October 10, 1SS4.] 



SCIENCE. 



355 



and also at Beauvais, is much to be com- 

 mended and worthy of imitation. In the Bel- 

 gian court, the systematic methods and good 

 gradation of the school work are very remarka- 

 ble ; and very great prominence is given to the 

 objective method of teaching in almost every 

 subject. The technological and other school 

 museums (notably that at Verviers) the con- 

 tents of which are collected by the pupils, 

 deserve especial notice, as also the whole appa- 

 ratus for handicraft teaching. 



The collective exhibit of the Institute of the 

 brothers of the christian schools (which will be 

 sent en masse to New Orleans) is one of the 

 most remarkable and interesting in the whole 

 Educational exhibition. Founded in Paris in 

 1G80 by the venerable Dr. J. B. de la Salle, 

 the institute has now nearly 12,000 brothers, 

 distributed over 13 countries, directing 1,200 

 schools with an attendance of about 330,000 

 boys. Following everywhere the same general 

 methods of teaching, the}' moclif3 r their details 

 according to the requirements of the country 

 in which they are ; for example, in their United- 

 States schools, every boy is taught, 1°. short- 

 hand writing, 2°. the Morse alphabet, 3°. the 

 use of the type-writer. The results of their 

 teaching, as exhibited in ' sworn ' performances 

 of their pupils, in some instances excelled any 

 thing known to the juiy of experts who re- 

 ported thereon. One of their specialties is 

 their system of models, maps, etc., for teach- 

 ing geography : they were the first hypsometri- 

 cal maps published in French, or, for school 

 use, in any language ; and they are intended to 

 give, b}' a suitable arrangement of colors, clear 

 notions of the real configuration of the earth's 

 surface. The objective and demonstrative 

 methods of teaching are slowly finding their 

 way into English schools, especially the ' board- 

 schools ' of Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, etc. 

 But it ma}' perhaps be permitted to the writer 

 to say, as the result of a very close examina- 

 tion (extending over more than a week con- 

 tinuously) of the exhibits relating to primary 

 education in various countries, that one impor- 

 tant lesson to be learnt from the comparison 

 of continental methods of instruction with 

 English (and, so far as his knowledge extends, 

 the same remark applies to America) is the 

 great advantage afforded by that objective sys- 

 tem, and by the adoption of that systematic 

 order and method in all subjects of instruction, 

 literary or otherwise, to which the name scien- 

 tific, in the highest and best sense of the term, 

 is applicable. This system is really a continu- 

 ation of nature's method of instruction, and 

 should be commenced in the earliest years. 



The late Dr. Whewell, in congratulating a 

 friend, famous for his knowledge and ability, 

 on the birth of a son, remarked, ' Young as he 

 is, he will learn more than you in the next 

 twelve months ! ' Accordingly we find in this 

 exhibition, that the increased attention now 

 being devoted to the whole subject of infant 

 training, and the enlarged sympatrrv and inter- 

 est with which the best modern teachers are 

 studjing the methods of Frobel (some of the 

 developments of which are at the basis of all 

 so-called technical training), have justified the 

 appropriation of a very considerable space to 

 illustrations of the methods and results of the 

 kindergarten system. 



The limits at our disposal permit of no more 

 than a reference to the appliances and results 

 of technical schools, and of elementary art- 

 instruction, nor to special methods and appa- 

 ratus used in educating the blind and the deaf 

 and dumb, nor to exhibits which illustrate such 

 important subjects as every thing relating to 

 the structural arrangements of school-build- 

 ings, school-kitchens, sanitaria, school-infirm- 

 aries, and lastly, though by no means least in 

 importance, the gymnastic and other appara- 

 tus for physical training in schools. An allu- 

 sion may be perhaps expected to the contro- 

 versy now going on in England about overwork 

 in schools. Probably the best answer to the 

 alleged overwork is the fact, given on the au- 

 thority of Sir Lj^on Playfair, that, in the ten 

 3<ears succeeding the passing of the compul- 

 sory-education act, the health of children be- 

 tween five and fourteen years of age was 

 thirty-three per cent better (as evidenced by 

 the death-rate) than in the previous ten years ; 

 while the health of children under five years 

 old only improved five per cent in the same 

 period. Investigation has shown that almost 

 every case of over-strain occurs in poor dis- 

 tricts (both in town and countiy) , where the 

 children are underfed, a piece of bread being 

 often their only midday meal. 



It has been the aim of the writer, to draw 

 attention to the growing recognition of the 

 importance of objective methods of teaching. 

 This may almost be said to have been the key- 

 note of the International conference on educa- 

 tion (Aug. 4 to 9 inclusive), which the presi- 

 dent, Lord Reay, the rector of the University 

 of St. Andrews, struck in his opening address. 

 In a very able and scholarly discourse, he trav- 

 ersed a very wide educational area; but the 

 point which drew forth the greatest applause 

 was the expression, in regard to primary edu- 

 cation, of his hope that the reign of the three 

 R's (reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic) 



