EDUCATION.

FOR SCHOOLS AND

STUDENTS.

' COMMERCIAL POLITICS is one of the English History Source Books, a noteworthy series which can be used with advantage by students in various stages of development. Mr. Gretton, as might be expected, has made an excellent choice of material, ranging from Sybil' (a pioneer book in its way) to Queen Victoria's letters, as well as more obvious memoirs and The Times on the Crimea. The railway boom and the Chartist troubles are well illustrated. So little is generally known nowadays of this period of the nineteenth century that Mr. Gretton's extracts should be widely adopted in schools.

Messrs. Ball and Smith have supplied brief and sufficient notes to 'The Merchant of Venice,' a task not difficult in view of the many workers who have preceded them. The edition is designed for examinees, and a large array of questions are included in the eighteen Appendixes. We think it a pity that the teacher cannot be left to supply such things himself. We are glad to see a competent selection of a few books for reference at the end. To these, since speculation is common in lives of Shakespeare, we should add some book on facts such as the Shakespeare Documents' gathered by Mr. D. H. Lambert, and the Shakespearian Punctuation' of Mr. Percy Simpson.

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Mr. Madeley's Noctes Latina' and Mr. Butler's 'De Ducibus' are books meant for boys who are too young for Cæsar. Mr. Butler's is the fuller, for it supplies careful exercises on each piece, but Mr. Madeley's is the more interesting, since it contains some of the best stories in the world, such as The Treasure of Rhampsinitus." A necessary modification of this story has left a somewhat inconsistent "in tenebris,' for people are not served with wine in the dark. Both the little books have vocabularies, which seem to be fairly established in these labour-saving days.

in

Mr. Pearce's 'Ovid' belongs to a series of "Classical Authors edited for Schools,' which, as the general editor explains, every author is to be treated by a schoolmaster who knows him well and likes him. Thus the danger of mere "book-making" is eliminated. Mr. Pearce's three volumes are an excellent promise for the success of the series. He has an unusual and pleasant knowledge of English literature, and shows how much it owes to Ovid. At the same time he is aware of the defects which frequently make the copious versifier less than a poet. The selections supply a representative course of the earlier poems, the 'Fasti,' and the Letters from Exile.' The notes are judi

Commercial Politics (1837-1856). By R. H. Gretton. (Bell, 1s. net.)

The Merchant of Venice. Edited by G. H. Ball and H. G. Smith. (Mills & Boon, 1s.) Noctes Latince. By Walter Madeley. (Macmillan & Co., ls. 6d.)

De Ducibus. By W. G. Butler. (Bell, 18. 6d.)

Ovid Elegiac Poems. Edited by J. W. E. Pearce. 3 vols. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 28. each.)

The Canon of the New Testament. By G. Waddy Polkinghorne. (C. H. Kelly, 1s. net.)

The Open Air Speaker's Handbook. By C. Ensor Walters. (Same publisher, paper 6d., cloth 18.)

cious, and we are glad to see that translations are not overdone. Supplied in abundance, they lead to a mechanical knowledge like that of Ovid's parrot, who was clever in repetition.

Mr. Polkinghorne has written a lucid summary, within its limits, of the gradual formation of the Canon of the New Testament. It is not, we think, possible to deal with a subject involving a host of Fathers and heretics in a brief book without being vague. The Fourth Gospel, for instance, receives perfunctory treatment. But the writer is fair and candid, and gives a good list of books for further study.

The Rev. C. Ensor Walters supplies the Introduction to The Open Air Speaker's Handbook,' which, it should be noted, deals almost entirely with evangelistic effort, and records mainly the methods of those who follow in the train of the great Wesley. We agree that open-air preaching has been unduly neglected, and think, so far as our experience goes, that the politician and social reformer show in this line of exhortation more ability than the preacher of religion. Still, remarkable and permanent results, which mean far more than the hysterical emotions of a day, have been, and are being, achieved in this cynical twentieth century.

The hints given are mainly founded on common sense, but not the worse for that, and the importance of humour as well as earnestness is realized. Not many, we fear, can follow the example of one evangelist and arrest the attention of a crowd by shouting a West African word in a loud voice. The typical conversation with the interrupter is surely too elaborate to be of much use, and, writing in the cold reason of a critic's study, the reviewer cannot admit that it covers the ground satisfactorily. But arguments at a meeting are largely a matter of neat retort, and feeling ranks above logic.

EDUCATIONAL BOOKS.

OLD chronicles are undoubtedly worth reproduction for modern students: they give the genuine contemporary view of history, often in a fascinating style. Also the comments on the events recorded have far more value than those made by such later historians as allow to their own prejudices or purposes too great a prominence. But Mr. Burrell, the editor of 'Old Chronicles of the English People,' seems to have lost sight of one pointsensationalism. Is he wise to give two whole chapters to penal laws and ruthless practices? The schoolboy will, we fear, gloat over the chapters on Stephen and Elizabeth, and neglect the facts for love of the horrors so vividly set forth.

Selections from Old Chronicles of the English People. Edited by Arthur Burrell. (Dent, 6d.)

A French Picture Vocabulary. By J. H. B. Lockhart. Illustrated by George Morrow.

(Bell, ls. net.) Stories of Greece and Rome. By Hilda Johnstone. (Longmans, 1s. 6d.)

A Picture Book of British History. Compiled by S. C. Roberts.-Vol. I. From the Earliest Times to 1485 A.D. (Cambridge University Press, 3s. 6d. net.)

A Dictionary of English and French Military Terms. By A. Barrère. In 2 parts. (Hachette, 28. net each.) Military Expressions in English, French, and German. By E. G. A. Beckwith. (Same publishers, 18. 6d. net.)

Picture vocabularies are usually too infantile to carry much weight with the average schoolboy, and it was a happy thought on Mr. Lockhart's part to procure for his French Picture Vocabulary illustrations from Mr. George Morrow, and infuse thereby a commendable liveliness into it. The practice of illustrating by caricature may have its benefit in the classroom, where pupils with a gift for drawing may be encouraged to use it to the furtherof their knowledge of words and phrases, &c., instead of distorting the features of their teachers or of the heroes of their reading.

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Miss Johnstone's 'Stories of Greece and Rome' are written with the idea of showing children the fascination of bygone ages, and thereby leading them "to fact through fiction -a dangerous statement, by the way, if we are to preserve the ordinary meaning of the word fiction. She has done her work well so far as it goes, but she might, we think, have allowed herself far more length and detail. Kingsley, for example, appeals successfully even to quite young children, yet gives every sort of detail in 'The Heroes." Nor do Macaulay's

Lays of Ancient Rome' fail for boys and girls of eight or nine. To take one instance, Achilles deserves far more notice; the stories of the girls' school in Scyros, of Peleus and Thetis, and the vulnerable heel cannot but attract the young reader. Why omit them?

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Pictorial history is admirably aided by the Picture Book of British History,' of which the first part is just out. The compiler suggests that for the young mind fanciful pictures have far more interest than strictly contemporary illustrations, but he has done well not to yield to that temptation. Indeed, we incline to think that many contemporary illustrations can be ranked, for this, above a good number of the conventional pictures that are SO prominent in modern education. Mr. Roberts has done well, however, in including photographs of famous places and buildings. It is rather a surprise not to find St. John's Chapel, the Tower of London," among the illustrations of Norman architecture; but on the whole the illustrations form a complete and useful collection. shall look forward to the appearance of the other parts of this publication.

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It was to be expected that some sort of dictionary of military terms-French, English, and German-should make its appearance before long. Messrs. Hachette apparently first in the field with two small publications, a French-English and EnglishFrench Dictionary, by A. Barrère, in 2 vols., and a little vocabulary, by Mr. E. G. A. Beckwith, of English, French, and German Military Expressions. Of these we prefer the Dictionary; it is much nearer completeness, and is alphabetical, whereas the vocabulary requires some study before the reader can find a word he wants.

FRENCH SCHOOL-BOOKS.

MR. SIEPMANN'S excellent series of French Readers needs no introduction nowadays. For fifteen years or more it has been used in many schools. The present addition, Erckmann-Chatrian's Histoire d'un Conscrit de 1813 (Macmillan, 2s. 6d.), comes particularly opportunely, as the conscript of 1813 sees the downfall of France, as he of 1914 is seeing its resurrection. The text has been somewhat abridged, but only to make it more suitable for boys and girls. Although Mr. Siepmann's complete machinery is at

The publications of the Cambridge University Press share with those of the sister University the premier position among school-books. The present addition, De Gorsse-Jacquin's La Jeunesse de Cyrano de Bergerac (3s.), comes to us in an unfamiliar binding: it is a cape-and-sword novel, and somewhat long for any but an upper form. Mr. H. A. Jackson's notes are very short, and there is a Vocabulary, which seems hardly necessary for advanced students. Maupassant's Contes de Guerre (1s. 6d.), Mr. J. C. Anderson's addition to the Junior French Series that Mr. H. L. Hutton edits for the Oxford Press, is apt to-day. One story has its scene at Rethel, a name we have seen daily since the battle of the Aisne began. Maupassant's short stories are a model of their kind, and, although the five in this selection have been abridged, they make good reading for a middle form.

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The number of editions that have been issued of certain French texts has always been an element of surprise. Le Roi des Montagnes' and 'Colomba' must have over a score to their credit; while 'La Belle Nivernaise' and 'Eugénie Grandet' have been edited more than once. If this goes on much longer, every modern-language teacher will use his own edition only. Surely efforts might be directed better to the discovery of new material. Harrap's Modern Language Series (1s. 6d. each) is one of the most complete in existence, and we are glad to welcome among its editors a representative of the third generation of a well-known teaching family-Mr. A. G. H. Spiers, who is responsible for the present issue of Eugénie Grandet. Three other members of the series are Les Boulinard, edited by Mr. F. G. Harriman; La Belle Nivernaise, edited by Mr. W. M. Daniels; and Ninette, edited by Mr. C. W. Bell.

We should have thought that one edition of Hugo's youthful novel, Bug Jargal (Mills & Boon, 2s.), would have been sufficient, yet Mr. R. R. N. Baron has done it again. He supplies notes in French, and exercises at the end of the book. The type is clear, and the volume is well produced.

Pre

Teachers know well that the selection of pieces in English suitable for translation into French, even by advanced pupils, is not easy, and Messrs. Nicholson and Brennan of the University of Sydney have in Passages for Translation into French and German (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 3s. 6d.) collected a large number of passages that they consider suitable for such a purpose. sumably each teacher's selection would be different, but all would, we think, agree that English authors before the nineteenth century should be but sparely used. differences in idiom and vocabulary are such that, unless a pupil has a fair knowledge of eighteenth-century French, he finds great difficulty in translating such excerpts with any accuracy. The dialogue of Dickens, too, is difficult except for the expert. But there are many pieces in this book that should make good material.

The

The self-denying ordinance needed in the editing of certain French texts might well be applied to the multiplication of French Grammars. Mr. C. W. Bell's Essentials of French Grammar (Harrap, 28.) is clearly

printed, but it appears to contain too much for a skeleton Grammar and not enough to be used for reference. The ideal would be for every student to compile his own Grammar from his private reading.

Mr. J. S. Walters has in his Reform First French Book (Mills & Boon, ls.) endeavoured to write a First French Book for adults. The attempt was worth while, as the babyishness of some books is as tiresome to the adult as the idiotic Otto sentences. At the end is a synopsis of French grammar in twelve pages, and a Vocabulary.

In Graduated Lessons in French Conversa

tion (Rolandi, 2s. net) Mr. A. P. Pelluet has added one more conversation book to the many in existence. He uses ordinary type on one page, and the same matter in phonetic script on the opposite one. A short tale occupies each page, with questions and answers underneath, which, the author thinks, should be learnt by heart. Whether

this method would ever teach a student how

to pronounce French would entirely depend on the teacher. Fortunately, it is becoming more common now to send pupils who need colloquial French abroad during their vacations, or even for a term, so that recourse to formal lessons of conversation is less necessary.

GERMAN SCHOOL-BOOKS.

Two additions to the recently inaugurated "Oxford Junior German Series reach us in Till Eulenspiegel, edited by Mr. M. L. Seebohm, and Hermine Villinger's Leodegar der Hirtenschüler, edited by Mr. C. W. Merryweather (Oxford University Press, 1s. 6d. each). Both these texts are suitable enough for German students at an early stage. It may, indeed, be doubted if our modern youth will regard Eulenspiegel's pranks as making a particularly weilig Lesen," but the book has the advantage of being distinctively German in spirit, and the brevity and directness of its stories are commendable. Hermine Villinger's little tale from her 'Schwarzwaldgeschichten is a pleasing piece of work, and her clear and unaffected style will afford an excellent model for the scholar. Both volumes are

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supplied with the " questionnaire that the modern methods of teaching have made familiar to us, grammatical exercises and notes-all in German, bien entendu and a Vocabulary.

In Messrs. Harrap's Modern Language Series three new volumes have been issued: Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach's Krambambuli, edited by A. R. Hohlfeld and G. Hein (8d.); Geschichten und Märchen für Anfänger, compiled by Miss Lilian Foster (18.); and Fünfzig Kleine Deutsche Briefe, by Miss Louise J. Weisgerber (1s.). 'Krambambuli' is one of the really good dog-stories in literature, and both boys and girls, we fancy, would be likely to enjoy it. This is a sensible edition of it, with brief notes, exercises for retranslation into German, and Vocabulary. The editors are apparently not rabid devotees of the newer method of teaching, and-justifiably, as we think-do not disdain to use English in the notes.

Miss Foster's collection of short narrative pieces is meant as a first reading-book for young pupils, and is as satisfactory as most books of the kind. She has evidently had experience in teaching children, and her matter is intelligently arranged and graded. A somewhat novel and, in our opinion, defensible feature of the volume is that the earlier portion is printed in Roman type, while the later is in German: the plea is that children learn to read a foreign lan

guage much more readily "if it is presented to them at first in a form with which they are familiar."

Miss Weisgerber's collection of letters appears in a new and enlarged edition, and may therefore be assumed to have proved its serviceableness. The letters themselves strike us as dull, but they are no doubt useful in providing models for the forms and commonplaces which nobody seems able to escape from in correspondence. Exercises and a Vocabulary are furnished here likewise, and there is an Appendix containing a dozen brief business letters.

The Adventures of Baron Münchhausen, adapted for schools by Mr. W. H. Anstie, comes from Messrs. Bell & Sons (2s.). How far Münchhausen will appeal successfully to the average schoolboy is questionable: our own experience is that a little of him goes a long way. Mr. Anstie has followed the Bürger translation of Raspe's work, but has modified it a good deal, and on the whole has done his editing reasonably well. He too walk? the via media between the old and newer methods in his notes and exercises.

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In the Manual of Conversation Metoula: German, by Charles Blattner (Grevel & Co., 1s. net), we have a wonderfully compact and practical little volume which should prove of real service to the traveller who is not practised in the language, and who wishes to get hold of the words and phrases that he will be called upon to use in the everyday business of life. The main portion of the book consists of a vocabulary divided into such sections as Baker,'' Banker,'' Boarding-House,' Café,' &c., and containing in alphabetical arrangement all the important words that one would be likely to require in addressing oneself to the departments in question. Besides this there are an elementary German Grammar, maps, tables of measures and weights and of coins, a list of geographical names, and so on; and everything has been got into 184 tiny pages of legible print. Metoula," we may explain, is a portmanteau word, and has reference to the well-known "Me[thod] Tou[ssaint]La[ngenscheidt]."

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SCIENCE AND HISTORY.

A Little Book on Map Projection, by Mary Adams (Philip & Son, 2s.), is a successful attempt to explain to senior pupils the difficulties met in representing a spherical area on a plane surface, and the various devices adopted for overcoming them.

In preparing A Regional Geography of the Six Continents: Book 2, Asia (Ralph, Holland & Co., 9d.), Mr. E. W. Heaton, the principal of the Tynemouth High School, shows how the great continent is divisible into a dresses himself to the study of each region number of natural regions, and then adas a distinct geographical unit. He compares and contrasts the physical features of the several sections, and hits off in a few sentences the characteristics of the chief towns. It is an excellent and cheap little book, with maps that are exceptionally clear. There is an Appendix of questions and exercises, but many of these seem too advanced for an ordinary pupil.

Mr. H. Clive Barnard, a teacher of geography at Ramsgate, has compiled Outlines of Physical Geography (A. & C. Black, ls. 6d.), a textbook likely to be of service to students preparing for examinations. It may be helpful also to teachers who are not well grounded in natural science, but having to take geography, mainly from its political and commercial side, feel the need of a touch

SCIENCE

Anthropological Report on Ibo-Speaking Peoples of Nigeria. By Northcote W. Thomas.-Part IV. Law and Custom of the Ibo, Asaba District, S. Nigeria.Part V. Addenda to Ibo-English Dictionary.-Part VI. Proverbs, Stories, Tones in Ibo. (Harrison & Sons, 4s. each.) THE appointment of a Government Anthropologist for Nigeria some years ago was an extremely important step, as well in the interest of anthropological science as in that of improved native administration. We believe that a similar appointment, and one of a highly satisfactory character, has since been made for East Africa and Uganda, and hope that in time such a post will form part of the administrative machinery in all colonies and dependencies inhabited by primitive populations.

Mr. Thomas began his work on the Lower Niger tribes by investigating the customs of the Edo-speaking peoples, his report on whom (in two parts) appeared in 1911. In his second expedition he devoted his attention to the Ibo-speaking peoples, who occupy a considerable area of the Niger Delta, being found on both

sides of the main river. Parts II.-III. of this Report have already seen the light, an important item being a comprehensive Ibo Dictionary, which was greatly needed. The materials for the study of this language have hitherto been very scanty. Schön's Grammar, a meritorious work in its day, and not even now wholly obsolete, has long been out of print; the C.M.S. has much valuable matter in MS., but only a somewhat inadequate little manual (useful enough in its way) has so far been published; and the collections of the Roman missionaries, referred to by Mr. Thomas in his Preface, appear likewise to be as yet unpublished. Considering that linguistic research, properly speaking, formed only a small part of the author's task, we think the amount accomplished highly creditable to him; but we cannot forbear entering a protest against the alphabet he has seen fit to adopt. Though, as we understand, it was prepared in co-operation or at least after consultation-with several eminent linguists, the result cannot be called satisfactory, and it is to be regretted that some previously recognized system was not followed the "modified Lepsius" of Sir Harry Johnston, Meinhof's (also based on Lepsius, and, to our thinking, the more scientific) or the International Phonetic script for which, in the present state of affairs, we should, personally, incline to give our vote. The symbols adopted by Mr. Thomas for "very open o" and very open u (the latter equivalent to Meinhof's o) seem to us particularly open to objection.

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The Proverbs and Stories' have an additional note on tones. These were determined with the greatest care by Mr. Thomas and Mr. Daniel Jones, with the help of a large collection of phonograph records. The tones have been recorded

Ibo belongs to the African

by means of musical notes and the whole account is probably the most important the study of this feature in Ibo. contribution that has yet been made to of group West or" Negro" languages, recently found to be an organic unit, and not (as had previously been supposed) a mere heterogeneous collection of unrelated languages. It comprises, among others, in West Africa, Yoruba, Tshi, Ewe, Ga, Efik (Calabar), Vai, and Mende; and, in East Africa, Dinka, Shilluk, Gang (Acholi "), and Kunama; and forms a Gang continuous zone

across the continent

from Cape Verde Cape Verde to Abyssinia. The to Abyssinia. The main characteristics are: the predominance of monosyllabic roots, and, consequent thereon, the importance of pitch or intonation, and absence of the stressaccent; the lack of all grammatical inflections; and the position of the genitive, which is the reverse of that in Bantu and Hamitic languages.

The problems presented by this speechgroup have been greatly simplified by the elimination therefrom of Hausa, Masai, Nandi, Bari, and other idioms

now known to be of Hamitic affinities.

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The Ibo proverbs are interesting, though the explanation supplied is not always quite clear to us, e.g., in No. 644, Okpanam says they forbid ram and eat sheep," which is followed by the note, Of man who takes gifts from enemy," where the allusion would rather seem to be to the drawing of casuistical distinctions, or to "straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel." A few specimen proverbs are: "Rain is more than the king." A thief knows the man from whom he steals; but the loser does not know [the thief]." "One seeking husband and one seeking wife never met

on the road."

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"A well that does not 66 When one hold water will hold ashes." is ready to wrestle, leg and hand are far." 'A featherless arrow does not fly." "Palm wine enters, noise comes.' kite is dead, what kills fowl is not finished." Here, again, it is difficult to see the connexion of the appended note, nexion of the appended note, "Meeting must have a head." One would rather suppose the saying to be a warning against false security; when one danger is averted, the chances against you are not exhausted.

are found all over West Africa: it is the local form of the Open, sesame!" theme.

The Asaba district, dealt with in these volumes, lies west of the Niger, east of Benin (Bini), and north of the Sobo country. The people seem to have immigrated from the eastern bank of the river, though there are small enclaves of Yoruba folk and other strangers. The account of Asaba laws and customs is grouped under the headings Religion and Magic,'' Social and Political Organization,' Marriage,' Criminal Law,'Slavery,' Civil Law,' Technology,' and 'Market.' These are fully treated; but for complete appreciation a knowledge of the previous volumes is necessary. Mr. Thomas, however, has minimized the inconvenience of consulting the two instalments separately by adding a Glossary of native technical terms, the use of which cannot be dispensed with in treating of these subjects. Under Technology' we have a highly interesting account of native agriculture; and the section on Markets forms a valuable appendix to the monograph on this subject published by Mr. Thomas some years ago. It is worth noting that the institution of the market queen (omu in Ibo) is found as far north as the neighbourhood of Lake Tchad (see Boyd Alexander, 'From the Niger to the Nile').

The stories (pp. 79-95) attract us, but some of them are hardly intelligible in the absence of a more connected translation than the literal rendering which is the only one given. That which explains the enmity between the leopard and the goat seems to be of fairly wide diffusion. It tells how they, by a kind of "Box and Cox" arrangement, cultivated the same piece of ground-one by day, and the other by night, each imagining that he was benefiting by supernatural assistance till they met, with fatal consequences to the goat. The Story of the Tortoise and the King' reads like a very imperfect version of The Spirits in the Rat-Hole,' recorded by Zimmermann at Accra, variants of which

heretofore under similar conditions have

Pasteur's own life was distinguished by the simplicity and whole-souled devotion to science which seems peculiarly French. A child of the Revolution, for which he fought in the ranks of the Garde Nationale in 1848, he lived the usual penurious and self-sacrificing life of a French professor until he received the charge of the scientific side of the École Pasteur, and after Pasteur. By Stephen Paget. (A. & C. Black, 3s. 6d. net.)