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 CHAPTER LXII
FOR SCHOOL-CHILDREN

Importance of When a stick of hot glass is drawn out,

Correct First no matter how far it is stretched, the
Impressions slender stick retains the original shape
of the piece—square, round or oval. In
the same way, a child’s mind retains in after life the shaping
originally given to it. Everyone knows from personal experience how
difficult it is to rid the mind of a wrong impression received in
childhood. The editors of the new Britannica feel that they have
solved a great problem in making a work of the most accurate and
authoritative character interesting to children, for they have
received much valuable testimony that this end has been attained.
Dr. Charles W. Eliot, president-emeritus of Harvard University, was
an early subscriber for two sets for the use of his grandchildren. He
said that he found the work “altogether admirable; and my
grandchildren, who are at the most inquisitive ages, are of the same
opinion.” Professor W. G. Hale, of the University of Chicago, wrote,
“My children feel the same fascination in it that I do.” Judge J. P.
Gorter, of the Baltimore Supreme Court, has expressed his opinion
that “every family with growing children seeking information should
have this invaluable work in the library.” The owner of the new
Britannica should constantly encourage his children to go to the
volumes for further information on topics included in the course of
the day’s studies at school. It will not take long to make them realize
that the volumes open an inexhaustible mine of knowledge, and
answer any question as to which curiosity has been aroused. With a
little help from you, at the beginning, they will soon learn to use the
Britannica for themselves.
The Britannica The love of reading is quickly
Interesting to developed in children. Some are
Children attracted to history, to the lives of great
men, to exploration and to adventure;
others become more interested in the world of nature; still others
have a natural bent toward science and the mechanical arts.
Whatever the inclination may be, the Britannica stands at the child’s
service, giving to him the true facts in such a way that he can easily
understand them.
The following suggestions will help children to pursue their
favourite lines of reading. They may like to begin with the heroes of
myth and history. Andrew Lang contributes a most comprehensive
article on Mythology (Vol. 19, p. 128). The classified subject-list in
Vol. 29 (Index) indicates nearly 500 separate articles on the gods and
mythological beings of ancient Greece and Rome, Asia, Egypt,
Europe and America. The central hero of medieval romance, Arthur
(Vol. 2, p. 681), is described by Miss Jessie L. Weston, author of
Arthurian Romances. The famous deeds of the Cid (Vol. 6, p. 361),
the foremost man of Spain’s heroic period, are related by H. E.
Watts, the well-known translator of Don Quixote. Roland, Legend
of (Vol. 23, p. 464), tells another stirring story.
Heroes and The Romance of Of
Heroines of the Middle Ages peculiar
History, Heroes of Later interest
Romance and Times to
Adventure children
Famous Women are such
of History articles
as Cyrus (The Great), (Vol. 7, p. 706), by Dr. Eduard Meyer,
professor of ancient history, University of Berlin, author of the
world-famous History of Antiquity; Alexander III (The Great),
(Vol. 1, p. 545), by the noted Hellenist, Edwyn R. Bevan; Caesar,
Julius (Vol. 4, p. 938), by Henry Stuart Jones, of Oxford University;
Hannibal (Vol. 12, p. 920), by M. O. B. Caspari, of London
University; Theodoric (Vol. 26, p. 768), the great ruler of the Gothic
nation, by Theodore Hodgkin, author of Italy and her Invaders;
Charlemagne, founder of the Holy Roman Empire (Vol. 5, p. 891),
by Arthur W. Holland; Charles Martel (Vol. 5, p. 942), a great type
of courage and activity, by Christian Pfister, professor at the
Sorbonne, Paris; Alfred the Great (Vol. 1, p. 582), by Rev. Charles
Plummer, author of The Life and Times of Alfred the Great;
Crusades (Vol. 7, p. 524), by Ernest Barker, of Oxford University, a
narrative with all the action and interest of the best tales for
children; Templars (Vol. 26, p. 591), by W. Alison Phillips, author of
Modern Europe, etc.; Louis IX (Saint) (Vol. 17, p. 37), by Prof. James
T. Shotwell, of Columbia University; Conradin (Vol. 6, p. 968), the
pathetic life of this marvelous boy who perished at the age of
seventeen; Hundred Years’ War (Vol. 13, p. 893), by Jules Viard,
archivist of the National Archives, Paris; Froissart, Jean (Vol. 11, p.
242), a notable biography, by Sir Walter Besant; Charles V (Vol. 5,
p. 899), by Edward Armstrong, author of The Emperor Charles V,
etc.; Cromwell, Oliver (Vol. 7, p. 487), by Philip Chesney Yorke, of
Oxford, Capt. C. F. Atkinson, and R. J. McNeill; Gustavus Adolphus
(Vol. 12, p. 735), by R. Nisbet Bain, author of Scandinavia, etc.;
Marlborough (Vol. 17, p. 737), by Dr. W. P. Courtney; Frederick II
(The Great) (Vol. 11, p. 52), by James Sime, author of History of
Germany, and W. Alison Phillips; Napoleon I (Vol. 19, p. 190), by J.
Holland Rose; Nelson (Vol. 19, p. 352), by David Hannay, author of
Short History of the Royal Navy; Wellington (Vol. 28, p. 507);
Washington, George (Vol. 28, p. 344), by Dr. William MacDonald,
professor of American History in Brown University; Lincoln,
Abraham (Vol. 16, p. 703), by John G. Nicolay, private secretary to
President Lincoln, and Charles C. Whinery, assistant editor of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica; Grant, Ulysses S. (Vol. 12, p. 355), by
Capt. C. F. Atkinson, and John Fiske, author of The American
Revolution; Lee, Robert E. (Vol. 16, p. 362); Boadicea (Vol. 4, p.
94), by Dr. F. J. Haverfield, professor of ancient history, Oxford
University; Matilda (The Great Countess) (Vol. 17, p. 888), by
Prof. Carlton H. Hayes, of Columbia University; Joan of Arc (Vol.
15, p. 420), by Prof. J. T. Shotwell, of Columbia University; Isabella
(Vol. 14, p. 859); Elizabeth, Queen of England (Vol. 9, p. 282), by
A. F. Pollard, professor of English history, London University; Mary,
Queen of Scots (Vol. 17, p. 817), by Algernon C. Swinburne, the
great poet, author of Mary Stuart, etc.; Catherine de’ Medici (Vol.
5, p. 528); Victoria, Queen (Vol. 28, p. 28), by Hugh Chisholm,
editor, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The biographies are not dry outlines of the subjects’ lives, but
narratives of a thoroughly interesting and often most entertaining
nature. There has been a generous amount of space alloted the
biographical articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The article on
Napoleon I is equivalent to 60 pages of this Guide; that of George
Washington to 13 pages; of Abraham Lincoln to 23 pages; of Queen
Victoria 23 pages. Such length provides space for the picturesque
details which make the articles especially appropriate for children,
and will establish a taste for this kind of reading in later years.
Readings in Many children show a bent for
Natural History knowledge of the world of nature, and
to them the new Britannica will prove a
faithful, constant companion. Their pleasure in going to the
encyclopaedia will be heightened by the many beautiful pictures they
will find in it. The articles on the domestic animals not only relate in
simple, readable fashion the very interesting facts about their history
and development, but are splendidly illustrated with pictures of the
different breeds so that by this means alone anyone may learn to
distinguish them. Cat (Vol. 5, p. 487), is by Richard Lydekker, the
noted naturalist; Cattle (Vol. 5, p. 539) is by Dr. William Fream,
author of Handbook of Agriculture, and Robert Wallace, professor of
agriculture, Edinburgh University; Dog (Vol. 8, p. 374) is by Walter
Baxendale, kennel editor of The Field, and Dr. F. Chalmers Mitchell;
Horse (Vol. 13, p. 712) is by Sir William Henry Flower, the noted
biologist, author of The Horse, a Study in Natural History, Richard
Lydekker, E. D. Brickwood, Dr. William Fream and Robert Wallace;
Pig (Vol. 21, p. 594) is by Robert Wallace, and Sheep (Vol. 24, p. 817)
is by Dr. Fream and Professor Wallace.
In too many books for children about the habits of wild animals,
the facts of nature are grossly distorted with the idea of impressing
the imagination. We are all familiar with the recent spirited
controversy over “nature fakers” and the reaction to more sober
statement which it brought about. It is the truth about the animal
world that is wanted; for it is quite wonderful and fascinating enough
as it is. And the new Britannica supplies this need in a most
satisfactory and thorough manner. Children never tire of natural
history, and parents may be assured that the information in the
entertaining articles by noted naturalists, in the pages of the
Britannica, is of the most reliable and accurate character.
The Habits and Nothing, for instance, could be more
Doings of Clever absorbing to the average school-child
Animals than the article Ant (Vol. 2, p. 85), by
Prof. George H. Carpenter of the Royal
College of Science, Dublin, who wrote the well-known book Insects;
their Structure and Life. Here he tells how colonies of ants are
founded, and how they live, and how they receive other insects as
guests in order to obtain the food they desire, and how some species
make slaves of other species. Numerous examples of their sense and
intelligence are given, and the question as to whether their actions
are rational or instinctive is discussed in the light of the most recent
knowledge. The story of the Bee (Vol. 3, p. 625), also by Professor
Carpenter, is equally wonderful, for we learn all about the solitary
and social bees, the social organization of the hive, and how the
worker bees are victimized. Both of these articles are fully illustrated.
Spiders (Vol. 25, p. 663), by R. I. Pocock, superintendent of the
Zoological Gardens, London, is another example of the adaptability
of the Britannica to children’s reading. The accounts of their webs,
nests and modes of catching prey hold the attention throughout.
A great deal of the most curious and recent knowledge of the
animal kingdom is related in supplementary articles such as
Colours of Animals (Vol. 6, p. 731), by Dr. E. B. Poulton, Hope
professor of zoology at Oxford, author of The Colours of Animals,
and Mimicry (Vol. 18, p. 495), by R. I. Pocock. The latter tells how
animals protect themselves from their enemies by resemblance to
other animals or objects.
Knowledge about Space will not permit further specific
Plants and mention. The life-story of the entire
Animals animal kingdom, detailed information
about plants and flowers are to be
found in the pages of the new Britannica. The accurate and beautiful
illustrations and the text, written in every case by naturalists of
acknowledged reputation, and written always in the clearest
language, help to give the work its unique position as the greatest
source of authoritative and easily comprehended knowledge.
Marvelous Children delight in machinery and
Machines what it accomplishes, and the
Britannica tells about this with great
thoroughness in its complete section dealing with processes of
manufacture. A number of the articles on this subject have been
suggested in the last chapter as suitable for parents who wish to
interest their children in the industrial world, and the list may be
further extended for the benefit of older children by including such
articles as Textile Printing (Vol. 26, p. 694), by Dr. Edmund
Knecht, of Manchester University; Finishing (Vol. 10, p. 378) also by
Professor Knecht; Wool, Worsted and Woollen Manufactures
(Vol. 28, p. 805), by Aldred F. Barker, professor of textile industries,
Bradford Technical College; Typography, Modern Practical
Typography (Vol. 27, p. 542), by John Southward, author of
Practical Printing, and H. M. Ross; Printing (Vol. 22, p. 350), by C.
T. Jacobi, managing director of the Chiswick Press, London; Dredge
and Dredging (Vol. 8, p. 562), by Walter Hunter, a noted consulting
engineer; Reaping (Vol. 22, p. 944), by Primrose McConnell, author
of Diary of a Working Farmer, etc.
Boys with a practical, mechanical turn of mind will delight in such
articles as Bridges (Vol. 4, p. 533), by Prof. W. C. Unwin, with many
illustrations; Motor Vehicles (Vol. 18, p. 914), by the late C. S.
Rolls, a pioneer of motoring, and Edward S. Smith; Flight and
Flying, Artificial Flight (Vol. 10, p. 510), which describes, with many
pictures, flying machines from the earliest types to the latest, and
Cycling (Vol. 7, p. 682), an historical and pictorial account of the
velocipede and bicycle. Nothing could be more interesting and
instructive than Ship (Vol. 24, p. 860), of which the historical part is
by Rev. Edmond Warre, formerly head master of Eton College, and
the account of modern ships by Sir Philip Watts, who designed the
“Dreadnought” and the “Mauretania.” It is a real story, equivalent in
length to 190 pages of this Guide, with nearly 130 illustrations of all
sorts of craft including modern warships, ocean liners and vessels for
inland navigation. Under Railways (Vol. 22, p. 819) there is an
equally good history of the railway by H. M. Ross, editor of The
Times Engineering Supplement, and others.
Electrical The remarkable attraction possessed
Apparatus by electrical apparatus for many boys
will doubtless send them to such
articles as Dynamo (Vol. 8, p. 764), by C. C. Hawkins, author of The
Dynamo; Telephone (Vol. 26, p. 547), by Harry R. Kempe,
electrician to the General Post Office, London; Telegraph (Vol. 26,
p. 510), also by H. R. Kempe, and the chapter on Wireless
Telegraphy (p. 529), by J. A. Fleming, professor of electrical
engineering in the University of London. These accounts are full of
the most practical information, and will be of inestimable help to any
boy who wishes to experiment for himself.
Industrial Many industrial processes, while not
Processes employing complicated machinery,
nevertheless possess much interest,
both from an historical and a technical point of view, and on these
the new Britannica is as complete and authentic as in all other
departments. Especially useful and entertaining to children will be
found the material relating to the manufacture of the common
objects by which they are surrounded. Such, for instance, are
Ceramics (Vol. 5, p. 703), by William Burton and several other
experts, with beautiful illustrations; Glass (Vol. 12, p. 86), by Harry
James Powell, author of Glass Making, etc., Alexander Nesbitt, and
William Rosenhain of the National Physical Laboratory, England;
and Process (Vol. 22, p. 408), an illustrated account, by Edwin Bale,
of the photomechanical processes by which illustrations are
reproduced in printing.
These and hundreds of similar articles will prove most helpful and
suggestive to school-children who are constantly called on to prepare
“themes” and write compositions. As soon as a child makes
acquaintance with the new Britannica he will quickly realize its
inexhaustible resources, and the aid it lends him in his studies will be
continued throughout the course of his life, in his business and in his
general reading.
Explorers’ Children love to read adventures of
Voyages and explorers in forcing their way to
Journeys unknown lands. The impression they
make is much clearer when the child
has learned to distinguish the different motives which have led to
discovery and to exploration—commercial expansion, fresh
conquests, religious zeal, flight from persecution, or the
advancement of knowledge for its own sake. With such information
he will read in a new light the stirring history of adventure, the great
story of hardship and endurance.
The Britannica presents all this on a definite, scientific plan. The
inquirer starts on his trip through any field of learning with guide-
posts clearly marked, and successive ones in sight one from the
other; so that there is no going astray, no uncertain wandering. A
reader—young or old—with taste for exploration and adventure may
turn first to Geography, Progress of Geographical Discovery (Vol.
11, p. 623), by Dr. H. R. Mill, editor of The International Geography.
This article outlines geographical discovery in chronological order
from the days of the Phoenicians. The reader will doubtless make
excursions into other parts of the books for more detailed accounts,
but he has always this main article to guide him. He will go to the
article on Herodotus (Vol. 13, p. 381), the traveler, by Canon George
Rawlinson, the great Oriental archaeologist, and the Rev. E. M.
Walker of Oxford University; and to the story of Pytheas (Vol. 22, p.
703), the Greek navigator who brought the first definite news of
northwestern Europe to the Mediterranean world, by Sir Edward H.
Bunbury, author of A History of Ancient Geography, and Dr. C. R.
Beazley of the University of Birmingham. Other stories of
exploration and adventure are: Viking (Vol. 28, p. 62), by Charles F.
Keary, author of The Vikings in Western Christendom; Leif
Ericsson (Vol. 16, p. 396), the first European to set foot on the
American continent, by Prof. C. R. Beazley; Vinland (Vol. 28, p. 98),
with all the latest known facts of Leif’s discovery, by Prof. J. E. Olson
of the University of Wisconsin; the marvelous career of the great
Venetian discoverer, Polo, Marco (Vol. 22, p. 7), boldest of medieval
travelers, by Sir Henry Yule, author of The Book of Ser Marco Polo,
and Prof. C. R. Beazley; Henry of Portugal (the Navigator) (Vol. 13,
p. 296); Diaz de Novaes (Vol. 8, p. 172); Columbus, Christopher
(Vol. 6, p. 741)—all of these by Professor Beazley; Gama, Vasco Da
America—Its (Vol. 11, p. 433), who discovered the
Discoverers and Cape route to India; Pinzon (Vol. 21, p.
Conquerors 631); Vespucci, Amerigo (Vol. 27, p.
1053), by Professor Beazley; Balboa,
Vasco Nuñez de (Vol. 3, p. 241), discoverer of the Pacific Ocean;
Cabot (Vol. 4, p. 921), by H. P. Biggar, author of The Voyages of the
Cabots to Greenland; Magellan, Ferdinand (Vol. 17, p. 302), the
first circumnavigator of the globe, by Professor Beazley; Soto,
Ferdinando de (Vol. 25, p. 435), wrongly called the discoverer of the
Mississippi; Peru, History (Vol. 21, p. 274), by Sir Clements R.
Markham, author of Travels in Peru and India, a full account of
Pizarro’s conquest; Cortes, Hernan (Vol. 7, p. 205), a concise and
able description of the conquest of Mexico; Cartier, Jacques (Vol. 5,
p. 433), which tells of the discovery of the St. Lawrence; Hudson,
Henry (Vol. 13, p. 849); Baffin, William (Vol. 3, p. 192); La Salle
(Vol. 16, p. 230), by C. C. Whinery, assistant editor of the
Great Voyages Encyclopaedia Britannica; Champlain,
Samuel de (Vol. 5, p. 830), by Dr. N.
E. Dionne, author of Life of Samuel Champlain, etc.; Drake, Sir
Francis (Vol. 8, p. 473); Buccaneers (Vol. 4, p. 709), by David
Hannay, a stirring account of the piratical adventurers of different
nationalities who united against Spain in the 17th century, and Cook,
James (Vol. 7, p. 71), by Professor Beazley.
Modern The story of geographical discovery
Exploration and exploration is continued in such
articles as America, General
Historical Sketch (Vol. 1, p. 806), by David Hannay; Africa,
History: Exploration and Survey since 1875 (Vol. 1, pp. 331 and
352), by F. R. Cana, author of South Africa from the Great Trek to
the Union; Asia, Exploration (Vol. 2, p. 738), by Col. Sir Thomas H.
Holdich, formerly superintendent of the Frontier Surveys of India;
Australia, Discovery and Exploration (Vol. 2, p. 958); and Polar
Regions (Vol. 21, p. 938), by Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, the Arctic explorer,
and Dr. H. R. Mill, which gives a brilliant survey of all the attempts
to conquer the frozen world. In connection with these articles should
be read the full and interesting biographies of the great modern
explorers such as Baker, Sir Samuel White (Vol. 3, p. 227);
Burton, Sir Richard F. (Vol. 4, p. 864), by Dr. Stanley Lane-Poole;
Livingstone, David (Vol. 16, p. 813), by John Scott Keltie, secretary
of the Royal Geographical Society; Stanley, Sir Henry Morton
(Vol. 25, p. 779), by F. R. Cana; Emin Pasha (Vol. 9, p. 340); Speke,
John H. (Vol. 25, p. 633); Parry, Sir William Edward (Vol. 20, p.
865); Franklin, Sir John (Vol. 11, p. 30); Kane, Elisha Kent (Vol.
15, p. 650); Nordenskiöld, Nils Adolf Erik (Vol. 19, p. 740);
Nansen, Fridtjof (Vol. 19, p. 162); Peary, Robert Edwin (Vol. 21,
p. 30). See the chapter on Geography in this Guide.
A Complete A strong taste for history is often
History of the found in children, and the new
World Britannica is, among other things, a
complete history of the world, by the
greatest historians of the present day. In respect to the treatment and
arrangement of the historical section there are many things that
make it especially adapted for young people’s reading. In the first
place the great episodes of history, such as French Revolution,
Renaissance, Reformation, Middle Ages, and Crusades, are
discussed in separate articles. Also every battle, siege, campaign, or
war of importance has its article, apart from its treatment in the
histories of countries. The historical articles in the new Britannica
will send those a little older to other articles dealing with
government, and thus help them to cope intelligently with the social
and civic problems of the age—in other words, enable them to
become the best kind of citizens. The chapter in this Guide headed
Questions of the Day covers this ground; and see the chapters on
History.
A child is naturally curious to know about mountains, rivers,
caverns, the causes of rain, dew and wind. Just as this encyclopaedia
shows itself the best of instructors in regard to the plant and animal
world, so with natural phenomena it serves to bring the child into
close, sympathetic touch with the truths of science.
Physical The principles of physical geography
Geography made are clearly explained in Geography,
Interesting Principles of (Vol. 11, p. 630), by Dr. H.
R. Mill; and when these are learned
young people will turn with eager interest to such articles as Alps
(Vol. 1, p. 737), partly by W. A. B. Coolidge, author of The Alps in
Nature and in History; Andes (Vol. 1, p. 960); Appalachian
Mountains (Vol. 2, p. 207), by Dr. Arthur C. Spencer, geologist to
the Geological Survey of the United States; Himalaya (Vol. 13, p.
470); Volcano (Vol, 28, p. 178), by F. W. Rudler, of the Museum of
Practical Geology, London; Vesuvius (Vol. 27, p. 1063), by Sir
Archibald Geikie and Dr. Thomas Ashby; Earthquake (Vol. 8, p.
817), by F. W. Rudler and Dr. John Milne, author of Earthquakes,
etc.; Geyser (Vol. 11, p. 913); Cave (Vol. 5, p. 573), by Dr. William
Boyd Dawkins, author of Cave Hunting, etc.; Mammoth Cave (Vol.
17, p. 531), by Rev. Horace C. Hovey, author of Celebrated American
Caverns, etc.; Luray Cavern (Vol. 17, p. 127), also by Dr. Hovey;
Grand Canyon (Vol. 12, p. 347), by R. S. Tarr, late professor of
physical geography, Cornell University; Great Salt Lake (Vol. 12, p.
421); Yosemite (Vol. 28, p. 937), by Dr. John Muir, president of the
American Alpine Club, and author of The Mountains of California;
Yellowstone National Park (Vol. 28, p. 912); Glacier (Vol. 12, p.
60), by Rev. E. C. Spicer, of Oxford University; Niagara (Vol. 19, p.
634), by Dr. G. K. Gilbert, author of Niagara Falls and their History;
Mississippi River (Vol. 18, p. 604); Amazon (Vol. 1, p. 783), by Col.
George E. Church, the famous American explorer of the Amazon;
Orinoco (Vol. 20, p. 275), also by Colonel Church; Rhine (Vol. 23, p.
240), by Dr. J. F. Muirhead, editor of many of Baedeker’s Guide
Books, and Philip A. Ashworth; Nile (Vol. 19, p. 692), by F. R. Cana
and Sir W. E. Garstin, governing director, Suez Canal Co.; Niger
(Vol. 19, p. 674) and Congo (Vol. 6, p. 914), by F. R. Cana; Yangtsze-
Kiang (Vol. 28, p. 903), by George Jamieson, formerly British
consul-general at Shanghai; Desert (Vol. 8, p. 92), by Dr. H. N.
Dickson, professor of geography, University College, Reading;
Sahara (Vol. 23, p. 1004), by Edward Heawood, librarian of the
Royal Geographical Society, London, and F. R. Cana. There are also
separate articles on the oceans and large lakes.
Astronomy is a science which is peculiarly attractive to children,
since it arouses the imagination and makes a strong appeal to their
delight in all that is marvelous. There are 277 astronomical articles in
the new Encyclopaedia Britannica to which the classified list in the
Index Volume (Vol. 29, p. 888) is the key.
Readings in In the preceding chapter are
Astronomy mentioned a few articles which will
serve for the beginning of an
acquaintance with astronomy. When a child has learned to know the
zodiacal constellations he will certainly want to read Zodiac (Vol. 28,
p. 993), by Agnes M. Clerke, author of A History of Astronomy in the
19th Century, for the story of the signs and what they meant to the
nations of past ages. There are separate articles on the principal
constellations and stars. Astrology (Vol. 2, p. 795), by Prof. Morris
Jastrow of the University of Pennsylvania, will prove both
entertaining and instructive.
Those who wish to know about methods of observation will find
the complete story in Telescope (Vol. 26, p. 557), a beautifully
illustrated article by H. Dennis Taylor, author of A System of Applied
Optics, and Sir David Gill, formerly astronomer royal at the Cape of
Good Hope.
Games and In the preceding chapter a few
Pastimes articles on games were mentioned as
being useful to parents helping very
young children to amuse themselves. A little later, the child will be
delighted to choose for himself among the 260 articles on sports and
pastimes; and the analysis of this department of the Britannica, in
Part 6 of this Guide, will then be of service. We may mention here the
articles Golf (Vol. 12, p. 219), by H. G. Hutchinson, golf champion
and author of Hints on Golf; Lacrosse (Vol. 16, p. 54); Bowling
(Vol. 4, p. 344); Rowing (Vol. 23, p. 783), by C. M. Pitman, formerly
stroke of the Oxford University Eight; Model-Yachting (Vol. 18, p.
640); Angling, Methods and Practice (Vol. 2, p. 24); Cricket (Vol.
7, p. 435); Archery, Pastime of (Vol. 2, p. 364), by the late W. J.
Ford. A long list of indoor and out-door games will be found in the
classified subject-list (Vol. 29, p. 946).
Diverting and The aptitude of children for
Profitable diverting and often profitable
Occupations occupations is admirably fostered by
the new Britannica through many of its
very practical articles. This matter has been discussed in the last
chapter. In addition it is worthy of note that an ingenious boy could
learn to make and set up a sun-dial with the help of Dial and
Dialling (Vol. 8, p. 149), by Hugh Godfray; and could experiment
and amuse himself with a Camera Lucida or a Camera Obscura
(Vol. 5, p. 104), from the articles written by Charles J. Joly, late
Astronomer Royal of Ireland; while even a younger child could
quickly learn to tie any kind of a knot from Knot (Vol. 15, p. 871),
with 54 illustrations, by P. G. Tait, the famous British physicist. All
the crafts that produce objects of household utility are practically
taught in articles by experts, so that the Britannica is a complete
guide to the use of every kind of tool.
Reading for Girls In the field of girls’ occupations
there is in the Britannica much
material that serves to give knowledge of the best methods of home
making.
 A great number of articles for girls’ reading will be found among
those named in the chapter For Women.
In these days parents, and especially mothers, are devoting more
and more time to the study of child development. The importance
and value of intelligent sympathetic guidance in everything a child
does—and every active child strives to do something—has been fully
realized. The chief problem before the parent is, therefore, to have at
hand some ready means of meeting every expression of a child’s
interests, every indication of budding talents. A short experience
with the new Britannica will show this to be one of its many valuable
functions. Children do not need to be driven to the volumes. They
need only to be made acquainted with them.
 CHAPTER LXIII
SOME QUESTIONS CHILDREN SOMETIMES
ASK, AND SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK
CHILDREN

A child gains a great part of its knowledge by asking questions, and

he should be encouraged to ask them. But parents often find the
child’s questions, even those about the objects he sees every day, so
difficult to answer, that he is told “not to bother.” With the new
Encyclopaedia Britannica at hand, there is hardly any intelligent
question that cannot be answered after a glance at the Index and at
the page to which it refers the reader. Again, there is no better way at
once of amusing and instructing the child than to ask him questions
and help him find his way to the answers. Here are a few questions:
some of the kind that a child might ask, and some that may be put to
a child. The Britannica supplies interesting answers to all of them,
and some of these answers are given here.
What makes people snore?
The answer, found at once by referring to “snoring” in the Index, is
that the cause is breathing through the mouth, which makes the soft
palate vibrate. When the child is told this, it should also be told what
the Britannica says about mouth-breathing being a dangerous habit
for children to form, as it often leads to sore throats.
How does one ant tell another to go to work?
By patting it with its feelers. The article Ant, by Professor
Carpenter, will supply you with stories to tell children as fascinating
as any fairy tale.
What makes the colours of sunset?
Dust. If it were not for the dust floating in the air, we should lose
not only the brilliant sunsets but the glorious cloud scenery as well,
and there would be no twilight. Furthermore, all the moisture in the
air, which now condenses on the particles of floating dust, would
settle on our clothes and on the walls of our rooms. You will find
many other curious facts in the article Dust, by John Aitken, who
invented the machine for counting the particles of dust in the
atmosphere.
How does the brightness of moonlight compare with that of
sunlight?
Most people would guess that sunlight is twenty, or, at most, fifty
times as strong; yet it is really half a million times stronger. The
article Moon, by Dr. Simon Newcomb, is full of such curious
information and of delightful pictures.
Why did the Israelites in bondage need straw to put in their
bricks, although we do not use it in ours?
The article Brick tells you that their bricks were made of Nile
mud, which would not bind without something to hold it together.
When sea-water freezes, does the salt go into the ice?
Only one-fifth of it, the article Ice says.
Are you sure you like the taste of vanilla?
This is an excellent puzzle to put to a bright child. The curious
answer, found in the article Taste, is that vanilla, like onions and
some other substances which we think have strong flavors, really has
no taste at all. We smell them as we eat them, and therefore we
imagine we taste them. This you can prove to a child by blindfolding
it, while its nose is firmly closed, holding a slice of onion and a slice
of apple near its open mouth, and touching its tongue first with one
and then with the other.
What is a beaver’s favourite food?
Of all unlikely things—water-lilies! This, and other things that will
delight children, you will find in the article Beaver, by Richard
Lydekker, the famous naturalist.
Why is it harder to guess the width of a river than to guess the
width of a field as wide?
The article Vision will tell you.
Why are new-born babies’ eyes often slate-blue, for a time?
The article Eye will tell you.
 Why is not spiders’ silk manufactured?
Unfortunately, although the silk is of the finest quality, quite equal
to the silkworm’s, the spiders are such fierce cannibals that each one
would have to be kept in a separate box, and this would make the silk
too costly. The article Spiders, by R. I. Pocock, superintendent of the
London Zoological Gardens, also tells you how spiders make their
way through the air to islands in the sea; how the wolf-spider builds
a nest with a hinged door, and how the common pond-spider builds
his thimble-shaped house under water and fills it with air by
swimming down to it, time after time, on each trip taking down a
tiny bubble of air.
Why do not animals that sleep all through the winter starve to
death?
Because they live on the fat they have put on during the summer,
as the article Hibernation explains.
Why could not the Norsemen who visited America in the 11th
century found permanent settlements?
The natives were hostile and the Norsemen had no firearms. The
wonderful story of the first voyages to America is told in the article
Vinland.
How can you tell how far away a flash of lightning is?
Sound travels so much more slowly than light does, that if the flash
is a mile away you see it five seconds before you hear the report; so
by counting the seconds you can measure the distance. The Index,
under “Lightning: distance” refers you to the article Sound, by
Professor Poynting.
Why does your hair stand on end when you are frightened?
The article Skin, by Professor Parsons, will tell you about this
curious action of the muscles.
Why do we count by tens?
Because people began by counting on their fingers and thumbs,
and when they got to ten they had to begin again. Some tribes used to
make twenty their basis for counting, adding in their toes. The article
Arithmetic tells you this; and a newspaper critic said of this article
that he was amazed to find it one of the most readable things in the
Britannica. The truth is that there are no subjects that are dull in
themselves. There is a dull way of treating them, and there is also the
Britannica way, which is to show you how things came to be as they
are. That is why children are delighted when “Britannica time”
comes, the hour when the parent sits down by the bookcase and tells
them true stories out of the volumes and shows them the exquisite
pictures.
Are men or women oftener stammerers?
The article Stammering, which tells you that men are much
oftener afflicted than women, is one that all parents should read. If a
child’s speech is carefully watched, the first trouble of this kind may
sometimes be checked before it becomes a habit.
Why does a room look smaller with red than with violet wall-
paper?
Read the article Vision and you will understand this and many
other curious facts about the way our eyes do their work.
Furthermore, you will be reminded that slight defects in a child’s
sight should be noticed and treated by an oculist before permanent
harm has been done.
Why is winter colder than summer?
Simply because the sun’s rays, coming aslant instead of from
overhead, travel through more miles of air and are thus robbed of
much of their heat before they reach us. The polar regions actually
get more hours of sunlight in a year than we get in the United States,
more even than there are at the equator, but the sun is never high
above the horizon at the poles.
Can a snake cross a frozen pond?
No, nor move on any other smooth surface, as the article Snakes
shows.
How long was Abraham Lincoln at school?
Less than a year in all, as shown by the article Lincoln, Abraham,
by J. G. Nicolay (Lincoln’s private secretary) and C. C. Whinery. But
although he could not get much teaching, he read over and over
again every book he could get hold of.
Here are a few questions without the answers; but the numbers
after each question show the volume and page of the Britannica
where each answer can be found:
 What makes blood clot? (Vol. 4, p. 81.)
Are there any red-haired human races? (Vol. 12, p. 823.)
Why does a cut apple turn brown? (Vol. 21, p. 756.)
What makes negroes black? (Vol. 25, p. 190.)
Are men or women oftener colour-blind? (Vol. 28, p. 139.)
Why do stars twinkle? (Vol. 23, p. 29.)
What happens in your throat when you sob? (Vol. 23, p. 195.)
What change in water, as it freezes, makes ice float? (Vol. 14, p.
227).
Why is the shadow cast by an electric light sharper-edged than
the shadow cast by the sun? (Vol. 24, p. 758).
Why does fright make people faint? (Vol. 27, p. 942).
What makes the beautiful “ice-flowers” on a frosted window-
pane? (Vol. 14, p. 226).
How do trappers prepare valuable fur-skins so as to preserve
them until they get to market?
The skins are simply dried in the air, as stated in the article Fur,
which was written by the head of a great wholesale fur business.
How does the amount of air in a room spoiled by an ordinary
gas-burner, or a small reading-lamp, compare with the amount
spoiled by a man’s breathing?
The gas burner or the lamp spoils four times as much air, as shown
in the article Ventilation.
What part of your weight is blood?
One-twentieth. (Vol. 27, p. 939).
What domestic animal is oftenest born with only one eye?
The pig. (Vol. 18, p. 743).
Which covers the more space, the United States (without Alaska)
or Europe?
Europe. (Vol. 27, p. 612, and Vol. 9, p. 907.)
If you looked at the moon all night every night, how soon would
you have seen all its surface?
Never. Four-tenths of it can never be seen from the earth. (Vol. 18,
p. 803.)
 What was the great difference between the destruction of Pompeii
and that of Herculaneum?
Pompeii was covered by ashes and Herculaneum by mud. (Vol. 22,
p. 50, and Vol. 13, p. 342.)
Why do not high mountains, where more snow falls than melts,
keep growing higher?
Because pressure forces the snow, changed into ice, to descend in
the form of glaciers, as explained in the article Glacier.
Who wrote to George Washington, on behalf of a number of
officers in the United States army, asking him to make himself king
of the United States?
Col. Lewis Nicola. The article Washington, George, by Professor
MacDonald of Brown University, gives you the words of
Washington’s indignant reply.
How deep has anyone ever dived in diver’s dress?
The article Divers tells you: 210 feet.
In baseball, how is a fielding-record calculated?
To get the fielder’s average, you divide the number of chances he
has made the most of by the total number of chances he has had.
(Vol. 3, p. 461.)
How tall must a giant be?
Seven feet, to be properly called a giant. (Vol. 18, p. 741).
Where were the first lighthouses built?
In lower Egypt, as stated in the article Lighthouse, which
describes all the great lighthouses and gives pictures of the towers
and of the wonderful lamps.
When ships are going through the Panama Canal, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, will they be heading to the eastward or to the
westward?
Oddly enough, to the eastward; for the Isthmus curves so, just
where the canal line lies, that the Pacific end is much to the eastward
of the Atlantic end. You can see this plainly on the detailed map in
the article Panama Canal.
Why does a tame rabbit die if it is held erect for half an hour?
 Because the muscles of its abdomen are so weak that they cannot
act as a belt, as our muscles do, and all the rabbit’s blood settles
below the heart. (Vol. 27, p. 942.)
For what price was Manhattan Island bought from the Indians in
1626?
For $24 worth of goods, as shown in the article New York.
Why do people, when they are in the polar regions, seldom catch
cold?
Because colds are caused by microbes and there are very few
microbes in places so far from any masses of people, as you can see
from the article Climate.
If North America were spread out on the surface of the moon,
what share of the moon’s surface would it cover?
About four-sevenths. (Vol. 18, p. 805, and Vol. 19, p. 764.)
Which is the greater: the highest mountain’s height or the deepest
sea’s depth?
The sea’s depth, which is 31,614 feet; while Mt. Everest is 29,002
feet high. (Vol. 19, p. 973, and Vol. 10, p. 7.)
Of what use are the hairs on a caterpillar?
Like the bristles on a dog-collar, they keep an enemy from biting
him. (Vol. 6, p. 733.)
Why do you twist yourself into an uncomfortable position when
you have a pain?
Because instinct teaches you that discomfort will help you by
partially taking your attention away from the pain. (Vol. 22, p. 587.)
What warm-blooded creature has the longest average life?
Man, except possibly the whale; but not the elephant, as is
generally believed. The article Longevity tells how long all kinds of
animals live.
What mistake about American history is caused in our minds by
the celebration of the Fourth of July?
The belief that the Declaration of Independence was signed on the
4th of July. Congress did not order it to be engrossed for signature
until July 19th. The article Independence, Declaration of, also
shows that the most important day was July 2nd, when Congress
adopted the Resolution of Independence.
If you look up the answers to these questions, in the Britannica,
you will incidentally learn, from the articles to which you turn, a
great many things that will be of practical use to you in every-day
life. For whether you turn to the volumes because you want only a
single fact, or because you want to learn all about some important
subject—or even because you merely want to pass a pleasant hour—
you always get from them far more than you had hoped to find.
 Part IV
Readings on Questions of the Day Which
Relate to the Duties of American
Citizenship and to Current Politics
 CHAPTER LXIV
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

An Intimate The old idea of an encyclopaedia as a

Book remote book, distant from every-day
needs and the real public questions of
the day, and to be consulted only for information about ancient
history and medieval philosophy, was a wrong one. It was wrong in
theory, if an encyclopaedia is to be a live and valuable book. And it
was wrong in practice. It is not the case with the new Britannica. For
the Britannica is full of information about current public questions;
and even its treatment of the past, remote or near, is from a fresh
and modern view-point, and is of the utmost value as throwing the
light of history on the problems of modern politics and every-day life.
The spirit of to-day is an intensely wide-awake and inquisitive one,
and people are no longer willing to believe that “whatever is, is
right”—much less that a thing is right because it has been, no matter
how long. Indeed the very phrase “has been” as now used in the
vernacular implies the outworn, the discarded. The Britannica, a
book for intimate use on the questions of the day, is a record of what
is, as well as of what has been, and of the great changes, the constant
flux, of the past and of the present.
Sociology One of our symptoms of health is the
development of a social sense, or,
better, a social conscience. This is due in no small degree to the work
of Herbert Spencer in founding a new science, called by him
Sociology. For an inspiring and stimulating starting-point for the
study in the Britannica of the great social and political questions of
the day let the reader study the article Sociology (Vol. 25, p. 322),
by Benjamin Kidd, who wrote Social Evolution, and Principles of
Western Civilization.
Education
 Evolution, sociology, Spencerian psychology and the closer
relation of the state to the individual are all important factors in the
educational changes of the last few years; and their study is
indispensable to a clear understanding of the great questions of
education. A more concrete study may be based on the article
Education (Vol. 8, p. 951) and particularly the part on education in
the United States by Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia
University. An elaborate course of reading on education is given in
another chapter of this Guide For Teachers. But it may be well to call
attention here to the fact that there are in the articles on individual
states sections on the educational system of each state; and in the
separate articles on each city similar descriptions of schools in those
cities; and also that either in the article on the city or town in which
it is situated, or in a separate article there is an estimate, a
description, and a historical sketch of each of the great universities
and colleges of the country. This information is not merely of value if
one wishes to understand in a general way the trend of education,
but of particular interest to one who is choosing the school best
adapted to a special need. In the same way there are articles on other
great educational institutions—for example a general article on
Museums of Science (Vol. 19, p. 64) and one on Libraries (Vol. 16,
p. 545), as well as articles on such special institutions as the
Smithsonian, or treatment of them in the article on the places where
the institution is—as in the article on Washington for the Library of
Congress, the article on New York City for the Metropolitan
Museum, etc.
Defectives and But government, particularly in
Their Training America, besides taking a direct
interest and responsibility in the
education of its youth, has begun within the last few years to assume
the task of uplifting those of its citizens who are below the normal.
Modern methods of dealing with criminals and of caring for
defectives and the insane are based on a principle entirely different
from that which obtained 50, or even 20, years ago. The whole article
Insanity (Vol. 14, p. 597) might well be read as a preliminary to a
study of this topic, since it treats of idiocy and imbecility as well as of
the more violent forms of mental disorder, and since it treats them
all as forms of disease—the basis of the modern method of treatment
which has substituted the hospital and the school for the mere place
of detention. In particular, however, the last part of this article
dealing with Hospital Treatment should be studied. It is by Dr.
Frederick Peterson, the American specialist, and it describes the
improved conditions of modern asylums. “Physical restraint is no
longer practised.... The general progress of medical science in all
directions has been manifested in the department of psychiatry by
improved methods of treatment, in the way of sleep-producing and
alleviating drugs, dietetics, physical culture, hydrotherapy and the
like. There are few asylums now without pathological and clinical
laboratories.... The colony scheme has been successfully adopted by
the state of New York at the Craig Colony for Epileptics at Sonyea
and elsewhere.... Many asylums have, as it were, thrown off detached
cottages for the better care of certain patients.... But the ideal system
is that of the psychopathic hospital and the colony for the insane.” It
is with the “colony” plan that Dr. Peterson’s name is intimately
connected, especially in New York state. In the Britannica article on
New York state there is a full treatment (Vol. 19, p. 601) of the state’s
charitable institutions, including its hospitals for the insane, the
Craig Colony already mentioned, the Letchworth Village custodial
asylum for epileptics and feeble-minded, and other institutions of
the same kind. And in the same way the system in each state is
described in the separate article on that state with special attention
to the peculiar features in its administration of its hospitals and
schools for insane and imbeciles.
The Blind There has been a similar change in
the education of the blind and the deaf
—or rather education is now provided for these classes, whereas they
formerly received none at all. And this education is coming under
state control and, once under governmental supervision, is being
transferred from departments in charge of penal or charitable
institutions to the department of public schools. For the most
striking instances of what has been accomplished by improved
systems of training under private supervision see the articles on
Samuel Gridley Howe (Vol. 13, p. 837), the great teacher of the
blind at the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston; on his blind
and deaf pupil, Laura Bridgman (Vol. 4, p. 559), and on Helen
Adams Keller (Vol. 15, p. 718), another and even more remarkable
blind and deaf student, whose education, coming as a product of a
new sociology, has made her a most efficient social helper and social
worker.
From these articles the student should go to Blindness (Vol. 4, p.
59), by Sir Francis J. Campbell, principal of the Royal Normal
College for the Blind, Norwood, London; an article equivalent in
length to 40 pages of this Guide. Its author, the founder of the
college, is himself a blind man, who, born in Tennessee, in 1832, and
educated at the Nashville school, and afterwards in music at Leipzig
and Berlin, had from 1858 to 1869 been associated with Dr. Howe at
the Perkins Institution, Boston, and was knighted in 1909 for his
services to the education of the blind. The part of his article dealing
with the education of the blind is, therefore, doubly valuable and
interesting. The main topics with which it deals are: early training—
other senses of the blind not naturally sharper than those of the
seeing, but developed by cultivation of hearing and touch from early
childhood; physical training to increase the average of vitality;
mental training; early manual training; choice of occupation; piano-
forte tuning; musical training; deaf-mutes should not be educated
with the blind as their needs are so different; blind boys and blind
girls should not be taught together, as coeducation promotes
intermarriage, which is a calamity. The remainder of the article deals
with types and books for the blind, appliances for educational work,
employment, and biographical matter, with a list of prominent blind
people. See also, for literary men who were blind, the articles on
John Milton, William H. Prescott, and Philip Bourke Marston.
The Deaf Deaf and Dumb (Vol. 7, p. 880) is
by the Rev. Arnold Hill Payne,
chaplain to the Oxford Diocesan Mission to the deaf and dumb, late
normal fellow of the National Deaf Mute College, Washington, D. C.,
and author of many books on the subject. He points out the mistaken
use of the word “dumb”—“In the case of the deaf and dumb, as these
words are generally understood, dumbness is merely the result of
ignorance in the use of the voice, this ignorance being due to
deafness.” After discussing causes of deafness, the condition of the
deaf in childhood, their natural language, which the contributor
thinks is “sign” rather than purely oral, and their social status, he
deals with education of the deaf, giving an elaborate historical
account including the “oral” revival in Germany and the work in the
United States of Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet—see also the
separate article on him and his two sons (Vol. 11, p. 416)—and of the
National Deaf-Mute College at Washington, D. C. (on which see also
the article Washington, D. C.). This interesting article closes with a
section on the blind-deaf, telling the story of several remarkable
cases in England less well-known and more recent than Laura
Bridgman or Helen Keller.
Psychology This chapter began with a reference
to the article on Sociology with the
recommendation that it be used as a basis for the study of present-
day problems. The reader will often have heard vague allusions to
sociology, and his reading this article in the Britannica will certainly
sharpen and define his own idea of the meaning and the value of the
science. Has he not heard much oftener of psychology, and heard it
mentioned as if it were some sort of magic spell to charm away many
of the difficulties of our modern complex world? But has he a full
comprehension of the meaning of psychology and of the knowledge
newly gained in regard to the “psychology of the senses”? The
corrective for any vagueness of ideas about psychology is best found
in the article Psychology (Vol. 22, p. 547) by Professor James Ward,
whose articles for the Britannica have been reprinted and used as
text-books in schools and colleges all over the country. Put in a few
words, the lesson of psychology is that the senses, sensations,
thoughts and feelings, which, even when they are our own, we too
often speak of as if they were things apart and independent, are
subject to certain natural laws in much the same way as are the
forces treated by the science of physics. The reader who would study
the subject of psychology in the Britannica should make use of the
analysis of many articles in the chapter in this Guide For Teachers.
Crime As with general education, special
education of defectives, state training
of feeble-minded, and restraint of the insane, so with the state’s
attitude toward the criminal there has been in recent years a great
change which is still working toward full fruition, so that prison
administration, children’s courts, delinquency, probation, etc., are
live topics of interest.
Just as the whole new science of sociology was based by Spencer
on biology and on the Darwinian theory of evolution, so in this field
of delinquency a “science” has been devised called criminology by its
“inventor” Cesare Lombroso. The article Lombroso (Vol. 16, p. 936)
in the Britannica criticizes his theories as showing “an exaggerated
tendency to refer all mental facts to biological causes.” His theory of
a criminal type points to a “practical reform ... a classification of
offenders, so that the born criminal may receive a different kind of
punishment from the offender who is tempted into crime.” The
article Criminology (Vol. 7, p. 464), by Major Arthur Griffiths,
Inspector of Prisons, should be read carefully. It lists the supposed
criminal traits as follows:
Various brain and cerebral anomalies; receding foreheads; massive jaws,
prognathous chins; skulls without symmetry; ears long, large and projecting;
noses rectilinear, wrinkles strongly marked, even in the young and in both sexes,
hair abundant on the head, scanty on the cheeks and chin; eyes feline, fixed,
cold, glassy, ferocious; bad repellent faces.... Other peculiarities are:—great
width of the extended arms, extraordinary ape-like agility; left-handedness as
well as ambi-dexterism; obtuse sense of smell, taste and sometimes of hearing,
although the eyesight is superior to that of normal people.... So much for the
anatomical and physiological peculiarities of the criminal. There remain the
psychological or mental characteristics, so far as they have been observed. Moral
insensibility is attributed to him, a dull conscience that never pricks and a
general freedom from remorse. He is said to be generally lacking in intelligence,
hence his stupidity, the want of proper precautions, both before and after an
offence, which leads so often to his detection and capture. His vanity is strongly
marked and shown in the pride taken in infamous achievements rather than
personal appearance.
Although Major Griffiths thinks that criminality is oftener due to
environment than to congenital defects, he closes his article with this
estimate of what has been accomplished by Lombroso and his
followers:
The criminologists have strengthened the hands of administrators, have
emphasized the paramount importance of child-rescue and judicious direction of
adults, have held the balance between penal methods, advocating the moralizing
effect of open-air labour as opposed to prolonged isolation, and have insisted
upon the desirability of indefinite detention for all who have obstinately
determined to wage perpetual war against society by the persistent perpetration
of crime.
The article Crime (Vol. 7, p. 447) is full of interesting statistics and
facts. It tells us that “the growth of criminals is greatly stimulated
where people are badly fed, morally and physically unhealthy,
infected with any forms of disease and vice,” and after proving by the
records of various countries that men everywhere are more addicted
to crime than are women, ends with this statement: “It has been well
said that women are less criminal according to the figures, because
when a woman wants a crime committed she can generally find a
man to do it for her.”
Other important articles on the subject are Deportation (Vol. 8, p.
56) and Prison (Vol. 22, p. 361). For English prison reforms, see also
the article on John Howard and that on Elizabeth Fry, with an
outline of the growth in Pennsylvania and New York (Auburn and
Sing Sing), of the method of solitary confinement and of its adoption
in England, and of the development in New York (see also the article
on Elmira for the work of Zebulon R. Brockway), and in
Massachusetts (Concord), of distinct and different treatment for first
offenders.
Children’s Juvenile Offenders (Vol. 15, p.
Courts 613) describes the work of Charles
Dickens and others in England, the
reform in Europe and in the United States; the philanthropic
criminal code proposed by Edward Livingston (see the biographical
article, Vol. 16, p. 811); the Randall’s Island House of Refuge, the
Elmira (N. Y.) Reformatory, the reformatory for women at Sherborn,
Massachusetts, and the George Junior Republic at Freeville, New
York, and its offshoots—see also the separate article George Junior
Republic (Vol. 11, p. 749); and the Borstal scheme, a modification of
the American state reformatory system adopted in England in 1902.
Children’s Courts (Vol. 6, p. 140) calls attention to the origin of
these tribunals in the United States, in Massachusetts and Illinois,
and their success in Chicago, Indianapolis, Denver and Washington,
leading to their adoption in England; see also the article Probation
(Vol. 22, p. 404) in general and, for particular and local methods, the
articles on Birmingham (Vol. 3, p. 985), Boston (Vol. 4, p. 294),
Chicago (Vol. 6, p. 124), Colorado (Vol. 6, p. 722), Egypt (Vol. 9, p.
29), Illinois (Vol. 14, p. 308), and Utah (Vol. 27, p. 818). The
articles on individual states also contain detailed information about
local penal institutions of all kinds.
The reader should also study the articles Police (Vol. 21, p. 978),
Finger Prints (Vol. 10, p. 376), Identification (Vol. 14, p. 287),
Punishment (Vol. 22, p. 653), Capital Punishment (Vol. 5, p. 279),
Guillotine (Vol. 12, p. 694), Hanging (Vol. 12, p. 917), and
Electrocution (Vol. 9, p. 210), the last by Professor Edward
Anthony Spitzka, the American authority on the subject. In the
article on Utah, already mentioned, the reader will find that “a
person sentenced to death may choose one of two methods of
execution—hanging or shooting.”
Alcohol If a respectable citizen of a century
ago could return to earth he could not
fail to be greatly surprised at dinner, whether in a private home or in
a hotel, to see how much less alcoholic beverages are used, how
much lighter they are, and how much more common are other
drinks. If he “returned” to certain parts of the United States he would
find that he could get no alcohol except on a doctor’s prescription
stating the reason why the patient needed it, and he would learn that
such a prescription could be filled only once, and then only by a
registered pharmacist of good character. No matter to what place he
came back, he would find a constant interference with or supervision
of the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcoholic liquors on the
part of the government. He would probably wonder why the state
should interfere with private and personal liberty in such matters.
We have already pointed out that the state now does interfere, and
that this is one of the distinguishing marks of the government of the
day. For information on this particular form of interference, its
prevalence, its necessity, and its advisability, the student may
confidently turn to the Britannica. The hygienic side of the question
is outlined in the chapter of this Guide on Health and Disease. The
social or sociological side claims our attention here. Read the article
Drunkenness (Vol. 8, p. 601), and for the relation between alcohol
and mental disease, the section Toxic Insanity (Vol. 14, p. 609) in the
article on Insanity already mentioned, and also Neuropathology
(Vol. 19, p. 429); then the article Inebriety, Law of (Vol. 14, p. 409);
that on Liquor Laws (Vol. 16, p. 759), with a special section referring
to the United States, which deals with local prohibition, state
prohibition, public dispensaries, and taxation; and for a general and
elaborate summary of the whole question the article Temperance
(Vol. 26, p. 578) equivalent to about 50 pages of this Guide, by Dr.
Arthur Shadwell, author of Drink, Temperance and Legislation. In
the section on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol Dr. Shadwell
summarizes the results of modern scientific investigation of the