Reviews and Abstracts
- Author:
Ruggles Gates
Heredity and Eugenics. , Ph.D., F L.S. Pp. ‘273 xx. Constable & Co. London. 21s.
The purpose of this book is to give an account of the chief phenomena regarding hereditary transmission and of their bearing upon the theory and practice of Eugenics. As the author states in his preface: ‘ ‘The germ plasm of the race is a uniquely precious material, and its conservation and improvement in each generation should be the first aim of the State. The first essential for such a conservation is the recognition of the inherent (inherited) differences in the capacities of individuals.” After defining heredity in chapter 1, the author proceeds to discuss its general aspects. Since he is a botanist, it is natural that he should regard this mainly from the Mendelian point of view, but he is careful to recognize, and to point out, that while Mendelian heredity is very common in mankind, it is yet by no means universal. ‘ ‘Many quantitative characters, and perhaps racial characters, will probably be found not to follow simple laws of inheritance involving fixed germinal units.’’ This broad-minded attitude is characteristic of the book as a whole, and it is distinctly refreshing to meet it after the dogmatic statements of some ardent Mendelians. In Chapter 3 an account is given of the chief inherited physical characteristics of man, including stature, colour, skin, left-handedness, anomalies of the hands, eyes, teeth, and hair, and some diseases. There is much here that will repay reading. Chapter 4 deals with the inheritance of mental characteristics. While his treatment of this question in so far as it concerns mental inheritance in general is accurate and judicial, the subject of mental deficiency calls for some criticism. He quotes largely from Goddard (whose name, by the way, is almost invariably spelled Goddart) and Davenport, and he mentions the opposing view of Holmes who ‘ ‘very much doubts if the facts concerning the inheritance of mental defect are as yet known with sufficient precision to warrant our trying to force them into simple Mendelian formulae,” yet he seems to us to incline moi’e to the Mendelian hyp0” thesis in this connexion than the actual facts warrant. In our opinion not only has it by no means been proved that the inheritance of mental defect follows Mendel’s laws, but we consider that the evidence on the whole lS much more in favour of a blending of inheritance as the explanation. However, Dr Gates clearly recognizes, whatever the form of m* heritance may be, that a large number ‘ ‘carriers’’ exist who do not themselves show the actual defect, and that as a consequence “even if all feebleminded individuals were prevented by segregation (we may also add by sterilization) from multiplying, the most difficult part of the process of eliminating feeblemindedness would scarcely have begun, As Punnett, an ardent Mendelian showed, with only three feebleminded persons in a popula* tion of a thousand, it would require 250 generations, or about 8,000 years, to reduce the pr?” portion to one per thousand, by merely segregating or sterilizing those who show the defect. We cannot but feel that the author s want of first hand knowledge of defectives has led him into the pitfall of giving too much credence to some matters of no little doubt and in some instances to making distinctly inaccurate statements. For example, to say that “in hereditary feeblemindedness the children tend to have about the same grade ol mentality as the parents” is apt to convey a decidedly misleading impression. Nor is the mentality of a Mongolian ament “nearly always that of a four year old child.” Sim1* larly it is not correct that Mongolism is a form of hypothyroidism, or that these persons “usually appear in good class families. With regard to the prime causation we entirely agree with Dr Gates that “on the whole it appears most likely that feeblemindedness has arisen many times, and may still arise, as a defect mutation.” But he gives us no inkling as to the cause of such mutation and he appears to be unaware of the concept that it may be due to pathological change in the germ plasm brought about by deleterious external conditions. The final chapters deal with the subjects of winn > the effects of crossing, the problem o pop tion, the parts played by the duct ess g an ? ^c., and the author here gives much uset information in a very interesting w^y*. While we have felt compelled to crlt* certain matters, which after all are y allowable in one who is not an exper on object of mental defect, we wish to recora ?nr decided appreciation of the boo a ^hole. It contains an array of facts regar 1 g the phenomena of heredity which should p great value to all those desiung o s this subject. These are well arranged a clearly presented. It shows evidence o broadminded point of view in dealing wit VerY difficult subject. We can recommen as a distinctly valuable addition o library of heredity and eugenics.
A. F. Tredgold. Introduction to the Theory ^ tional Measurements. By Walter . Monroe, Professor of Education an Director of the Bureau of Educational Research, University of Illinois. P361. xxii. G. Harrap & Co., 7,6. Anyone who is seriously contemplating the of constructing a test or scale or Measurement of ability, or who desires, ^ect such a scale for use will find in th Introduction to the Theory of Education Measurements a fund of valuable informa ion. Monroe is very decided as to the nee or, and the value of educational measuremen s, ^th of those designed to give informa io ^lth regard to general ability and o o ^hieh measure the pupil’s achievement in tne Cerent departments of school work. 8reater number of illustrative tests given indeed?and they are many?are tes s o achievement; and to many English readers ,e insistence on the need for and use of these Wlll be little short of a revelation, lna standardised objective tests are “a pre-requisite for the most effective kind of superVlsi?n of instruction” is a doctrine not yet accepted in most English schools.
The many pitfalls which lie in the path oi the maker of tests and the best ways of avoiding these are clearly indicated. The problems of derived scores, of norms, of marking, and of weighting answers are critically considered: while the suggestions offered for the improvement of examinations of the more ordinary type are worthy of close consideration.
Mr. Monroe fails, however, even to touch on the most serious practical difficulty in the way of the effective carrying out of the educational implications of tests?viz., the difficulty of organisation, due largely to the size of schools which hinders adequate classification and specialised educational treatment. In this country at least, the problem is a most serious one.
The book ends with two chapters dealing with simple, yet essential, statistical methods. L.G.F. The Psychology of Education. By David Kennedy-Fraser, M.A., B.Sc., Lecturer at Edinburgh University and Training Centre. Pp. 198. viii. Methuen & Co., 6s. 6d. net.
Psychologies of Education abound, but readable yet sound psychologies of education are few. Mr. Kennedy-Fraser has undoubtedly added to those few, and in so doing has rendered valuable service to the cause of education. It is perhaps to be regretted that he has said so little, especially in making clear his own psychological position: though that may be too much to expect in a book written confessedly for those without technical knowledge of psychology.
The main intention of the book is clear from the first. It is written to show how the individual, starting life with fixed capacities and instructive tendencies, can be made the most of by a suitable environment and by a fitting education. Effective education, it is definitely shown, depends on a knowledge of the individual’s inherited capacities?both of his instructive tendencies and of his intelligence.
The main primary instincts affecting education are brief!}’’ but comprehensively considered. Fear, curiosity, imitation, play are all revealed as common motives for action, to be used or avoided as occasion dictates. Especially interesting here is the true position given to play as a motive. It is an incentive to effort, differing widely from games and mere amusements as such.
The main part of the book, however, deals more with the development of intelligence and the growth of knowledge than with instinct and motive. Many valuable education inferences from psychological experiment are clearly put forward?inferences which should be of great value to the intending teacher. Typical are the suggestions for the developing of memory, for training habits, for formnig right ways of learning, and for the need of using imagination and thought. Undoubtedly these are for the most part true, though with some we must quarrel. Can we for instance accept the statement that it is ‘ ‘worse than useless to know a word without having first a clear conception of the objective realities for which it stands.’’ Language does not develop along such lines.
The chapter on discipline is perhaps specially useful in these days, when our ideas of discipline are so very much in the melting pot. It has the great merits of a sane outlook and a psychological foundation.
A useful bibliography is given?one not too long to be of service to the general reader.
L.G.F. The New Examiner. By Philip Boswood Ballard. Pp. 285. Hodder & Stoughton 6s. net.
Never have examinations been so much used as they are to-day and never have they been found more wanting. So much the more, therefore, will the reader of ‘ ‘’The New Examiner” find himself unable to resist Dr. Ballard’s plea that for the essay some more reliable test shall be substituted. As a form of examination, Dr Ballard shows definitely, the essay is a failure?it fails on the side of the examinee. Many of the best candidates cannot do themselves justice on it. It fails lamentably on the side of the examiner?consistent marking of essays is impossible. The marking is subjective, unscientific, unfair and yet almost all examinations to-day are examinations in essay writing, and that in spfte of the fact that the increasing emphasis on education demands above all things an adequate means of testing the results of the different school systems.
For this reason alone no one engaged *n teaching or in testing children can afford to neglect the information which Dr Ballard s? convincingly gives in this book.
The new examination has become a realityWe must study its claims. Above all we must use it to find out how far those claims are true. What to do and how to do it are both told us in the pages of ‘ lThe New Examiner.’’ Typ*’ cal tests are given for many subjects. The change in emphasis from the marking to the making of a satisfactory test is clearly brought home. Difficulties are fairly discussed and shortcomings as well as advantages are brought forward. But there seems no doubt the advantages are many and the shortcoming8 comparatively few.
L.G.F. Social Control of the Feeble-minded. ^ Study of Social Programs and AttI’ tudes in Relation to the Problems of Mental Deficiency. By Stanley Davies, Ph.D., Executive Secretary? Committee on Mental Hygiene, State Charities Aid Association. Puk* lished by National Committee for Menta Hygiene, 370, Seventh Avenue, Ne^v York City.
This little book is an exceedingly welcome addition to the literature on Mental Deficiency* for it fills a gap that up to the present has been left unfilled.
Dr Davies tells us that his aim has been ‘ ‘to present as fair a picture as possible of the concepts which have been held from time to time regarding mental deficiency, and to outline the various stages of the development o social control of this problem” and within the modest span of 207 pages he achieves this object with commendable vividness and clarity.
The story begins with Itard and Seguin an their experiments in the physiologica e uca tion of defectives, giving rise (in the United States) to widespread hopes as to the possi 1 1 ^es of curative treatment?hopes leading o the establishment of institutions whose aim Was ‘ ‘cure’’ rather than ‘ ‘care.
This phase lasted for many years. Then came, at the end of the Nineteenth en ury, the birth of the Eugenics movement with its study of family histories and its emphasis on heredity, followed by the appointment ot the British Royal Commission on the Care anc Control of the Feeble-minded, and there was revealed for the first time, as in a glare o iight, the ‘ ‘menace’’ of the defective, raismg an alarm which the introduction of the Bine Tests in 1910 involving the detection ot men a deficiency in quarters where it was u iei unsuspected, did nothing to allay. A he defective was found to be at the bottom oi al fanner of social offences; no longer was he^ Ui popular imagination, a subject foi tiainm^ and education, but a danger from society must be protected. The era o social indictment of the feeble-mnic c had set in. ,
The nature of this social indictment, and the statistical information that was co ec e support of it, Dr Davies describes with ?reat vigour. It resulted inevitably in a insistent demand for a large increase in e number of institutions as well as for dras ic Measures of sterilisation?demands whicli, m the nature of things, could not be satishe . The end of the phase was heralded by t ic emergence of three new factors. Ur-pfi researches into heredity resulted in a moc 1 cation of the earlier teachings as to its connec lion with mental defect; certain experiments, notably those at Rome State School, New York State, demonstrated the possibi 1 y o extra-institutional care as an alternative o Permanent detention; and the publication by J?r. Pernald, of Waverly, of an “After-Care study of the Patients discharged for a 1 erioci 25 Years,” brought into prominence the fact-?upon which it is likely that all oui uture policies will be based that t etc are bad defectives and good defectives.’’ The era of the undiscriminating social indictment of the feeble-minded was over. The era of the socialising of the feeble-minded had begun. In the last two chapters?”The Socialising Process” and “The Feeble-minded in the Social Order,” Dr Davies discusses the problem from this new standpoint, and in these chapters a whole world of progress stands revealed. No longer are we solely preoccupied with the sins of the defective against the community. Rather do we seek to detect the sins of the community against the defective, for:?
“The feeble-minded quite truly reflect in their behaviour the kind of environment in which they find themselves. In that way they are an index of social conditions. The feeble-minded may be perpetrators but rarely instigators… . The result of this tendency on the part of society to cast off the feeble-minded was simply to foster in them those anti-social proclivities with which they have been charged. To know the feeble-minded and their impressionistic nature is to realise what the effect upon them of such a social attitude is. This policy of ostracism, far from solving the problem of mental deficiency only tended to aggravate it.”
This is the indictment the feeble-minded might make against us. What is the solution of the difficulty ? To quote Dr Davies again:?
“The indications of the foregoing pages are that the majority of the feeble-minded may be safely and profitably retained as functioning members of society, both from an economic and a social standpoint, provided the group exercises over them a sufficient degree of social self-control to give them, until they approach adult life, the training suited to their capacities, and continues to furnish throughout their lives the sort of leadership which will foster in them the highest social ideals.”
The book would be provocative of thought for these two chapters alone. To all Mental 22 STUDIES IN MENTAL INEFFICIENCY. Welfare workers such a treatment of the problem must bring new incentive and new hope. It does not bring the goal nearer. If Dr Davies’ deductions and theories are correct it is made far more difficult of attainment. But as it recedes in distance it will gather to itself added significance, and it is that sense of significance which will bring us the courage to carry on.
Mental Hygiene and the Public Health Nurse. Practical Suggestions for the Nurse of To-Day. By V. May Macdonald, R.N., Formerly Assistant Superintendent of Nurses, Johns Hopkins Hospital, U.S.A., with a Foreword by Thomas W. Salmon, M.D., Prof, of Psychiatry, Columbia University. J. B. Lippincott Company. $1.50.
This little book is written for Nurses in the Public Health Service by a Nurse, to awaken them to a sense of the importance of Mental Hygiene, to urge them to feel that they should be as responsible for the mental health as for the physical health of the community, and that they should not consider themselves fully trained until they are equipped to undertake that responsibility.
The writer’s zeal seems to us to be sometimes in danger of running away with her discretion, particularly when?in advocating a scheme for the vigorous ascertainment of conditions of mental ill-health, she declares that ” the nurse should go into the factories and tell the overseers and foreman why she should like to be told of the men or women who cannot work harmoniously with their fellows.’’ The book contains, however, much sound teaching and might usefully be put into the hands not only of nurses but of other workers to whom the whole subject of Mental Hygiene is quite new. In the October number of “T/ie Journal of Mental Science”* there is published a paper on ‘’ The Early Treatment of Mental Disorder, A Critical Survey of Out-Patient Clinicst read by Dr J. G. Porter-Phillips, Physici*111 Superintendent of Betlilem Royal Hospital at the Annual Meeting of the Medico-Psychol0” gical Society in July 1923. It includes a very interesting account of the Bethlem ClinlC and particularly of the experiment made there in the appointment of a specially trained social worker as Lady Almoner. Several other medical officers in charge of Clinics contri* buted to the subsequent discussion on 111 ? ? fli6
paper and some useful information on 111 subject was brought to light.
At the last Annual Meeting of the Dorse Voluntary Association, an interesting address was given by Dr Mackintosh, Assistant Scho? Medical Officer for the County, on liThe Psychology of Moral Defect and the Treatrn^1 of Criminal DefectivesHis paper has no>v been printed for circulation and copies can be obtained on application to the C.A.M.W., Buckingham Palace Road, S.W.I.
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