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With defectives educational development is not only slower, it also seems slacken and cease towards the end of the school career. Many doubtless arrive prematurely at the limit of their mental growth. (2) On an average the deviation of the defectives from the normal level is about four and a half times the 'standard deviation of the 'normals.' It is always in a negative direction, that is, towards a lower educational grade. (3) No child who has three-quarters or more of the educational attainments proper to his age should be even considered as a potential condidate for admission to an M.D. school. In the case of candidates who are retarded by less than 31 per cent. of their age, and therefore have over two-thirds of the normal attainments, evidence of deficiency in general intelligence or of emotional in-. stability should also be required. Even for all who have more than half the normal attainments it is desirable to have such evidence, and this may often call for prolonged observation in a sorting class or clearing school." In this convenient form Sir Robert Blair summarizes the chief of Mr. Burt's conclusions regarding M.D. cases. The view is expressed that "the special school accommodation provided for defectives in London appears to be sufficient; were the backward children accommodated in special classes or in special schools of lower grade the accommodation would be more than sufficient." These studies bring out many points of practical importance. It is admitted that of children remaining in the ordinary elementary school after transfer of central school and scholarship children some perhaps have not had an opportunity of developing their superior talent. This opinion corresponds with the popular idea that there is too much marking time in the top classes of most schools. It would seem that between council and non-provided schools the differences in retardation are consistent and marked. In the former these are 43'5 per cent. below the level of their age, while in the latter there are 503 per cent., practically onehalf. The discrepancy is greatest in the case of girls; in their case the figures are 416 (council schools) and 53°7 (non-provided schools). Why should this be? Surely here is material for inquiry by

inspectors and head teachers. Mr. Burt's researches seem to indicate that mental abilities are distributed among the population according to the law of averages, and further show that the differences between individuals tend to grow larger as the individuals increase in age. The main effect of teaching on educational ability is, as a rule, to increase the individual differences already present from birth. It seems clear that the community would be advantaged if better measures were available for the discovery and suitable training of those children who are the most efficient for their age. In a provisional survey of the results of an analysis of the psychological nature of scholastic abilities Mr. Burt suggests the following conclusions: (1) The abilities and processes involved are far more complex than those who have written upon this subject commonly assume. (2) Similar results are reached by different children by very different mental processes; consequently a child who fails under one method of instruction will often succeed if a brief study be made of his natural aptitudes and operations, and another mode of instruction adopted accordingly. (3) Similar subjects require very different abilities at different ages and at different stages of progress. We have indicated sufficient of Mr. Burt's studies to indicate their importance not only to psychological investigators but to educationists, and particularly to teachers, school medical officers and other advisers on whom devolve the heavy responsibilities of organization and administration for dealing with mentally exceptional children.

"The Little That is Good: Stories of London and Glimpses of English Civilization." By Harold Begbie. Pp. ix. + 280, with 12 portraits. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd., La Belle Sauvage, Ludgate Hill, E.C. 1917. Price 5s. net.

"Roaming in thought over the Universe, I saw the little that is good steadily hastening towards immortality, and the vast that is evil I saw hastening to merge itself and become lost and dead." These words of Walt Whitman furnish text and provide inspiration for Mr. Harold Begbie's striking collection

of true romances of London life among the destitute, necessitous, and neglected children of men. The book is written in crisp, picturesque, heart-stirring words, with sympathy, understanding, literary grace, and a fine appreciation of true life values. The book may be viewed as in some measure a record of the wonderful evolution and glorious achievements of the Shaftesbury Society and Ragged School Union; with appropriate fitness the frontispiece consists of a reproduction of Mr. Fred Stratton's presentation portrait of Sir John Kirk. The work opens with a worthy description of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury and his noble service for the homeless and hopeless children of the metropolis, and the story of his lifelong striving for child betterment generally is graphically told. Mr. Begbie's book is of considerable value from the fact that it describes something of the ills and disabilities which enveloped child life in the wicked bygone days. The work also provides a series of remarkable sketches of pioneers and workers in the cause of child welfare George Acorn, the London slum boy who won for himself an honourable position and died a hero's death in France; William Orsman and his devotion to the best interests of the London coster; George Driver, a true Galahad of the slums and pioneer in the establishment of an Overseas Scout Colony; and many another devoted servant of Christ and His children. Mr. Begbie has a rare gift of picturesque delineation, and his word pictures are life-like and soul-stirring. The volume is of special interest and value as a record of the aims and salvage operations of the so-called Ragged School Movement. We are particularly glad to read the kindly and discerning reference to the fine work of Miss Coles and Colonel Openshaw for the crippled children of London. The concluding chapter," Shaftesbury's Mantle Re-lined," is of particular interest, for it provides something of a forecast of the possible developments of the work of the Shaftesbury Society in the near future. The views of Sir John Kirk, the Director; Mr. Arthur Black, the statesmanlike Hon. Secretary; Mr. Walter Scoles, the earnest Chairman; Mr. Frank Briant, L.C.C., and others are summarized.

It

is becoming abundantly clear that if the Shaftesbury Society and other organizations and institutions now labouring for the betterment of the child life of the country are to meet the needs of the children under war and after-war conditions they must be willing to give greater consideration to the fundamental questions of both ministry and message. If philanthropic institutions are to extend the range of their influence it is clear that they must be willing to co-operate loyally with the State. Standards must be raised. This will entail systematic training for those who engage in all forms of child welfare work. And most essential of all, child welfare agencies of every kind must realize more clearly than they have done in the past what is to be the character of their message, their mission to the individual, their service to the State. Mr. Begbie's brilliant volume stirs the imagination and kindles the fires of the soul, but it also furnishes abundant evidence that while the spirit of the pioneers is to be retained and extended, action must be guided by a scientific study of all aspects of the problem of child welfare. In regard to this great service we may well offer the poet's prayer: "Let knowledge grow from more to more, but more of reverence in us dwell.” We earnestly advise all workers for child betterment to read Mr. Begbie's beautiful record of Christ-like work for the outcast children of the kingdom.

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All About Engines." By Edward Cressey, Author of "Discoveries and Inventions of the Twentieth Century," &c. Pp. xv + 352, with coloured frontispiece and 182 half-tone illustrations and diagrams. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd. 1917. Price 6s. net.

This handsome volume is a member of the admirable and highly instructive "All About" series of original handbooks written by experts but designed primarily for adolescents. Mr. Cressey's book will make an irresistible appeal to boys and, if we mistake not, many a parent will share the fascination with his son. The volume is one which every teacher should read. We of the twentieth century live and move and have our being and risk our lives in a world of engines. An

engine exercises magnetic influence over a normally constituted boy. Mr. Cressey's work is one for boys of all ages. It commences with an account of the structure and service of a simple engine and an explanation of the power of steam. Delightful accounts are given of the work of the pioneers. Then follow in separate chapters lucid and interesting accounts of the modern reciprocating engine, the steam turbine, the gas engine, the petrol motor, the oil engine, the locomotive and engines for ships. The concluding chapters provide clear and serviceable descriptions of power and its measurement, and fuel and its problems. The book is splendidly got up and is lavishly illustrated. No better gift-book for boys has been issued this season.

"The Boy's Book of Buccaneers." By Eric Wood. Pp. vii + 312, with 4 coloured plates and 3 maps. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd. 1917. Price 3s. 6d. net.

"Cassell's Empire Library for Boys," to which this book belongs, is a striking handsome series of volumes full of stirring records of wonderful adventures. Mr. Wood's collection of the records of the old Buccaneers makes fine reading for British boys and, may we add, their sisters. It is a book also which many grown-ups will be wise enough to read and enjoy. The stories of buccaneering, filibustering and sea roving graphically portrayed in these pages seem particularly fitted for these strenuous days of war. The book contains the history of such famous adventurers as Pierre François, Bartholomew the Portuguese, Roche Brasiliano and Alexandre Bras de Fer, Lolonois the Barbarous, Henry Morgan, Captain John Cook, Captain Edward Davis, Grogniet and Le Picard. Mr. Wood's last chapter is entitled, "How the Buccaneers were Suppressed," but doubtless in a new edition a further chapter may be added to tell something of the tale of the Teutonic Buccaneers of the early twentieth century. The book is something more than a mere storybook; it is a real contribution to historical records and much painstaking research has been devoted to its preparation. The volume is handsomely got up and effectively illustrated.

Recalled to Life. A Journal devoted to the Care, Re-education, and Return to Civil Life of Disabled Sailors and Soldiers. Editor, Lord Charnwood; Assistant Editor, Everard Cotes. Published periodically by John Bale, Sons & Danielsson, Ltd. Price 2s. net each issue.

This unique journal deserves to be known and read by all patriots. It occupies a very special place in war literature, and should appeal to all concerned for the care and betterment of crippled combatants, disabled soldiers and sailors. The current issue is the second number of this timely periodical. It contains records of recent developments by Sir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, M.P., Sir Walter Lawrence, and the Hon. Sir Arthur Stanley, M.P., together with a general survey by the Editor. Fleet-Surgeon P. Hamilton Boyden, M.D., writes on "Disablement in the Royal Navy," Mr. G. J. Wardle, M. P., on "The Labour Party and the Disabled," Colonel Sir John Collie on Neurasthenia and Allied Disorders,” Major P. Horton-Smith Hartley, M.D., on "Tuberculosis," and Sir William Osler on "The Problem of the Crippled." There are also notes on work in the Overseas Dominions and India, the work of the Committee on Institutional Treatment, the Disabled Canadian Soldier, together with correspondence and other communications. As frontispiece there is a portrait group of American orthopedic officers now at work in Great Britain and Ireland.

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The National Food Journal. Issued by the Ministry of Food. Published on the second and fourth Wednesdays in each month, by H. M. Stationery Office, Imperial House, Kingsway, W.C. 2. Price 2d. each number.

This opportune periodical not only meets the urgent need of the moment, but furnishes the first example, if we mistake not, of a State Department undertaking the issue of a journal for popular circulation. The Ministry of Food, under Lord Rhondda's sagacious directorship, has shown how a Government Department may be conducted free from the fetters of tradition and adapting itself to the requirements of life. The first three numbers have been issued, and contain information, suggestions, direc

tions, official pronouncements and much else likely to serve the national cause in regard to the conservation of essential elements for existence. Lord Rhondda, in his introduction to the first number, says: "It is most desirable that the public should have full knowledge of the work done by the Department," and it is clear that this wisely designed and vigorous journal will do much to strengthen Lord Rhondda, Sir Arthur Yapp and their staff at Grosvenor House in their efforts to secure the nation's loyal cooperation in the endeavours of the Ministry of Food.

The British Journal of Children's Diseases. Edited by J. D. Rolleston, M.D. Published Quarterly by Adlard & Son and West Newman, Ltd., Bartholomew Close, E.C. 1. Price 6s. net each number, annual subscription £1.

This valuable journal, after appearing monthly for many years, is now appearing quarterly. It still maintains its customary form, and much space is devoted to the very serviceable special feature of "Abstracts from. Current Literature." The current issue contains a number of excellent original articles.

NOTES.

"The Watchers," by Emily Huntley, published by the Red Triangle Press at the Y.M.C.A. National Headquarters, Tottenham Court Road, W.1 (price 6d. paper covers, in cloth 9d., and the proceeds of the sale of the book is to be devoted to the work which it describes), is a brochure which every patriot should read. It may be obtained through any bookseller, or by post from the Bookroom, Y.M.C.A. Headquarters, Tottenham Court Road, London, W.1. We suggest that parents and teachers would be wise to read this pathetic little record of noble service for the relatives and friends visiting our hero soldiers who are danger

ously ill in the hospitals over in France. The Y.M.C.A. have provided hostels and other accommodation for such sorrowladen souls at every hospital base in Northern France, and at some of the principal hospital bases special hostels have been established for the relatives of officers. In England similar provision is made at various provincial centres, and in London a hostel has been established at 74, South Audley Street, W.1. Miss Huntley's beautiful little volume is a collection of records of the service of "The Brown Hostel in France. With deep sympathy, rare understanding and literary skill there are set forth wonderful stories of bravery in the days of sorrow and suffering and the great hour of death.

"Manuscript Writing," issued by the Child Study Society of London, and published by Messrs. Longmans, Green and Co., 39, Paternoster Row, E.C. (price 3d.), consists of a series of suggestive articles reprinted from Child Study. Dr. James Kerr provides the introduction, and among the contributors are Dr. C. W. Kimmins, Mrs. Kate L. Grainger, Miss Golds, J. W. Samuel, and A. Sinclair. Dr. Kerr says: "Writing and print constitute graphic speech. Print is the mechanical reproduction of ideal writing of an earlier period. Script is a degenerate (cursive) form of the printed characters." The following opinion merits consideration: "For the learner simplicity is the great desideratum, for the scholar legibility and speed, to which all other considerations are quite secondary. For these reasons the spatial forms of written and printed words, the characteristic shapes and relations of the letters and spaces should approximate as much as possible. With properly chosen manuscript all these conditions are fulfilled: and further, not only the young child, but the wounded soldier learning to write with the left hand will find his task shortened and simplified by adopting this style, particularly that without the use of unnecessary connecting upstrokes."

CORRESPONDENCE.

Space for correspondence is necessarily limited. Communications containing suggestions, serviceable information, criticism, and anything likely to be of general interest or value should be condensed into a short letter. Writers must in all cases give their name and address, although not necessarily for publication.

EDUCATION and the CHILD.

SIR, May I through your courtesy appeal to all your readers interested in the educational and religious welfare of the poorest children to give their very hearty support to the main proposals of the new Education Bill. Apart from its valuable administrative and financial schemes, there are some ten clauses that affect most distinctly the children in our crowded city areas. The restriction of juvenile employment and the extension of school life through the most difficult and most impressionable years of adolescence will be of the greatest physical and moral advantage to those in the worst home environment. The extension of medical inspection, the provision of suitable homes for children living in unsuitable surroundings, the power to pay expenses of prosecution by the local education authority for offences against the principal clause of the Children Act, 1908, guaranteeing the child's life-right to adequate food, clothing, shelter, care, and protection from unnecessary injury, will mean very much to thousands of the most necessitous cases. I strongly hope that there will be sufficient force of public opinion to secure that the clauses giving local option as to the provision of nursery schools, holiday camps, and other recreational facilities so acutely needed in poor areas will be made compulsory, the burden of proof in claiming exemptions from such responsibilities being thrown upon the local authority which would have to prove that all its scholars had reasonable opportunity for some of the health and pleasure amenities common to middle-class families. It would also appear necessary in the interests of fair and effective administration that Parliament should take steps to guarantee a far higher standard of living for all ill-housed, ill-paid and ill-worked families in the community by such means as Judge Neil's mothers'

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BLINDED SOLDIERS' CHILDREN.

SIR, I want to carry one step farther the endeavour which during nearly three years past has been made to brighten and render useful the lives of the soldiers and sailors who have been blinded in the War. The success of the work at St. Dunstan's has exceeded my most sanguine hopes, and the system of after-care which has been organized is carrying on that work with complete satisfaction. Now I feel that everything possible should be done to encourage the bachelor blinded soldiers to marry and surround themselves with children, and also to help those already married with the new babies who may come to them. I am thinking not only of the joy thus to be brought into their lives, but of the practical help of a wife and children to a man who is sightless. And the Empire will want the sons and daughters of men like these. The Government make a weekly allowance for children born before or within nine months of the soldier's discharge; but there is, of course, no allowance for the children born later or for those men who marry after leaving the Army because of their disablement. There is, it seems to me, something infinitely pathetic about the idea of these children whom their fathers

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