infancy--infant welfare clinics, schools for mothers, maternity centres, and the School Medical Service-the evidence is accumulating, in spite of prejudice or ill-informed criticism, in favour of the application of educational methods and the spread of knowledge. Ignorance—(i) of the principles of maternal hygiene; (ii) of the common causes of disease; (iii) of the means of prevention; and (iv) of the adaptation and adjustment of conditions of environment to the individual child-remains the principal operating factor, in the vast majority of cases, in the production of preventable disease. Many an illiterate and poverty-stricken mother is, in a domestic sense, competent and well-informed in these matters; many a mother in highly-civilized circumstances is incompetent and ignorant. Competent maternity wherever it occurs is generally a remedy, though not the only remedy; incompetent maternity is generally a disability. But to say that maternal ignorance is thus a fundamental issue is not to condemn the mother or allocate culpability; the condemnation and culpability probably lie elsewhere. Nor does it ignore the manifold influences of environment. It states, what cannot be gainsaid or denied, that education in maternal hygiene, a homely capacity to control domestic influences and circumstances, and the growth and spread of knowledge be at the root of the matter. With regard to physical education, which includes play and the establishment of play centres, dancing and remedial treatment, Sir George Newman expresses the opinion that the main national requirements for a proper development of physical education are as follows: (1) A uniform though comprehensive system of physical training which can be applied first in simple form in the public elementary schools, but which becomes gradually more advanced and elaborate as the pupil progresses through the elementary school to the secondary school or day continuation class, and, in the case of boys, leads up to and prepares for the special training given in the Navy and Army or elsewhere. For the proper execution of such a system code requirements and an official syllabus form the necessary administrative machinery. (2) A sufficiency of fully trained teachers, men and women, to

undertake the direction and supervision of physical training as a whole, and the teaching of the older pupils, together with a larger number of partially trained teachers to be responsible under skilled direction for instruction in the simpler exercises, games, sports, dancing, &c. (3) The allocation of more time to physical training in both elementary and secondary schools. (4) Improved facilities and equipment for games and play, both indoor and outdoor, and as regards the older pupils, for formal gymnastics. There is a short section on the "Provision of Meals for School Children." The last section of this comprehensive and far-reaching report is devoted to the most important subject of the control of juvenile employment. All aspects of the problem receive judicial consideration. An excellent summary is given of present legislative control, and evidence is presented from all parts of the country regarding the existing condition of affairs. It is shown that a very large number of children are being prematurely employed. Many children pass through the strain of this premature employment apparently uninjured, but it must not be overlooked that it is the stronger children who are usually selected for employment, and that employment brings increased wages to the home and this often means more and better food. Moreover, much of the employment undertaken by juveniles is outof-door work in the fresh air. In not a few cases it would seem that the physical injury manifests itself insidiously and inconspicuously, but with far-reaching illeffects. Malnutrition, anæmia, fatigue, spinal curvature, and strain of heart or nervous system are conditions the discovery of which generally calls for clinical investigation and careful inquiry. But these morbid states lay the foundations of lasting disease and undermine physiological growth at a critical period in the development of the individual. The question is not only in what way does this employed child differ from other children of its own age, but in what way has the child worker degenerated from its own previous standard, actual or potential, and what will be its condition in five, ten, or twenty years? It seems clear that it is the conditions rather than the character of the employment which

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tend to injure the child, and of all the undesirable conditions the most radical and persistent is that of long hours of work. It is a remarkable and scientific fact that, all through the history of child labour, the dominant evil is not accidents or poisoning, or deformities or specific disease (though these occurred in certain industries), but the stress and fatigue of the immature body due to long or unsuitable hours of occupation. actual work is often easy-“fool-proof,” as it is termed. It is not the work, but the continuous strain which kills, a strain which entails inadequate opportunity for proper food and rest. And regarding the correctives, Sir George Newman is in no doubt. Speaking generally, he says there is but one remedy, namely (a) that no child under 14 years of age should be exempted from education, half-time or whole-time, for purposes of employment for profit; (b) that no child attending school shall be employed out of school hours except at prescribed hours and for prescribed periods; and (c) that the employment of all young persons from 14 to 18 should come under medical supervision and control. Such requirements would not exclude the use of vocational employment as part of the education of the child, nor employment for reasonable periods under suitable conditions out of school hours, but they would terminate the present exploitation of the child, and they would provide for proper aftercare to 18 years of age. Short of some such arrangements as these, each local authority should forthwith (a) consider the necessity of making by-laws under the Employment of Children Act, 1903, for the proper restriction and protection of child labour-at present largely a neglected power; (b) establish a register of all children employed in their area, and, if need be, grant licences under special certificate supervising each case of employment according to the needs of the locality and the child; and (c) bring the School Medical Service into close relation with the employment of children. If we are to husband the resources of the child, and its physique is to be fortified

rather than undermined, there can be no doubt that the conditions of juvenile employment must be controlled. The "Blue Book" contains information regarding the staff of the Medical Department of the Board of Education, a table giving the name of the school medical officers employed by each local education authority, together with other data. The appendix also contains statistical tables relating to the provision of meals, lists of schools for mothers, day nurseries, and recent grants. The whole Report is of exceptional interest and value, and is particularly timely. It has been prepared with intimate knowledge of conditions now existing, and manifests real vision concerning the things which must be striven for. We earnestly commend Sir George Newman's statesmanlike Report to the faithful study of all medical advisers, educationists, and social workers for child welfare.

MEMORANDA.

The National War Savings Committee have issued the following statement : "The use of lantern slides for propaganda purposes has proved so successful that during the winter the National War Savings Committee will break new ground. Mr. Hartley Withers, Editor of the Economist, has written a lecture on 'Money.' By means of pictures the youngest can follow the evolution of money from barter to exchange, and those who know Mr. Withers's books on financial matters are justified in expecting that, behind simplicity of exposition, lies deep and valuable thought. The Editor of the Aeroplane has treated 'The War in the Air' in a similar way. The illustrations are remarkable and instructive. Though these are intended primarily for the use of local committees, lecturers who have lanterns available will, so far as possible, be provided with sets of slides and the books on application to the Controller, National War Savings Committee, Salisbury Square, E.C.4."

teresting and varied little work fund, sale room, farthing bundles," an evening club for girls leaving school, and little "at homes" for the mothers. The Settlement is worthy of help towards a cosy personal little piece of work, which is already winning much gratitude from the parents and the keen interest of many

Denison House, 296, Vauxhall Bridge Road, S. W., on Fridays, November 9, 16 and 23, at 5 p.m.

The Institute of Hygiene has had a request, through the Board of Education, from a number of Prisoners of War now interned in Germany, for copies of the Institute's Syllabus of Examinations as

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educational and social workers. Further particulars may be obtained from Miss Clara E. Grant, the Hon. Secretary of the Settlement.

NOTA BENE.

A course of three lectures on "Social Problems" has been arranged by the Charity Organisation Society and will be given in the Council Chamber at

the latter propose to study and take the examination in hygiene on their return to this country.

A "Savoy Fair" in the interests of Child Welfare is to be held on December 5, 6, 7 and 8. The Duchess of Marlborough is President of the Committee, and Lady Beatty and Lady Macready are Joint Chairmen. The office is at 96, New Bond Street, W.1.

The Distribution and Relations of Educational Abilities.' By Cyril Burt, M.A., Psychologist to the London County Council. Pp. xiii + 93, with 15 Figures and xxxii Tables. London: P. S. King and Son, Ltd., 2 and 3, Great Smith Street, Victoria Street, Westminster, S. W. 1917. Price 2s. 6d.

Sir Robert Blair, Chief Education Officer to the London County Council, contributes a prefatory memorandum to these studies on the distribution and relation of educational abilities, based on painstaking experimental inquiries conducted under the direction of Mr. Cyril Burt. It is shown that the work is the outcome of investigations among the whole of the children in the special (M.D.) schools and in the ordinary elementary schools within a representative borough. Mr. Burt's three erudite memoranda form valuable contributions to the scientific study of educational problems. The investigations have been wisely planned and effectively conducted, and the records are elaborate and explicit in their thoroughness. The generalizations arrived at should be of far-reaching service. Mr. Burt, however, urges that his results must be viewed as having only reached their first approximation. It is to be hoped that like studies may be conducted under provincial educational authorities. Mr. Burt will have accomplished a notable service far beyond the sphere of his own activities if his studies lead to the establishment of less empiricism and more of scientific methods in the practice of teaching. The researches here so faithfully described afford educationists with sure data for a policy of reconstruction in educational methods. These studies go to show that achievements in the subjects of the school curriculum are determined by general educational ability, the common factor entering into all forms of school work, and specific educational abilities or the special aptitudes which are confined to special subjects and groups of subjects.

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satisfactory to find that Mr. Burt seems to be of opinion that "the ordinary school curriculum views scholastic ability from almost every side. The normal child on an average advances very nearly one standard in each successive year. "Backward" children, namely, those not "defective," are unable in the middle of their school career to do the work even of the class below their age and are retarded by about 15 to 30 per cent. of their age. In the senior department of the borough under investigation the total number of "backward" children was assessed at 10 per cent. In the whole County of London the number of "backward" children between 8 and 14 years of age is put at from 30,000 to 50,000. It would appear that the so-called "mentally deficient" children (M.D.) schools are characterized more by backwardness in school work than by defective intelligence. The latter is usually accompanied by extremely defective attainments, but these are by no means an invariable index of an equal defect in intelligence. somewhat disconcerting to find it stated that "children in special (M.D.) schools often prove in the first instance to be school failures and not always mental defectives in the narrower sense.

It is

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provisional diagnosis of educational backwardness and mental deficiency should be based primarily upon the child's perform. ance with educational and mental tests." If we mistake not, this opinion will be disputed by not a few school medical officers, and even some psychologists will be slow to endorse it. The following conclusions merit careful consideration: "(1) The educational development of defectives is about twice as low as that of normals, viz., about half a grade or standard per annum; in other words, the educational attainments of a 'defective' correspond on an average to those of a 'normal' just over half his age. We have thus a simple rule for predicting the most probable degree of educational deficiency for any special school child of any given age.