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but is tempered by the knowledge that we shall still have

the benefit of his criticism in the future as in the past, for itshould be known that, greatly to his credit as an independentthinker, Dr. Glover has never spared us criticism (con-siderately conveyed) when the editorial policy has not fullymet with his approval. In the words of Rip Van Winkle :"May he and his family live long and prosper."

AN AGE LIMIT IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION.

No one who approaches the subject with an open mind andsome knowledge of the facts related to it will deny that thereare weaknesses in our present system of public educationwhich call for effective treatment. It has done good but ithas by no means realised the expectations founded on

it. On the other hand, it has done many thingswhich the majority of persons probably neither expectednor desired that it should do. Nevertheless, there ishealth in it and some hope of better administration undera more intelligent policy. To arrive at the basis of such a

policy should constitute the starting point of a much.needed reformation in its modes of operation. For thisreason the opinions of careful and suggestive criticsare worthy of consideration as much by school boardsor their prospective representatives as by the people ofthis country. Dr. Arthur Newsholme, medical officer ofhealth of Brighton, is a critic of this kind. In a paperentitled " The Lower Limit of Age for School Attendance "

he discusses the propriety of admitting children under fiveyears of age to public elementary schools, and states thereasons which have led him to decide in favour of theirexclusion. The first seven years of life, he reminds us, areyears of rapid growth and are clearly intended by nature tobe allotted practically to the fulfilment of this purpose alone.More particularly is this true of the five earliest years. To

exact from the brain any systematic work during this period isto use it altogether prematurely and to induce a correspond-ing exhaustion of its working material. He argues furtherthat liability to infectious diseases and the fatality result-ing from them are both markedly more noticeable beforethe age of five years. Tables quoted from the ninth andlatest annual report of the medical officer of health

of the Ccunty of London and from a paper by Dr. Laingof Aberdeen in Petblic Health for July, 1902, alike bearout this contention. Consequently, it is of great im-

portance to the well-being of these children that theyshould be as little exposed as possible to the dangerof infection. This danger is more unavoidably present in

public elementary schools than elsewhere. Such are the chief

Iobjections urged in this paper against the school attendance (of very young children. Some of the advantages alleged to _

result from such attendance are quoted also. It is said Ito suit the convenience of working mothers that their Iyounger children should be for some part of a day off theirhands. By the same arrangement the attendance of theolder children in a family is more or less assured. Finally,the infants are early introduced to the regularity and thework of school life. In the opinion of Dr. Newchoime

neither of the two former considerations ought to be allowedany weight in comparison with the physical and mentalrequirements of the infant scholar. The last he does not

regard as an advantage but the contrary. He shows that

even the kindergarten work scheduled by the Board of

Education as being suited to children between three andlive years of age, though it does, of course, appear verysimple from the adult, standpoint, is too complex forthe very unformed brain of a young child. Such workas "word-building,"

" " recitation," arranging I I picturesof number," and counting on beads implies a kind ofmental occupation too regular and sustained for an infantwho"e brain tissue is still in this early developmental

stage. As a matter of fact we are assurel tint the sohoo’-work of infancy goes beyond this and that a large amountof instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic is gotthrough before the close of the fifth year. The course

pursued in England as compared with that in Scotland issuggestive in this connexion. In England 10’ 9 per cent. ofthe total number of children in elementary schools are

I under five years old, in Scotland the percentage duringthe same period is 2’2. After the sixth year the Scottishratio rises above the English, and according to the

report of the Royal Commission on Elementary Educationfor 1897 the p3rcentage of scholars who passed in

specific subjects amounted in Scotland to 26, as comparedwith 2’3 in England. Thus it does not appear that a much

earlier introduction to school life carries with it a promise ofeducational advantage, but rather that its effect, if any, is

prejudicial. Certain it is that the relative lack of an earlyforcing-bed for the mind has not prevented the exhibition ofthinking power during the most fruitful years of the schoolperiod. We have no hesitation in indorsing the view takenby Dr. Newsholme in this carefully studied paper that thesystematic school-training of children under five, and evenunder six, years of age confers no appreciable educationaladvantage but may easily become, and probably does become,in a number of cases a cause of premature brain exhaustionand tells against, not in favour of, the later progress of thescholar. It is a hopeful sign that opinions as rational asthose expressed in this paper are so firmly supported by onewhose official position brings him into frequent contact withthe sanitary aspects of school life. In these days of super-abundant zeal, when reflection is apt to appear but a

secondary consideration, it may not be found a waste of timeto pause awhile to ask whether a plan of elementary educa-tion a good deal simpler than that which we have now, andseemingly somewhat slower but not less thorough (which,after all, is more like nature’s way), would not be found themost useful in the end.

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MEDICAL ASPECTS OF MOUNTAIN TUNNELLING.

AT a meeting of the North of England Institute of Miningand Mechanical Engineers held in Newcastle last April,Dr. Thomas Oliver of that city gave an interesting accountof a visit to the works now in progress at the Simplontunnel. This tunnel will be traversed by a railway connect-ing Brigue in Switzerland with Domo d’Ossolo in Italy. Thedistance between the two portals of the tunnel is 12’26miles or 64,692 feet ; it was commenced in November, 1898,and the contractors have undertaken to complete it in May,1904. Of the long Alpine tunnels already in use, the MontCenis tunnel is eight miles in length and required 13 yearsfor its construction ; the St. Gothard tunnel is nine miles inlength and required less than 10 years ; the Brenner tunnelconsists in reality of a series, no separate member of whichis so long as the foregoing. During the construction of theSt. Gothard tunnel (1872-80) 600 workmen perished, includ-ing the engineer and the contractor. This enormous mortalitywas attributed to a combination of insanitary conditions,such as insufficient ventilation ; the high temperature, whichat one time often rose to 107° F. ; excessive moisture of theatmosphere ; exposure of the miners to an Alpine climate onemerging from the tunnel and want of care on their part innot changing their wet clothes ; the inferior quality of thefood ; and the ankylostomum duodenale, which, owing to theuncleanly habits of the men was conveyed from one personto another through the medium of the drinking-water. Dr.Oliver’s visit to the Simplon tunnel works was undertakenmainly with the view of learning something of the hygienicand medical problems raised by the massing together ofthousands of workmen in a remote Talley. He found that theconductors of the enterprise were strongly impressed with the