It seems to us that the field is sufficiently great for everyone to glean, and the efforts of all will not be too great to clear it. There are some questions which escape the doctor, unless he is also an educationist and a psychologist. But there are also some, in our opinion, for which he has special competence, and where no one can take his place. To define his rôle is not to lessen it; on the contrary, it is to assure him an authoritative position. It is not his business to select the abnormal from the normal. But from the children picked out as abnormal he will differentiate certain types and prescribe certain measures with regard to their care and treatment. THE DOCTOR NOT TO PICK OUT THE DETECTIVES FROM AMONGST THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL. There is a general misunderstanding with regard to the special knowledge and aptitude of the doctor. One tends to credit him with a kind of omnipotence and infallibility against which he protests in vain. He is made to judge questions which do not belong to his special province--namely, the medical, and upon which he expresses opinions which are neither more nor less valuable than those of any other intelligent person. Recently, at various congresses, we have seen doctors with the best intentions laying down educational programmes, comparing the educative value of science with that of letters, and expressing a variety of opinions, no doubt very sensible, but with which the medical art had nothing whatever to do. As regards the selection of defectives, one is influenced by the same prejudice. We have discussed this with many people, and especially with educationists, and when we have insisted on the difficulties of examination, they usually reply, "That is the doctor's business!" The prejudice we have noted is very tenacious, and will doubtless be difficult to overcome, for there are many people who have interests to maintain of a pecuniary nature. Let us consider this question from two points of view--the estimation of educational retardation, and the physical examination of defectives.