256 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
The great vigour and dispassionateness which characterize 
the criticisms of a leading scientific physician, himself a dis- 
tinguished graduate and prizeman of the University of London, 
is abundant excuse for the free citation which the writer has 
indulged in. The argument here given is moreover substantiated 
by statistical evidence which is beyond comment. It is really a 
pressing question, for of all wild beasts which are liable to be let 
loose on an innocent and unsuspecting public, perhaps the most 
dangerous is the school-master in excelsis. Against him there 
is often no court of appeal, and no living man except the 
licensed keeper of lunatics is more liable to intellectual conta- 
gion. Every sensible man is cognizant of the pedantry and 
harshness which often characterizes the proceedings of the 
School-board Inspectors. It were well if public opinion, the 
only higher authority, looked more closely after the higher 
and now practically irresponsible leaders of our studious rising 
generation. Quis custodief, ipsos custodes ? is a motto which 
applies not only to the blue-coated guardian of the public peace, 
but even more to the established regulators of our national 
education. 
