" Assistance Board; for, if adequate educational provision was not made for the young, the Board would, in due course, have to carry a heavier load of responsibility for the indigent and needy amongst the old. He was certain that a large number of cases which he was called on to help would never have required it if they had had a more prolonged schooling and training when they were young. No child can be considered properly trained and equipped to take his place in the workaday world if his schooldays end at 14." Millions had managed to struggle through in spite of such a short period of schooling and had made a success of their lives, but there were millions who had not succeeded and found themselves in difficulties when old age was upon them. An experienced investigator into the causes of unemployment had given as his opinion that the hard core of unemployment was composed mainly of those who, having left school at 14 or earlier, had neither at school nor after it learnt any trade, had taken any job that was immediately available in order to bring additional money into the home, and who in many cases were physically and mentally unfit for work because when they were young they did not get enough nourishing food. "We must remedy all that, and our schools are the best remedy. Allowing for all the risks and chances of life, the success or failure of the elder sections of the community is almost a direct measure of the success or failure of the education and training which they received when they were young." Lord Soulbury said that by far the largest single cause of unemployment was the blind alley". So many boys and girls on leaving school felt themselves impelled to earn something for the family budget as soon as they possibly could, and entered jobs in which they had no opportunity to acquire any skill or aptitude of lasting value; and at 18 they found themselves stranded. Unless we substituted more responsible methods of employment and provided better technical training during adolescence, the process of manufacturing applicants prepared to rest on the Assistance Board would continue unchecked. The demands of this war had, for the moment, greatly eased the problem, but it might well recur again when the war was over. It was a problem for which you had a right to demand a solution. In war we looked to the youth of our country for its defence and security, and youth had met the call nobly. When the peace came youth must be given its chance to play its full part in the great work of reconstruction which would lie before us. Special Place Examinations, 1942.—A letter has been sent by the Education Officer of the London County Council on behalf of the Metropolitan evacuating authorities to all local education authorities for higher education in England, Wales, and Scotland with regard to arrangements for a common examination for special places in secondary schools. It states that the arrangement whereby the children took the local examinations made an equitable allocation of awards extremely difficult. For this reason, the education authorities of the metropolitan area are convinced that the interests of candidates from that area would be best served if they were to take the evacuating authorities' examinations. The authorities, however, feel equally strongly that the number of such examinations should be reduced, and discussions have resulted in an agreement to accept one common examination for all candidates to be held at the same time throughout the whole country. It is proposed to hold, in 1942, a common examination for special places in secondary schools and a common examination for children of 13+ (where the examination of such older children is required by the evacuating authority). The examinations would occupy a morning and would be held on the same day, and local authorities would be offered the choice of two dates, Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, 1942. A special examination for candidates absent, for sufficient reason, from the general examination would be held on Wednesday, June 10, 1942. For these examinations the education authorities of the areas in question, viz., Croydon, Essex, East and West Ham, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, and London, would use common question papers and a common timetable. It is hoped that Part II authorities in the country with children from any of the evacuating areas specified will be prepared to make the necessary local arrangements, British Council Lecture Tour in South America.-The Rt. Hon. W. Wedgwood Benn, M.P., and Prof. W. J. Entwistle are to leave Britain shortly on a mission to Latin America for the British Council. They will lecture in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. Mr. Wedgwood Benn, who first entered the House of Commons in 1906 as a Liberal and subsequently joined the Labour Party, was Secretary of State for India in the second Labour Government. In the last war he had a distinguished career as soldier and airman, and is at present serving with the Royal Air Force. He has travelled widely in the Far and Middle East, the United States, and Russia, and has lectured many times throughout Europe for the British Council. He is an authority on social services, the British Constitution, and the British Commonwealth of Nations. The subjects of his lectures will include British Social Services ", "The Citizen and the Worker ", The Idea of Liberty in the British Commonwealth ", and The British Parliament in War-time". Prof. Entwistle is King Alfonso XIII Professor of Spanish Studies and Director of Portuguese Studies at Oxford University. He served in the last war with the Royal Field Artillery and is now a Fellow of Exeter College. Prof. Entwistle will lecture on a variety Liberty in English Literature ”. of subjects, including "St. Thomas More" and "Law and Christian Education.-Viscount Wolmer has received the following letter from the Prime Minister in reply to his letter of August 1, enclosing a memorandum on Christian Education which had been signed by a large number of members of both Houses of Parliament and which emphasized the opportunity of a new Christian unity" for this great purpose: My dear Wolmer,—I have read with great interest your letter of August 1 and the enclosed memorandum on the subject of Christian Education. "I trust that the remarkable and welcome unanimity of the declaration is an augury that an acceptable solution may be found of these deep questions which touch so closely the nation's future and which a generation ago gave rise to the embittered controversies which I remember so well. The declaration, as you know, is already under careful and sympathetic examination by the Board of Education and, as your letter makes clear, you appreciate that it would be difficult for me to say more at the present juncture. Yours sincerely, (Signed) WINSTON CHURCHILL." Extensions of the National Certificate Scheme.The Board of Education have recently issued "Rules 106 (Revised July, 1941) " relating to conditions for the award of National Certificates and Diplomas in Mechanical Engineering. There are no changes in the main body of the rules but the opportunity has been taken to incorporate a note on the approval of courses in certain specialized subjects, viz. (1) Aeronautical Engineering, (2) Automobile Engineering, (3) Marine Engineering, (4) Production Engineering and (5) Foundry Work. Where these subjects are included in the existing courses in mechanical engineering the certificate will be countersigned by the appropriate Institution. Attention is drawn to the fact that a Higher National Certificate is now possible in Production Engineering under Rules 106 (P). This is a development about which discussion is still in progress. At present candidates for this certificate first take the Ordinary National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering. Subjects which have been (Continued on page 438) Pitman's are the largest publishers of Aeronautical books in the world! Below is a useful list of Supplementary handbooks published by Pitman's which are included in, or suitable for reading in conjunction with, those prescribed for the Air Training Corps Syllabus. AIRMEN'S MATHEMATICS By M. J. G. Hearley and R. Leverington Smith. The most complete book yet available on the subject. Essential for members of the A.T.C. and R.A.F. whose work demands a knowledge of mathemtics. Follows the A.T.C. syllabus in systematical detail. Ready shortly. 5s.net. FLYING SIMPLY EXPLAINED By Malcolm Logan. A brief, clear and popular explanation of the general procedure of flying a light aeroplane. Illustrated. 6d. net. THE AEROPLANE SIMPLY EXPLAINED Also by Logan. Describes the main constructional features of the aeroplane and its working. Illustrated. LEARNING TO FLY 6d. net By Frank A. Swoffer. The standard guide for all who are taking flying lessons. By a well-known flying instructor. 7s. 6d. net A PRIMER OF FLYING By G. W. Williamson. Of real assistance to the pupil in the ele- A SIMPLE STUDY OF FLIGHT By J. D. Haddon. A straightforward treatment of the theory of THE AEROPLANE STRUCTURE By A. C. Kermode. Explains the subject without the aid of mathematical formulae and is of particular value to instructors. 6s. net FLIGHT WITHOUT FORMULAE Also by Kermode. Explains in simple language and without recourse to mathematics how and why an aeroplane flies. A companion volume to the above. AEROPLANES AND ENGINES (AIRSENSE) 6s. net By A. C. Kermode. Avoids the use of higher mathematics and is HOW TO FIND YOUR WAY IN THE AIR By G. W. Ferguson. Practical hints on map-reading, judging distances and winds, use of instruments, &c. 3s. 6d. net AIR NAVIGATION By W. J. D. Allan. The standard elementary handbook for men navi3s. 6d. net gating aircraft which are without elaborate equipment. PRACTICAL AIR NAVIGATION By G. K. Summers. Deals with the problems met with in everyday air navigation. 2s. 6d. net ELEMENTARY HANDBOOK FOR WIRELESS OPERATORS By W. E. Crook, A.M.I.E.E., A.F.R.Ae.S. A phenomenally successful book which is ideal as a supplement to official instruction. 4s. net ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS FOR WIRELESS OPERATORS Also by Crook. Another extremely popular book which is of the greatest help to those who find mathematics difficult yet must have an elementary knowledge for their training as future aircraft radio operators. 3s. 6d. net NUMERICAL EXAMPLES IN ELEMENTARY AIRNAVIGATION By G. K. Clatworthy. Supplies the instructor and student with a supply of examples in progressive order. Excellent for gaining facility in quick computation. 3s. 6d. net STRUCTURES By J. D. Haddon, B.Sc., F.R.Ae.S. A volume in Pitman's Introduction AIRFRAMES (formerly RIGGING AND AIRFRAMES) By J. C. Corlett. Describes the constructional details of the latest WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY By W. E. Crook. Notes covering the P.M.G's Air Licence for W/T METAL AIRCRAFT FOR THE MECHANIC By J. Healey. An excellent guide to metal aircraft constructional methods and processes. 5s. net ELECTRICAL AND WIRELESS EQUIPMENT OF AIRCRAFT By S. G. Wybrow, A.M.I.E.E., A.M.I.M.E. Includes the repair, overhaul and testing of magnetos ("X" Licence). 5s. net FREE! Pitman's Aeronautical Catalogue now in cludes details of 87 books! Send for a copy, post free from PITMAN'S for AERONAUTICAL BOOKS proposed for the Higher National Certificate in Production Engineering are : (1) Workshop processing and fabrication, with relative costs of alternative processes. (2) The physical properties of materials with some metallurgy and heat treatment. (3) The science of fine measurement as a basis of interchangeability and mass production. (4) The construction and use of gauges and jigs. (5) The theory of machines. This list, already too long, has been extended to include such subjects as Costing, Estimating, Rate Fixing, and Wage Systems. Thus the selection of a limited number of subjects presents some difficulty. Much discussion will doubtless take place around this development in the scheme, but there are many who would have wished to see it superimposed on the existing workshop courses instead of appending it to the more academic course in mechanical engineering. Children's Posters at the Royal Academy.-The first exhibition of children's art to be housed in the Royal Academy was opened on August 23 by the President, Sir Edwin Lutyens. It comprised 1,500 poster designs selected from the 50,000 entries in the competition for schools organized by the National Savings Committee. Awards of merit, consisting of Savings Certificates, are to be made on the vote of those who attended the exhibition. Aircraft, ART FOR ALL battleships, and munitions figure prominently, and many of the exhibits show humour and imagination, as well as striking design and composition. Ling Physical Education Association. Interesting Courses in Physical Education have been arranged by the Ling Physical Education Association in the autumn. Following previous Courses at Bedford, Liverpool and Leeds University, in the spring and summer, courses will be held at King Edward's High School for Girls, Birmingham on October 4, and at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London on October II. La Bataille de Grande-Bretagne.-Teachers will be glad to know that a French translation, with illustrations, is now available of the pamphlet The Battle of Britain, which met with such outstanding success when it was first issued some months ago. The price is 6d. per copy, or 20s. for fifty copies (H.M.S.O.). Appointments.-Dr. C. W. W. Read, Assistant Administrative Officer, Lancashire County Education Committee, has been appointed Deputy Director of Education for West Sussex in the place of Mr. W. F. Houghton, M.A., who has taken up his duties as Chief Education Officer for the Borough of Darlington. Mr. R. N. Armfelt, Secretary for Education for Devon since 1930, has been appointed assistant controller in the Home Division of the B.B.C. NEW BOOKS By H. CLARENCE WHAITE, Tutor and Lecturer in Art in cause for regret. It is the more encouraging, therefore, to discover occasions when these processes are used for the furtherance of art. 1 That modern printing has made possible the publication of a work by an art critic of Mr. Eric Newton's sensitivity and clarity of statement, at so small a cost, is surely cause for great satisfaction. Mr. Eric Newton is already well known through his broadcasts and his writing in The Manchester Guardian and The Sunday Times. In this new work, which is both comprehensive and concise, he states his own philosophy of art, gives a clear historical survey tracing the position of the artist in society during the ages and down to the period before the war, and also looks forward into the future. "In an age in which the artist is no longer a major ingredient in the social fabric ", he rightly states that "Art must link itself firmly to something outside itself ". Of his book he states "it is not a students' book ", but it is safe to predict that it will be eagerly read by every student, young and old, who is interested in art. Moreover, its simplicity of statement should ensure its appeal to a very much wider audience. In fact it will prove of immense help in the urgently necessary work of bringing art, and all it could mean, into the lives of the people. The book would prove a useful source of study among Adult Schools and Evening Institutes as well as school art societies. It would provide an excellent scheme of subjects for consideration in connexion with appreciation of art classes. Considering their limited size, the thirty-two collogravure plates, which show interesting contrasts and variations of treatment of similar subjects by artists of different periods, from ancient to modern, are very well produced. They are clear enough for use on the epidiascope. The book also contains two charts which indicate the importance, period, and influence of many artists whose work is sympathetically considered in its pages. In contrast to what from the printer's point of view might be regarded as a modest jewel of its craftsmanship there is the superb masterpiece of the new Phaidon Looking Edition, Donatello.2 Coming as it does in days when there is no immediate prospect of another great Italian exhibition of art in London, nor visits to Italy possible, this publication containing 150 full-page plates and 200 illustrations in photogravure is as welcome as an oasis in a desert. Donatello lived during the passing of the spirit of religious aspiration which animated the period following St. Francis. He had studied Greek and Roman sculpture and the then new science of perspective. He lived at a time when new forces were making themselves felt in Europe. His work, though evidencing an assimilation of knowledge of Classic art, shows a new power to create something entirely his own. His best work is full of exuberance, confidence, and masterly understanding of form and has had tremendous influence on the work of succeeding sculptors and painters. The poise and treatment of the head and hair as well as the gesture of the hand in St. Mark, plates 7 and 8, are instances which forecast something of Michaelangelo. through the magnificent photographs in this volume it is interesting to reflect on the community of artists and the inter-relation of the various branches which then still existed as a legacy of the monastic schools. The Crucifixion, plate 138, is a reminder that Uccello was one of Donatello's contemporaries. Donatello himself worked in painted glass, stucco, terra-cotta, marble, wood, wax, and bronze, and some of his bas-relief work has a painter-like quality. Where his contemporaries used paint he found sympathetic response in clay. Occasionally his bas-reliefs, instance plates 93 and 94, in reproductions look rather like vigorous brush drawings. His sympathetic response to media is noticeable in the different treatment of hands of wood and bronze in plates 131 and 133. His fondness for contrasting surface textures and accentuation of direction lines can be seen in the wonderful detail photographs of heads, hands, and drapery falling over limbs in such works as his famous equestrian monument of " Gattamelata " and his " David ". Donatello was a sculptor whose work was designed for appropriate use in architecture. Our post-war period should afford opportunity for sculptors to experiment with many media, including some unknown to Donatello. There has been a great dearth of noble sculpture in this country and it is hoped that the publication of this record of one (Continued on page 440) ALLEN & UNWIN Education Today JOHN DEWEY For fifty years a leader of the progressive forces in American education, Dewey has discussed all the vital educational issues of that period. These discussions are now brought together for the first time, and they give a comprehensive insight into the educational ideas which have directed Dewey's activity, providing valuable and stimulating guidance. 5s. net The Hawkspur Experiment AN INFORMAL ACCOUNT OF W. DAVID WILLS The author shows from experience, chiefly as head of a camp for delinquent young men, that self-discipline, aided by sympathetic understanding and psychological insight, is the right treatment for such cases. 6s. net VOL. XIII JUNE 1941 No. 4 THE INDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL. V. The Training of the Body. By H. G. Freund, M.D. THE INDIAN PUBLIC SCHOOL. VI. Training for Leisure. By T. L. H. Smith-Pearse, M.A., I.E.S. MODELLING IN PLASTIC MATERIAL. By Amba Prasad Srivastava. THE DETERIORATION IN WRITTEN AND SPOKEN ENGLISH. By N. S. Linga Sastry, M.Sc., B.T. ENGLISH TEACHING AT THE ELEMENTARY STAGE. BY K. A. Haye, M.A., B.T. THE LIBRARY-CLASS. By Ch. L. Sastri, M.A., B.Ed. THE HISTORY LESSON IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL. By W. M. Ryburn, M.A. NEW MACHINERY NEEDS NEW MEN. By Miriam Young. CORRESPONDENCE. BOOK REVIEWS. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS BOMBAY BRANCH Provides the full curriculum for the B.D.S. Degree of the University of London and for Diplomas in Dental Surgery. The Departments of Dental Prosthetics and the Department of Conservative Dental Surgery are under the direction of whole-time University Professors. Dental Students "General Subjects attend separate classes in (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Medicine and Surgery) in the Medical School and so are able to complete the whole of their professional training within the Hospital. Special programmes of work are arranged for students who desire to obtain a medical as well as a dental qualification. The number of patients is unlimited, and there is ample scope for clinical work. Special facilities are available for students who have not yet completed their examinations in Chemistry, Physics and Biology. There are vacancies for October, 1941, for 1st B.D.S. and Pre-medical Students, and also for students who are eligible to commence the first year of dental study proper. Prospectus, Scholarship Pamphlet, and full information may be obtained on application to THE Dean, Guy's Hospital Medical School, London Bridge, S.E. 1. of the great masters will awaken a desire for greater use in worthy form of this most permanent of the arts. This volume has an excellent and fully documented survey by Ludwig Goldscheider, with notes by various authorities, on the life and work of Donatello. There is also a list of museums and places where his work exists. It is an invaluable book of reference for all students, for whom there can never be too many such books of reproductions. During the last quarter of a century great advances have been made in the study of psychology. Side by side with this has grown an understanding of art, as the result of observation of the art of children, and a realization of the importance of art in education for life. In The Social Value of Art3 Mr. F. R. O'Neill has written what he calls " a psychological and linguistic approach to an understanding of art activity". This is a sincere and thorough attempt to put into words what the person sensitive to art instinctively appreciates when confronted with a work of art. It tries to convey what an artist understands and realizes as a way of life. Its appeal is intellectual, and should help to convince many intellectuals of the tremendous value of an awareness of art to an enrichment of life. The open eye and the willing ear are needed, as the author recognizes. The primary difficulty of my task is to make a theoretical explanation of art activity intelligible to those who have no acquaintance with the technicalities which are of necessity involved in such an account. Patience and attention are required on the part of those to whom such an exposition is addressed." "The effort is well worth making because it is impossible to appreciate the greatest values which the arts have to offer without some understanding of the nature of experience and of theories of valuation and communication." To this should be added opportunity and far greater encouragement given, at the hands of sensitive teachers, to make creative and appreciative contact with art in early years and throughout school and college life. " Mr. O'Neill's book has been carefully prepared and merits serious reading. It is well illustrated with plates of reproductions from old and modern masters. Exciting speculation is aroused by Dr. Gerald Rendall's booklet the "Ashbourne Portrait of Shakespeare. In it he propounds in a most interesting and thorough way what seems a very plausible piece of evidence (including X-ray photography) for attributing the portrait to be of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, by Cornelis Ketel. He also credits the Earl with the authorship, whole or in part, of the Shakespeare plays. It is a pity that the reproduction of the portrait is not a better one. In its revised form A Brief Survey of European Paintings is what its title implies. Its forty pages provide in pamphlet form a list of well-known artists, with their dates and a few notes about their work and lives, and includes a short list of a rather mixed selection of books for further study ". Of less historical and more creative in character are a number of books written by the artists themselves, and among these one by Mr. John Skeaping is most revealing." Man has never tired of transcribing his impressions of animals into every material under the sun. The isolated power of the individual Neolithic masterpieces of drawing, the soulful bronzes and magnificently calm paintings by Chinese artists, the heavenly vision of the Persian book painter, and Pisanello have all seen animals in their own ways. Modern transport has enabled most members of the animal kingdom to be represented by live specimens, from all parts of the world, to be gathered together in our zoos for observation and study. In fact the London Zoo had a special studio for the purpose. In addition films and modern methods of collotype reproduction, together with our precious art museums, offer the student tremendous opportunities for the study of animals in nature and in art. One artist of distinction who has realized these possibilities is the author of Animal Drawing and How to Draw Horses, both of which books are fully illustrated with excellent reproductions of the authors' own drawings. It is always interesting to hear, at first "" draw is an animal of your own creation, he can be made how you wish." To the slave of the model and the art school student he says, Anatomical knowledge . . is of secondary importance to real understanding of horses from the emotional point of view." "It is far more important for would-be artists to possess a vivid imagination than any number of live horses." At the same time he advocates observation and the contemplation of animals, as well as what he calls" documentary drawing." It is obvious that his own work has undergone changes since the earliest one reproduced, done when he was 8, to the latest freer drawings made with finger and ink. This latter method has been used by other animal artists and by children with great success. Most of his drawings reflect the inspiration of Neolithic draughtsmen rather than those of China or Persia. Animal Drawing contains a few very good plates of Altimira, Bushman, Mogul, and Persian drawings. It is not many years since we were accustomed to the work of the famous Louis Wain who expressed himself, mostly in good-humoured mood, in his pictures of cats, and there was tremendous variety in the cats portrayed. They were fully as representative as those described by Wanda Gag in Millions of Cats. Louis Wain combined in his drawing expression of the spirit of cat with his own good sense of humour and design. The authors of Drawing a Cats and Drawing Dogs' are concerned with cats and dogs themselves and depend on them as models for their drawings. The author of the former states that she stops "a sketch the instant the cat moves The animals are considered in very much the same way as the Academic portrait painter does his sitters. The great masterpieces of animal painting of Egypt, Persia, China, and India are expressions of what the artists imagined after previous contemplation of the animals. Both these books will prove popular with adult cat and dog lovers. The drawings in the series Us and Our Animals, 10 though pleasant in themselves, represent an occupation for children which is not in line with enlightened art teaching in schools. For those students in schools of art who are concerned with the acquisition of knowledge of the science of perspective for examination or other purposes, Mr. Buckley's booklet11 supplies an introduction to the subject. How to Draw 'Planesia shows a topical form of application of this science together with an amazing photographic use of charcoal in its plates of 'planes and sky effects. 1 European Painting and Sculpture. By ERIC NEWTON. (6d. Penguin Books.) 2 Donatello. Allen & Unwin.) (Phaidon Edition.) (12s. 6d. net. 3 The Social Value of Art: a Psychological and Linguistic Approach to an Understanding of Art Activity. By F. R. O'NEILL. (Psyche Monographs, No. 12.) (6s. net. Kegan Paul.) 4"Ashbourne " Portrait of Shakespeare. RENDALL. (Is. Colchester: Benham.) By Dr. G. H. A Brief Survey of European Painting for Schools. MURRAY. Second impression. (Aberdeen: Lindsay.) By R. • Animal Drawing. By JOHN SKEAPING. New and Revised Edition. ("How to do it" Series.) (10s. 6d. net. Studio Publications.) 7 How to Draw Horses. By J. SKEAPING. (2s. 6d. net. Studio Publications.) • Drawing a Cat. By CLARE T. NEWBERRY. (2s. 6d. Studio Publications.) • Drawing Dogs. By DIANA THORNE. (2s. 6d. net. The Studio.) 10 Us and Our Animals: Ten Outline Pictures for Colouring. (Friendship Frieze No. 5.) (6d. Edinburgh House Press.) 11 Perspective: a Treatise for Art Students. By H. BUCKLEY. (3s. 6d. net. Pitman.) 12 How to Draw 'Planes. By F. A. A. WOOTTON. (2s. 6d. net. Studio Publications.) |