THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13286, 19 September 1906, Page 9

THINGS IN GENERAL.

THE THEORY OF " SUGGESTION." The Minister for Education (Mr. Fowlds) is undoubtedly right in adopting a policy of caution regarding the proposal placed before him by a recent deputation to permit, experiments in what is known as "suggestion" in connection with the treatment of the insane. There has been so much impoisture mixed rip with " mental healing" of various kinds that a Minister of the Crown must be extremely cautious in giving his sanction to any such methods. On the other hand it should never be forgotten that there is no finality to the progress of science, and those in charge of our mental hospitals should always be ready to give careful and sympathetic attention to new knowledge from whatever quarter it may come. The theory of "suggestion"' is at present being carefully investigated on scientific lines, and the most conservative psychologist will now admit that thoic is a, good deal in it. It is certainly gaining ground in the scientific world. The theory is based upon what is known as the " sub-couscious self." It is held by great authorities in psychology like Professor James, of Harvard, that beyond our ordinary consciousness there lies an extra-mar-ginal region, which Mr. T. J. Hudson calls the subjective mind." The. objective mind is that in ordinary everyday use, but the subjective mind is so much iu the background that normally we are not warn of ite existence. It only comes to Iho front in abnormal conditions, such as hypnotism. It is highly amenable to suggestion, in accordance with which it acts promptly and consistently. Its memory appears to be wonderfully gocd, and it stores up all that is forgotten by the. objective mind. At times it is capable of making what Professor James calls " an invasive incursion" into the conscious self, and to come to the- front without the artificial aid of hypnotism. It. is in fact the seat of our deeper life, and has control over bodily conditions.

THE HEALING PROCESS. It is contended that if the conscious mind can bo thrown into abeyance the sub-con-scious self will be loft free to act. Then is the time to make the right suggestions regarding health, and the subjective mind will set the organs of the body to work in. the normal maimer, and thus effect a cure of the disease from which the person may be suffering. This is the theory, and it Las been supported by many wonderful experiments ; but it would not be right to say that it is at present much more than a. wonderful idea, from which great things may be expected. On the other band, there are good reasons for believing that the sub-conscious self may prove a very dangerous thing far ignorant people to play with. Some of the phenomena connected with ft are of a very dubious character. Mr. Hudson accounts for what is known as "double personality," possession or obsession, and the strange manifestations of spiritism by the theory of suggestion. If this be so, a recent writer truly says: "Such a method of healing, if it is to be universally resorted to, will probably need hedging with many precautions." We know very little of that marvellous thing which wo call the human mind, and the further we peer into it- the deeper grows the mystery- The science of psychology itself is still in its infancy: but it is a very rigorous infant, and full of wonderful possibilities. We seem to be on the verge of some great, discoveries, and if over the policy of "taihoa" was justifiable it is in this connection. Mr. Fowlds is therefore, wise in deciding to wait for further light and more exact knowledge before, sanctioning the general adoption of the." suggestion cure" in the mental hospitals, for the ad- j ministration of which he is responsible. ;V EDUCATION. ' The annual report of the -Education Depart- ; ment, published in Saturday's Hkbalp. | contains much useful information, and indi- * tales that, on the whole, steady progress . is being made. The, authorities are still < very slow to move, but they show a greater | willingness to adopt now ideas than was \ •the case some years ago. They recognise that perfection"is still a long way off, and persistent outside criticism has put an end to that satisfaction with thing? as they are which is one of the most effectual barriers to progress. Though things arc certainly on the up-grade, we cannot forget that only a few davfl ago a telegram in the HhlaM) stated that responsible business men in the South were complaining that boys who had passed through our State schools are not up to the mark in writing, and that their arithmetic is far from accurate. In addition to this it is a well-known fact that the young New Zealander is not as a, rule a good reader. Yet reading, writing, and arithmetic are the fundamentals of any system of education. It is. therefore, rather disconcerting to find that, in spite of all the time, thought, and money devoted to education in this colony, the foundation work remains so unsatisfactory. It is no use, to go en building up new subjects one on top of the other until the foundations have been well awl truly laid

TOO MUCH UNIFORMITY. No two things- in the world arc exactly alike; and certainly no two persons are quite the same, lire higher we go in the scale of being the greater variety wc find, and one would think that ample allowance should be made for this fact in any rational method of education. It is just here, however, .that the State system is weakest. a.nd it is a weakness that*it is very difficult to overcome. There seems to he no room for variety of method. All children are treated alike;' they are taught the same subjects in. the same wav ; special aptitudes are crushed out; and the result is a dead uniformity, which is as dull as it is unnatural. This matter was dealt, with at the recent, meeting of th*>. British Association by Professor Michael Sadler, now occupying the chair of education at Manchester University, and former! a member of the Educational Department. The moral of his address was that the monotony of Slate control in Eng- . lish education must tend to de-individualtee English character. "Let us avoid taking tempting short cuts to excessive State control," lie said, for his experience taught him that there was no country in the world in ' which the variation of local conditions made State uniformity so undesirable. Professor Sadler went on to elaborate a scheme for the creation of a new type of intermediate schools to come between the elementary and the secondary schools. He wanted to fee provision made for the " keen interests" of hoys who deserved better than the ele- • mentary schools could give them, and were not ready for the secondary schools; and. above all, lie wished to see the "wastage" stopped among children after they had loft the elementary school and gone to work. "We have laid down a costlv water supply, , - and then allowed a hole to be made in the '■; pipe just behind the tan. That hole wants stopping." He appealed for a human spirit M education, and commended (he following advertisement ha had seen:"Wanted, nursery governess, good at bovs' games and with rooted objection re lessons, for deadly dull country home in Ireland. Must pos- / sess an immense stock of fun, with some common sense." EARLY HOURS. It is m pleasure to note that our House of Representatives is introducing some , common sense into its methods of procedure, at any rate as far as working hours are concerned. The rule now seems to be to get home to bed between eleven and twelve o'clock, instead of the bad old plan of struggling along till nearly break-■'■:•.":-;'-fast time. All-night sittings are bad for the members themselves, and bad for tlie country, for the best brain work cannot he V■ v finite by men who are kept going day and 'ught without the requisite amount of sleep. / vTh\ T. Dyke Aeland has recently laid it do\ru t14.1t sufficient rest is a physiological .',: necessity. He read a letter at the meeting of the British Association from Mr. C 13. Fry, the famous athlete, sawing that when ne was at school, although he had nine • ■■•■-'•

hours' sleep, be never had his sleep out, . and always needed more than he got. "So ' much did" I crave for sleep," said Mr. Fry, 7 "that often for the first week or so of the 1 holidays I would go to bed about ten and • sloop till one or even five o'clock next day." . In the opinion of medical officers of public f schools growing children require from nine ' to ten. hours, and in no case lias there been I any defence of less than nine hours. "Can Wo sleep too long?" That is difficult, and e in children impossible. The quality of sleep jj is as important as the quantity; sleep p disturbed by noise, cold, light, or pain ia comparatively ineffective. Sleep during the II first hours is the soundest; the popular f belief in the beauty sleep i.« well founded. 1 Dr. Bevan Lewis, the medical director of e the West Riding Asylum, said that over- , strain in exercise is absolutely fatal to sleep ; the form of adolescent insanity so v intractable in its pi ogress and so terrible t in its issue is most likely to occur in neurotic ii subjects combined with overwork and ini? adequate rest. Professor notch said the . healthiest sleep is dreamless. Few people, said Dr. Gotch, have the faculty attributed *» to Lord Kitchener of being able to go into '»' a dreamless sleep at any time. I POLITENESS. r We were told recently by the French Consul, M. Hoeufve, that colonials ate not quite as polite as Uioy n.'ght be, at a l } ■ rate as far as the outward expression of 3 courtesy is concerned No one cou'd <ake ' offence* at M. Boeufve's remarks, because . they were couched in such polite terms, and included a most cordial recognition of . the fact that beneath a somewhat brusque oterior the colonial carries a kind and ' f'.i-ieious heart. .1 confess I like to read of the pood old days when manners were regarded as one of the most important parts of education, and when gentlemen rivalled the ladies in the splendour of their attire. Those were the days of ■ The dames, the cavaliers, the arms, the loves. The courtesies, the daring; deeds. ' Those days I fear are gone for ever, and 1 we live in duller times, from the society , point of view. Our manners are less elaborate. The hustle and bustle of modern business life leaves us no time for courtesy of the old-fashioned typo, though in our greetings and our daily intercourse we might well be more cordial. It all helps to make • life a. little more worth living. It is possible to be polite even in the huiry of business, and some men never forget their good ■ manners even on the most trying occasions. A gentleman was hurrying along the street ■ j the other night, when another man. also in • i violent-haste, rushed out of a doorway, and j the two collided with great force. " The ■ i second man looked mad, while the polite j man, taking off his hat said: "My dear ■ ; sir, I don't know which of us'is to blame . i for this violent encounter, but 1 am in too great a hurry to investigate. If I ran into you, I beg your pardon: if you ran into . I mo, don't mention it!" And he tore away I with redoubled speed. THE VIRTUOUS MAX. The rising generation has been accused of many shortcomings lately, such as want of respect for elders, gambling, drinking, disregard of parental and religious authority, and fast living generally. It has been said that there would be a great improvement if the women set their faces against these things. This sounds like i sense, but the trouble is that the women ' folk are not so horrified at these failings of the sterner sex as they should be, and the young man who never had a vice is not always estimated at his proper worth by the young women. Preaching at Simla recently the Bishop of Lahore spoke very | strongly about "the women who use their I God-given power of attractiveness to draw around them guests in order to play for j stakes with the deliberate, intention and j hope of winning their money." This bears , j out. what I have said, and the following l little story further illustrates the point :— | "I have a wonderful thing to tell you!" As the two lovers sat together in the glow I of the purple evening, the young man looked j down passionately into the upturned - face j that lay pi)lou;ed an, Jus. shoulder.*„ :. | " Yes, darling!" he continued. '' Hitherto ! I have, not thought it best to doscaut upon | a subject through modesty; but now I feel , that you must know the worth of the man , you are about to marry, if I do say it that | \ shouldn't. But now I want you to know j ; that, amid the low. civic, financial, and mercantile morality of this frightful age, amid bribery and trickery of all sorts, 1 have ■ managed by supreme efforts to maintain my ; own integrity. Virtue has been my motto. ; How does this pleas© you'.'" I The girl he addressed rose to her feet, her : dark eyes Mashing. "Not at nil!" she exclaimed. "Now that I know the truth about. you, all is over. I cannot marry you!" Her amazed lover looked at her incredulously. "Why not?" he asked, stunned. " Because," haughtily, "I know that you will never be able to support me in the style to which I have been accustomed!" The Gr.Ni:r..\i,.