(c)

duties would be to initiate such federations for boy welfare bodies, and to originate and further legislation for the benefit of boys and young workers. To conduct researches into boy problems by obtaining reliable evidence from local welfare bodies. Valuable information will be available, and through co-ordinate effort Parliamentary action will be possible. (d) To secure representation on public bodies of men of independent thought, who are acquainted with the requirements of youth. (e) To afford legal advice and aid to boys represented on the various welfare bodies. (f) To convene conferences locally and on a national scale relating to boy questions. (g) To provide facilities and encourage profitable use of their spare time, and to circulate an organ for the dissemination of the work of the Council. The Council through their local committees would be able to keep in touch with such departments as the Board of Education, the Local Government Board, the Home Office, and the Board of Trade. (h) Also the local federations would help local authorities in executing various Acts of Parliament." The brochure contains an interesting and suggestive section on the "Function of Local Bodies," and there are proposals for the organization of boyhood by means of a juvenile organization committee. There are helpful particulars regarding a number of existing boys' organizations.

"The Teaching of Elementary School Gymnastics." By W. P. Bowen, Professor of Physical Education, Michigan State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Michigan. 4th Edition. Pp. vi + 165. Published by the Author.

"The teaching of school gymnastics requires, first of all, a thorough knowledge of the nature of the child, mental, physical and moral, as given in the best courses in modern pedagogical psychology; then a knowledge of the general principles of teaching based upon the facts of child nature; a thorough gymnastic training; and, finally, a brief but important special training in the technique of teaching this particular subject." This opening paragraph of the preface of Professor Bowen's handbook

indicates the high standard set by the author. His book has met with much approval and has exercised far-reaching influence, and it is now in its fourth edition. It is shown that in the teaching of gymnastic exercises the teacher must: (1) Give the pupils a clear idea of what they are to do; (2) get them to do it; (3) observe the quality and quantity of what they do; (4) give them such suggestions, criticisms, and other helps as will secure most rapid improvement; and (5) move forward as soon as they are prepared for it. It is also pointed out that in teaching gymnastics special problems arise, because: (1) The exercises are not studied and practised out of class, as in most subjects, making it harder to maintain interest and secure rapid advancement. (2) There is no immediate and visible product of the exercise that can be observed and criticised at leisure, as in mathematics, drawing, and other subjects where written work is required, making it necessary in gymnastics to do all observing and criticizing on the spot as the work is being done. (3) The exercises are performed by the whole class in unison, making it necessary to use formal commands and to observe and criticize the work of all pupils at once, instead of having a recitation from one pupil at a time, as is usual in other subjects. (4) Advancement is not conditioned simply on having all the pupils get a clear idea, as in most school subjects, but this must be followed by the perfecting of muscular co-ordinations, and in some cases by the development of muscular strength. (5) The teachers of gymnastics must keep in mind and be guided by several hygienic principles to which little or no attention is paid in teaching other subjects." Professor Bowden declares that the Swedish system "represents the most thorough attempt ever made to discover all of the bodily conditions common to school children and students that can be improved by exercise, and to devise a system of exercises to meet these conditions." He shows that in Swedish gymnastics the following general principles are emphasized (1) The main object of gymnastics is to improve the conditions of the vital organs; strength of muscle is to be gained incidentally. (2) Exercises should

not begin or end suddenly, but should increase gradually to a climax and then gradually decrease. (3) Exercises should be carefully graded, so that the easier exercises will lead up to and prepare for the more difficult ones. (4) School life causes not only a general lack of vigour, but also gives rise to definite faults of posture and development, calling for definite corrective exercises. (5) Exercises should be used only when they are known to produce good effects on the body; never because they are pretty or amusing. (6) Gymnastics should be conducted by command rather than by having the teacher lead in the exercise, or by having pupils memorize them. It will also be well to give the author's opinion on German gymnastics: "The German system of gymnastics represents a national movement to popularize bodily exercises for educational and hygienic purposes and to make them universal. Unlike the Swedish system, the recreative effects of exercise are emphasized rather than the corrective effects; in the place of a few exercises selected with great care, the German system includes an almost endless number. The following principles are emphasized: (1) Gymnastics should provide balanced development of the muscular system. (2) To secure vigour of action and best efforts the exercises must be pleasing to the pupils. (3) Each teacher should be prepared by an extensive study of anatomy, physiology, and gymnastics, to make and execute his own lesson plans; no rigid form of lesson is advisable. (4) The teacher must assume the pupils to be normal individuals; corrective and remedial gymnastics are in the province of the physician and the hospital, not of the teacher and the school. The greater part of the book is composed of detailed descriptions, suitably illustrated by figures and reproductions of photographs. The volume is one which deserves the careful study of all teachers of physical exercises.

"The Song Play Book: Singing Games for Children." Compiled by Mary A. Wollaston. Edited by C. Ward Crampton, M.D., Director of Physical Training, New York Public Schools. Pp. vii + 61,

with music. New York and Chicago : The A. S. Barnes Company. 1917. Price $1.60.

This admirable collection of songs and appropriate tunes has been gathered together to provide teachers of little children with the best means whereby they may be rendered happy and instructed in serviceable forms of physical training. As Dr. Crampton indicates in his introduction, singing games are the most natural expression of happy childhood. They have been sung, danced and played by countless generations of children, who have handed them down as a priceless heritage. "To the teacher of physical training these games mean a process by which sound and sturdy bodies are made, senses trained, rhythmic expression taught, and fundamental social qualities developed. To the child, however, they mean a happy period of enjoyment. This the teacher should always remember, but should never allow the larger purposes to interfere with a full and intimate participation in the spirit of the occasion." The present collection is clearly the outcome of much painstaking research. These fifty play songs have been selected with judgment and have been justified by experience. The plays have been used for several years in the New York Training School for Teachers. They provide a large amount of vigorous exercise without too great demands for singing. In several a chorus has been introduced with good effect. The musical accompaniments are simple and effective, and the whole volume is admirably got

Norton, Birmingham. The introduction opens with the stimulating words of Phillips Brooks: "The duty of physical health, and the duty of spiritual purity and loftiness, are not two duties-they are two parts of one duty, which is the living of the completest life it is possible for man to live." Bodily movements are divided into systematic and unsystematic. In the second division are placed: (1) The random movements of infancy and childhood. (2) Physiological movements, such as breathing, beating of the heart. (3) Personal movements, such as dressing, feeding, &c. (4) Locomotive movements, such as walking, going upstairs, &c. Systematized movements or gymnastics are divided thus: (1) Educational gymnastics the practice in class of formal and, in a sense, artificial exercises for the production and maintenance of a healthy body with its due proportion of strength, beauty and skill. (2) Remedial gymnastics the practice of special exercises for the correction of deformity or cure of diseased conditions. (3) Recreative gymnastics-including all games (with or without written rules) and such sports as rowing, skating, riding, swimming, dancing. (4) Military gymnasticsincluding rifle or sword drills, skirmishing, charging, fencing, boxing, &c.; all exercises with the notion of offence or defence predominating. (5) Esthetic gymnastics-the practice of expressing ideas by movement and attitude, as in dramatic art and, to a certain extent, in dancing. (6) Livelihood gymnastics-such as mowing, sawing, digging, scrubbing, sweeping. Such a grouping is highly suggestive and useful. The book is divided into two main parts. The main portions provide, in fact, a practical text-book for teachers in training, and present all essentials regarding theoretical requirements as to the technicalities of physical exercises. Special features are the numerous tables giving particulars of movements and commands with comments thereon. explanation of the theory and classes of movement will be much appreciated by students, and, if we mistake not, teachers will know how to value the key table of types in approximate progression and hints on table making. It should be noted that the first twelve tabular lessons have been specially arranged for use

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with infant classes, and they have been adopted and used for some time in Army Council schools. The book closes with a thoughtful exposition of the physiology of exercise.

"The Menace of the Empty Cradle : Where it is-Why it is and What is its Cure. By Father Bernard Vaughan, Pp. 128. London: C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd., Henrietta Street, W.C. 1917. Price 1s. net.

The publication of this remarkable volume has been "furthered" by the National Council of Public Morals, 20, Bedford Square, W.C., of which the Rev. James Marchant is Director and Secretary, but a preliminary note indicates that "the author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed." It is very doubtful if such a volume should have been given a place in the Council's "National Life Series." There seems something abnormal in the issue by a priest, who is an ardent supporter of a system of celebate ministry, of such a book as this; and there is certainly a quaint humour in placing the author's portrait in priestly garb as frontispiece. The attack on Dean Inge, of St. Paul's, in the foreword is to be regretted and condemned. Father Vaughan in his preface states that the excess of births over deaths in 1914 was 362,354, while in 1915 it was 252,201, a drop of more than 110,000, and dogmatically asserts that "we are going to lose not only in the quality, but in the number of after-war children.” And, further, it is said that "never before did our Empire stand more in need of a virile brood of citizens, and never was there a less favourable moment for breeding it." The book would seem to be an incitement to unrestricted breeding within the bounds of matrimony. No calculation is made of the restriction of population due to the enforced celibacy in this country of priests, monks, nuns and members of various sisterhoods. It has been said on good authority that the abolition of religious celibacy in Germany would affect 41,000 men and 76,000 women. Certainly the terrible losses of the War and the fact that the birth-rate has decreased one-fifth since 1907 makes it necessary

that all questions of marriage, celibacy, divorce, procreation and the like should be investigated without bias or prejudice. The question of the judicial separation of married persons demands immediate attention or, as Lord Sydenham well puts it "The huge number of separated persons constantly increasing and certain to be further increased by ill-assorted War marriages, demands instant consideration." Father Vaughan's book will at least have accomplished some service if it makes thoughtful men and women, and particularly the clergy of all churches, give thorough study to the vital question of Britain's man-power. Unless we maintain a virile race the sufferings and sacrifices of war will avail the Commonwealth but little in the testing and deciding years that lie immediately ahead.

"Nurse Margaret's Book on Babies: An Up-to-date Book for the Modern Mother." Pp. 126. London: C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd., Henrietta Street. 1917. Price 1s. net.

This manual, it is announced on the title page, is published with the approval of the Association of Infant Welfare and Maternity Centres. We do not consider it wise for an educational body of experts to encourage the issue of authoritative educational handbooks anonymously even when, as in this case, we are assured that every word it contains has been approved by certain of their medical members.' The book, however, is generally reliable and well adapted for its purpose of assisting ordinary women to understand the responsibilities and duties of motherhood. In colloquial language sensible advice is provided and in a form which is likely to be acceptable. manual should be of real service to those who are directing schools for mothers, working at baby clinics or otherwise seeking to assist in maternity and child, welfare work. Some of the directions are very tersely and aptly expressed; there is much of wisdom in this: "If you want your child to grow up a happy, healthy, worth-while citizen, you must start train. ing him in obedience and good habits when he is quite a tiny baby." And here is a sensible sentence regarding the choice of a nurse for the baby: "If

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you have a nurse for your youngster, choose a young girl with a happy temper and easy-going ways, who is not too old to play with her little charge, and keep him from getting grown-up and oldfashioned." The manual concludes with a practical enumeration of "Mistakes Mothers Make."

"Letters from a Father to his Son." By J. R. Pp. vii + 284. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., 1, Adelphi Terrace, W.C. 2. 1917. Price 5s. net.

These anonymously published letters are scarcely the usual form of epistles penned by a father to an adolescent freshman but they provide just the sort of fuel which blazes merrily at the midnight confabulations of early undergraduate days. These letters were written for the most part in pre-War days, but many of the topics dealt with are likely long to remain in our thoughts. Among the subjects discussed are education, University life, religion, political economy, class feeling, social reform, competition, politics, idleness, unessentials, Government, nationalism, and war. The views are those of a progressive who has been influenced by socialistic thought and energized by altruistic aims. He sees the folly of religious competition and disputations, the wickedness of much of existing class distinctions, the scheming and dishonesty and failure of no little of our political aims and accomplishments, the limitations and irrational restrictions which exist in education, and the inadequacies of local and national governThere are certain eccentricities and extravagancies, but on the whole the letters must be welcomed as likely to stir thought and quicken desires along safe lines of inquiry. The letters plead for a broader and nobler outlook and attitude in life, a clearer realization of the essential claims of religion and politics, an increase in charitableness and sympathy and mutual understanding and helpfulness; and in the closing sentences of the last letter we get a glimpse of the probability of the co-operation of father and son at the Front in the sacrificial fields of France and Flanders. We hope that father and son will be spared to furnish us with a sequel volume in which each

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will give us his views regarding the things that matter most as viewed by the revealing light of the battle-front.

"A Garden in the Waste and other Addresses to Young People." By Campbell M. Macleroy, B.D., of Glasgow, Pp. 117. London: The Sunday School Union, 57 and 59, Ludgate Hill, E.C. 1. 1917. Price 2s. net.

These addresses were prepared originally for the young people of Victoria Park Church, Partick, by their Minister. It is well that they should now be given to a wider constituency, for there is a brightness, suggestiveness and appeal about these religious discourses which are features oftentimes conspicuous by their absence in pulpit sermonettes delivered to children. Mr. Macleroy evidently recognizes the folly and wickedness of excluding children from participation in public worship, but he is also sensible in a way which is shared by but few of his fellow-ministers of the need of giving children of the best. Young people are observant, alert, sensitive, and severely critical, and are keen discerners of foolishness and fraud and, above all things, abhor a sentimental condescension. In this little volume are gathered twenty-five striking addresses under such headings as: "The Lion of St. Mark's," "The Bells of the Church," "The Lighthouse," "The Catacombs," "A Praying Wheel," " Heliotropism," "Buried Cities" and "Birds of Passage.' Each possesses the living charm of reality and points its own lesson. We commend this unpretentious little collection to ministers as a model worthy of close imitation.

"The Compleat Schoolmarm: A Story of Promise and Fulfilment." Written by Helen Hamilton. Pp. 100. Oxford: 50 and 51, Broad Street. 1917. Price 2s. net. "To teach the young .. to see, to think and feel, and therefore become more actively and securely virtuous-this is their office." These words of Wordsworth appear on the title page and indicate the class of worker dealt with in this amusing, clever and critical collection of quaint poesy. The book is dedicated "To those women who, striving to make education more human than it is at present, nobly, and despite its drawbacks, remain

in the teaching profession." And the dedication is made "(without their permission) in respectful sympathy and admiration." There would seem to be internal evidence showing that the writer has escaped the bondage of the teacher by placing her neck under the matrimonial yoke. Be that as it may, the lines are written with the sense of a new-found liberty and licence. The making of the schoolmarm is graphically described, her duties and drudgery in the day's work, the joys and sorrows of great days, the dissipations of occasional jaunts, the frivolities of educational congresses, and the limitations of her social life: these are all graphically brought out in these unconventional, riotous, and caustic presentations. Only a hard-worked, dutyfollowing, child-welfare-loving, woman teacher can appreciate or rightly criticize this strange publication.

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Patriotism and Plenty: A Cook Book for War Time and All Time." Pp. 95. Price 1s. net. "Bread and Fancy Breads." Pp. 48. Price 6d. net. Both by the Hon. Mrs. Lionel Guest. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, Vigo Street, W. 1917.

These two books are members of a series of timely manuals dealing with dietaries, cooking and other domestic war-economy, war service, practical problems, recently issued by Mr. John Lane, and for which many women will give thanks. The Hon. Mrs. Lionel Guest has written many helpful books, and these are among the most effective and only need to be seen to be appreciated. The first is a thoroughly sensible and serviceable guidebook to the selection, preparation, and presentation of essential articles of dietary. The second contains directions for the making of home-made bread and the preparation of a variety of forms of useful fancy breads.

"Records of a Rectory Garden." By K. S. P., Author of "A Vesper Hymn for War Time." Pp. xi + 76. London : Longmans, Green and Co., 39, Paternoster Row, E.C. 1917. Price 2s.

This pathetic little volume of a mother's recollections of the thoughts and ways in her boy's evolution is dedicated "to all who have given their dearest and best." It is a beautiful record of the