THE BRAIN AND EDUCATION.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."'
Sin,—The other day, a small boy, aged thirteen, applied to us at the Chambers from which I write, for the situation which we dignify by the name of "junior clerk," though " office-boy " would be, perhaps, more appropriate. To show his fitness for the position of "groom of the chambers," he produced his exercise-book, containing work done at the Kensington National School, and supposed to have been duly looked over and corrected by the teacher. Looking through it, I observed a page with the imposing title, Physiology," from which I extract the following
Question. —What are the structural differences between the three parts of the brain ?
Ansrver.—The cerebrum is pink outside and white inside. The Mundelle oblongata is neither. Cerebellum is white inside and grey outside."
I respectfully submit this to the consideration of the Vice President of the Council. We have heard a good deal lately of headaches in connection with compulsory education, and I think it is not surprising that this poor boy, to whom "structural differences" must have conveyed about as much meaning as "Abracadabra," should have got just a little mixed about his " cerebrum " and his "cerebellum." In fact, I do not wonder that he had Mundella on the brain !—I am, Sir, &c., MIDDLE TEMPLAR.
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