SHORT LETTERS

DEAN INGE CORRECTED.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL THEORY.

Mr. Stephen Gwynn is not accurate in attributing to Inc the proposition that " boys are not exclusive." The point which I tried to make was that although extremely exclusive, Public School-boys are not more so than their mothers and sisters, and do not owe their exclusiveness to their Schools as much as to their homes. There is, I am afraid, more than a little truth in Mr. Gwynn's criticisms of the Public Schools, but such criticisms would, I think, apply with no less force to any type of Boarding School which could conceivably be established in England.--J. F.- ROXBURGH, Stowe School, Buckingham.

" A CLASSICAL VILLAGE."

• With regard to the suggestion of having " a classical village " in which to learn Latin and Greek, I think your readers may be interested to know what is taking place at the Perse School, under the direct method, introduced by Dr. Rouse. There Latin and Greek are treated as living, and not dead languages, and the masters and boys converse in both. The head-master will welcome visitors who wish to see the system in operation at the school.--G. R. BowEs, Chairman of the Governors, 40 Lensfield Road, Cambridge.

." DEUTSCHLAND "VBER ALLES."

As a regular reader of the Spectator I would point out that the statement made in your paper on January 29th, on page no. can only be attributed to the ignorance or malevolence of its writer. The song " Deutschland fiber Alles " never had any other meaning than that the German loved his country above all else in the world. The song is The National Anthem of Germany, and there can never be any question of it being " a dead and disgraced motto."—BovthmEn-BoTnatER IX., Schloss Bothmer, Post Klutz, Mecklenburg, Deutschland.

A SCHOOL OF PRAYER.

If plEtees of worship be opened for private prayer every day, is there not a danger that it would strengthen rather than break down " that sham division which has been set up to divide the sacred front the secular"? It is still true that God does not dwell in Temples, and the hearer of prayer being everywhere is always accessible ; one need not retire to pray, as one can be as effective in crowded Fleet Street as in St. Pallr8.—PETER SINCLAIR, Stafford MCP, Wick.

WAR AGAINST RHEUMATISM.

With " Crusader's " main thesis, that rheumatism is deadly disease which kills many and maims more, no dodor Will disagree. But why the tirade against the heart specialist ? Perhaps " Crusader does not realize that every heart specialist has a special interest in rheumatism and in the prevention of its effects. Well-marked cases of rheumatism in children are so easily recognized that they are at once treated, and generally escape the heart damage. But what of the child who, after vague complaints of " growing pains ' or slight sore throat, is off colour, or out of sorts, anaemic, nervous, restless or terrified at night ? He " goes off at school or becomes disinclined to join in games. Frank chorea (St. Vitus' dance) may appear, but often the signs of the infection are slight ; so slight that even careful parents may entirely disregard them until the onset of some symptma of heart disease arrests their attention. It is this vague (as it were veiled) form of rheumatism which is the great cause of heart disease just because it does its damage so quietly that it escapes notice. This is the type of disease which must be recognized early if we are to prevent serious sequelae, and the recognition of this type demands the trained experience of those who have had the opportunity of watching heart disease in its various forms, and of examining many hundreds of children, normal and abnormal. It is here that the "great heart specialist" is not only great, but, alas! almost unique. A HEART SPECIALIST.

PHYSICKING TREES.

It may be of interest to English readers to know that the trees here have their rotten branches removed and all the bad wood scooped out in autumn. It reminds one of dentistry on a huge scale. A woodman told me that in the spring they wait till the sap begins to rise, so that it may net as glue, and then they " stop " the holes with cement. In time the bark partially closes over the hole, so that only a neat little patch remains over what is perhaps quite a large stopping. There; arc many such patches here on very healthy trees. -.I. KATHARINE WALLIS, Denbigh Hall, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, near Philadelphia, Penna.

THE STEEL TRAP.

Only the total abolition of " gins," with a heavy fine fur offenders, will prove a remedy. For the term " above ground " can be circumlocuted. (It is said " gins " must be placed under the ground to catch vermin.) The R.S.P.C.A., I believe, sell a pitented trap, which kills quickly. If I am right in my surmise, why cannot the law enforce this, for even rabbits suffer ?—II. S., Ipswich.

" CANE SUGAR r. BEET."

Can any reader tell inc Whether (1) bulk for bulk, cone sugar is not sweeter (and therefore cheaper) than beet, (2) whether bee-keepers arc right in saying that the syrup of beet-sugar is deadly to bees, and (3) whether it is true that cane sugar is a specific in some forms of heart complaint, whereas beet sugar has no such effect. It was, I believe, Napoleon Bona- parte who conceived the idea of ruining our West Indian Colonies by encouraging the growth of sugar beet, and it Was clever of hint ; it would be sad if their ruin was completed by any English Government. --J. R. PEN1NGTON, San Roque, Torquay, Devon.