock 

 a running stream. The fish should not be molested for at least 

 three years, until they have had an opportunity to spawn twice. 

 The commission will send a carload of young carp and other fish 

 to the Kansas City Exposition in a few days. The car will 

 remain there a few days, affording opportunity to visitors to 

 the exposition to inspect the methods of fish-distribution. Some 

 of the young carp will be distributed from that point, and the 

 car will then proceed on a trip, for distribution purposes, to the 

 South-west. It is proposed to use one of the breeding-ponds in 

 Washington next year for raising shad. Colonel MacDonald says 

 that a million shad could be raised to such a size, in one of these 

 ponds, as to insure the return to the Potomac of at least two hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand shad of full growth. The young shad will 

 then be turned out into the Potomac. 



— The opening address of Col. Sir Charles Warren, president of 

 the Geographical Section of the British Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science, deals with the much-discussed subject of 

 the teaching of geography. The views expressed in this address 

 are of interest, as the author opposes the new methods advocated 

 by the Royal Geographical Society, and declares that they will lead 

 to evil results. " It seems now to be desired to promote the 

 acquirement of knowledge at the earliest age without effort and 

 without hard work ; but this appears to be directed towards allevi- 

 ating the toils of the instructor as much as the instructed ; and we 

 have now, as a result, children taught common things without any 

 effort to strengthen their memories, and then a system of cramming 

 introduced at a later period, when the memory has ceased to be 

 capable of responding to the efforts made. ... It seems to me 

 that the remedy recently adopted is worse than the disease it was 

 to eradicate, and that, however injurious it was to attempt to store 

 the mind with mere names, yet the memory was trained thereby to 

 retain something definite ; and it is still worse to attempt to store 

 the mind with mere ideas without the connection of names, and 

 leave the memory to rust. There is obviously a middle course 

 which may rid us of the errors of the past without leading us into 

 still greater difficulties ; and if we keep the object to be gained 

 always in view, we cannot fail to take a direct line. We want first 

 to lead the memory to constant exertion of such nature that it 

 grows stronger day by day, but is not overstrained or wearied ; at 

 the same time it must be stored with useful facts, which may be 

 quite above the capacity of the mind to comprehend at the time, 

 but which will be required all through life : this can readily be done 

 by means of verses or rhymes set to simple airs and committed to 

 memory by song." As these views are e.xpressed from so promi- 

 nent a place, they require some comment. In another passage of 

 his address, Colonel Warren says, that, in consequence of the prog- 

 ress of science, we are fast losing our human nature, and are 

 becoming machines, and we call it becoming civilized ; that we are 

 drifting into a condition in which we learn nothing of ourselves or 

 by our own individual efforts. This is exactly what educationists 

 complain about, and the reason why they demand a method of 

 teaching which develops the mental powers. But this aim will not 

 be reached by memorizing rhymes containing uncomprehended and 

 incomprehensible facts. It is a misinterpretation of the method 

 recently advocated by geographers, if Warren says that it is only 

 directed to alleviate the toils of the teacher and of the pupil. It 

 requires much careful preparation on the part of the teacher to 

 represent facts to the untrained mind of a child so that they will be 

 intelligible, and it requires the utmost exertion of the attention, 

 memory, and the faculties of observation of the child, to meet the 

 demands of the teacher. The remarks of Colonel Warren on the 

 desirability of an efficient teaching of geography will be generally 

 accepted, but there is not much difference between the memorizing 

 which is still practised in most schools and the methods he proposes. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



%* Tke attention 0/ scientific men is called to tlie advantages o/the correspondence 

 colitntns oy^iClKKCKfor piacins promptly on record brie/ preliminary notices of 

 their itivestigations. T-wenty copies of the tuitnber containing his comjnimication 

 •will be furnished free to any correspondent on request. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the c/iaracter of 

 the journal. 



Correspondents are requested to he as brief as possible. The writer's name is 

 in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



Over-Pressure in the Schools. 



When we ask whether over-pressure in the schools is a fact, 

 we receive answers ranging all the way from the most positive 

 affirmatives to the post positive negatives. In fact, it is one of the 

 ' burning ' educational questions of the times. There now lie before 

 me two paragraphs cut from the same number of an educational 

 journal, that speak the two voices. In one. Dr. W. A. Hammond 

 of New York tells the story of a little girl brought to him from 

 school affected with St.-Vitus's-dance, in whose book-bag were 

 an English grammar, an arithmetic, a geography, a history of the 

 United States, an astronomy, a physiology, a French reader, a 

 French grammar, and a treatise on general science. The doctor says . 

 the little girl had learned all these things, but had done so at the ex- 

 pense of her brain capital, not of her brain income. Intellectual bank- 



