ought to become a more important place of instruction than the class-room." In the third place, the position is strongly emphasised that "every class, every school for defectives, ought to aim at rendering the pupils socially useful. It is not a question of enriching their minds, but of giving them the means of working for their living." Hence, the utility of special schools or special classes for such children depends ultimately upon their success in making their pupils, according to the measure of their intelligence, efficient workers. These two problems--viz., (1) the method of selecting abnormal or defective children who are not sufficiently good for the ordinary school, nor yet sufficiently bad to be classed as idiots or imbeciles; and (2) the devisal of courses of education and training which may tend to make them hereafter useful workers and citizens--are of first-rate importance to us at the present time. Under recent legislation, public local authorities have been entrusted with the devisal of the means for the proper selection and the proper education of defective children, and the utmost wisdom and care should be taken in the beginning of this new movement. The many errors that administrators may fall into are fully set forth in this little volume (_cf._ p. 78 _et seq._), and the concluding chapter on the utility of special schools should be read by all who have to do with the administration of the new Act. The importance of the work of Binet and Simon to teachers and inspectors is without question, and were the duties of the teacher and inspector carried out as set forth in this volume (_cf._ p. 86) throughout the whole school, a much-needed improvement in our ordinary school education would soon result. Lastly, the volume is important as marking a new attitude towards educational problems, and as indicating the newer spirit in which we should undertake the training of all teachers. This new attitude and spirit are clearly set forth in the concluding words of the volume: "The essential thing is for all the world to understand that empiricism has had its day, and that methods of scientific precision must be introduced into all educational work, to carry everywhere good sense and light." ALEXANDER DARROCH UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, _July, 1914_ CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY PAGE INTEREST IN SOCIAL QUESTIONS 1 SOME DEFINITIONS 4 SOME STATISTICS 7 CHAPTER II SOME FEATURES OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DEFECTIVES WHAT IS A DEFECTIVE CHILD? 11 DISTRIBUTION OF DEFECTIVE CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 15 PSYCHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MENTALLY DEFECTIVE 19 PSYCHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ILL-BALANCED 21