SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reilerved for recitio in other forms.] Social Phases of Education in the School and the Home. By Samuel T. Dutton. (Macmillan and Co. 5s.)—Mr. Dutton is a Superintendent of Schools in Massachusetts. Hence his illus- trations, so far as some aspects of his subject are concerned, are not always of a kind familiar to an English reader. But we can all appreciate the principle on which his argument i founded, and his understanding of the radical distinction between educa- tion and instruction. On p. 21 he writes : "The stewing made by pupils in a recitation determines their standing in the school, and, to a greater or less extent, establishes their claim t to con- sideration and respect by teachers and associates." J t is not every one who will recognise what is meant by "recitation." In the Code of our primary schools it means the repetition of passages in poetry or prose in which emphasis, expression, &c., are carefully studied. There is another meaning of the word which is not actually in use, the way in which a scholar acquits himself in a construing lesson, in history, geography, &c. Some- times our author, we cannot but think, pushes his theories some-
what to extremes. "Mathematics does furnish the power for deliberate thought and accurate statement Gossip, flattery, slander, deceit, all spring from a slovenly mind that has not been trained in the power of truthful statement." We fear that these vices are more deeply seated than in slovenliness of mind. And we are not prepared to go with Mr. Dutton in his sweeping proposal that "nine-tenths of the so-called courses of !study had better be destroyed, and a few large inspiring aims and points of direction put in their place." But on underlying principles we find ourselves in general agreement with his views. " The Relation of the Church to the School" is a particularly instructive chapter.
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