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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1913)
THE SUNDAY. OREGOXIAN, , PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 1913. TRAIN OUR CHILDREN .AS :;SEMDr An Hour a Day of Study Is Held to Be Enough by Dr. H. G. Kribs, Who Says That There Is a Simi larity Between Training Lower Animals and Human Beings Lessons Taught by Animal Training Application of New Ideas in Portland Schools. AS ." VE DO OUR DO(?S " l' ' ' , . lustres. dLrJ lmPy -5a - WVIEI" we learn to tra VI dren as sensibly IEN we learn to train our chll- we do our dogs, we will quicken their attention for a brief period each day on the subject we would have them learn, and then allow them to give physical expression in some practical way." The speaker was Dr. H. C Kribs, who occupies the chair of comparative neurology and psychology at the Uni versity of Pennsylvania. His father, David Kribs, lives In Medford, where he visited, stopping; In Portland for a day recently on his return East He Is a cousin of Fred A. Kribs, of Port land, and of Mrs. O. II. Plummer. - Dr. Kribs has made many remarka ble biological desearches, on the re sults of which he bases his educa tional theory. He Is one of the four men In the world who have used the ultra-violet rays In photography. With their aid he took a picture of a single brain cell, magnified 16.0uw.000 diame ters. The ultra-clolet rays are only about half as Intensive In their action as the X-rays, but their use in this achievement nearly cost Dr. Kribs his eyesight. The new school of education, of which Dr. Kribs is the 'enthuslaastlc evangel, contemplates the shortening of the study period to perhaps an hour a day, and holds that knowledge is only properly impressed on the brain by some practical application of It at the time It Is received. "This employs both the head and hand, and with a short study period the interest Is so accelerated that the heart Is In the work as well," said Dr. Kribs. "I was most dellgted to learn," he continued, "that- this .dea is rapidly being applied to your school system In Portland. In a brief talk with Super intenent Alderman I found that be Is clples which we have discovered Into deeply Impresed with the absolute ne cessity of co-ordinating the ideal with the practical in the development of the child mind. It is a wholesome thing to see a most earnest effort being pro moted to quicken the minds of stu dents with books that can only give the "three R's." and then supplement the mental stimulus thus attained by sme practical application of the hand and eye. "la the past people have had the Impresion that the mind of man and the minds of animals were separated by a very wide gap, but we have learned that there is little if any dif ference in their method of function ing," aid Dr. Kribs. "For Instance, we Jehow that animals' ability to adapt themselves to altered environments are strikingly similar to the processes un dergone by human minds as they develop." Dr. Kribs. however, hastened to ex plain that this does not mean that the ultimate crystalizatlon of mind in man and animal are exactly alike. "It does mean." he said, "that they do develop along the same lines, and this discovery has given us a tremen dous impetus In our appreciation of what should be the correct training of human beings. 'In other words, we have learned from the animal kingdom how mind has arisen in nature, and also the prin ciples under which mental development has progressed. 'Of course we cannot experiment with human beings as with animals," Dr. Kribs went on, "but our experi ments with animals have taught us so much that already there is a world wide Interest toward putting the prin- practice so far as our own human mind Is concerned." The rise of the kindergarten move ment is regarded by Dr. Kribs as per haps an unconscious expression of the tendency to make education, a thing not only of the head, but of the hand, the two employed In co-ordination. . "Instead of merely teaching the lit tle tots their formal A-B-Cs," he said, "we now know that the mind grows tenfold when Its effort to learn is Associated with some achievement o the hand." Asccording to Dr. Kribs, the hu man mind is so constructed that only a certain amount of mental concentra tion is possible for a given length of time, and then in order to give the mind its proper growth a change to some physical example provided in the very environment of the study place if possible Is necessary. "This we have learned most thor oughly in our study of animal life," said Dr. Kribs. "Among, the mam mals we have discovered that if the animal in consideration Is given a rigid task for, say, two hours, the brain cells show a large loss of vital force and require considerable time for recuperation." Dr.-Kribs declares that the brain cells In the human mind or in any mind, for that matter are very like little storage batteries, capable of! delivering a certain amount of poten tial energy for a given time, after which they must have a period of rest and recuperation. Hence, the problem of modern education is to determine the proper amount of time that the brain-battery can deliver thought-current and cease the demand: for power after that period has expired. "Our modern school systems are now being rapidly readjusted in the light of these facts," said Dr. Kribs. "We now know for a certainty that a child can exhibit with profit a finer mental reaction after 15 or 20 minutes of effort than before was assumed could be exhibited after hours of study. We have learned that the education of the child, just as with the training of animals, can only be accomplished where the Interest is quickened and the whole mind attends. "We must find how to keep up this quickened attention to the best ad vantage for the child," he continued. "Heretofore this has been done only incidentally, as Illustrated by the ex amples of William R. Harper and the son of Professor Boris Sidis, of Har vard." Dr. Kribbs has a son, 2 years old, with whom he has been making experiments similar to those which were made with the Harper and Sidis children. With careful training of only 20 to 30 minutes a day, the training partaking of the nature of play rather than of work. Dr. Kribs' baby has rapidly learned the alphabet, can count with accuracy to 60, and readily recognizes the printed names of all the domestic animals' and fowl. - "Our theory in his development," said Dr. Kribs, "has been to help him put his mind thoroughly upon the subject In band for a brief period each day. and then later to help him find expres- j Eion iur me mens no uas ijaiucu in some physical achievement." This method was anticipated In the kindergarten movement," said Dr. Kribs. "and it seems most wise that the same application should be made to primary schools, grade schools, high schools and colleges." At the University of Pennsylvania, in the courses of comparative anatomy in which Dr. Kribs has been an in structor for some years, there used to be a work-period of six hours a day This period has now been cut in half, and Dr. Kribs is so certain that the results have been beneficial to the stu dents that he proposes to cut it in two again, which would give only an hour and a half of mental effort a day, or one-fourth of what under the former system was considered necessary. "Since we have cut the work-period in half," said Dr. Kribs, "the grading of the students has increased 25 per cent, and the amount of work accom plished, not for the time consumed, but for the day, has Increased over 40 per cent. "This brief Illustration shows con clusively that our old Ideas of educa tion were most erroneous. What the child needs most la an earnest appli cation for a brief time, and then some occupation that will shift the mind from the ideal to the concrete. By thus applying both sides of our mental make-ups a well-rounded, well-balanced life must result. According to Dr. Kribs, Ger many has gone far in advance of the United States in the training of her young. The principles of education that are 'Just beginning to be applied in the United States and It is proposed to give the "half-day" schools a trial in -Portland, by the way are so well worked out in all their pedagogical importance In Germany that the aver- SI. age German child, when ue graduates I rrom tne gymnasium or me mgn scnooi, is better equipped for the struggle of life than most of our college graduates. "Perhaps it is because the Germans love their animals more," said Dr. Kribs, "but whatever the reason, it be- hooves us to take a few lessons in educational methods from our trans Atlantic friends. "The deplorable fact of the matter Is," ha said, "that in times past we have tried to grind knowledge Into the brains of our children, instead of ap plying the common-sense principles that surround us in all nature. "These principles show us unequivo cally that mental or nervous concen tration endures only for a brief period of time, but that during that brief period more can be absorbed by the growing mind than by hours of hap hazard effort where the wits go wool gathering. The great lesson of the new method of education Is that the things we really learn are only those that we learn when our minds attend. 'If the mind of the child cannot con centrate on any given subject for more than an hour or two a day, why should we torture the child with hours of rest less inaptitude? By giving both mental and physical faculties an opportunity to develop simultaneously, the mind and body will grow together in harmony. This means, of course, said Dr. Kribs, smiling, "that ultimately there will be no such thing as a 'high-brow or 'low-brow.' But this means," he added earnestly, "a complete Inversion of our whole modern school system that we have built up with such infinite pains and of which we are so proud. But it must come, and It will come, as soon as we appreciate fully the needs of the child. "Twenty minutes of attention Is worth more than a whole day's mere sitting in the classroom. "The. Idea of interweaving the mental and the physical in a child's education is new to nearly all oi us, and we are somewhat at a loss to know Just how it may best be done. "There Is a general opinlen, how ever, among our most advanced edu cators that the grouping of our chil dren and youths in little social centers, where the thrust of their Instruction is diverted toward mild athletic exercise. the building of little flower-beds and the development of little gardens is the thing. Seeing things grow under the perfect control of your own activities never fails to develop character which, after all, is the true aim of edu cation. "The sum of all our educational ef fort lies right here: To teach our boys and girls to think the thoughts of the great minds that have gone be fore, but, more than all, to teach them how nature will respond to the ener gies set forth by the little, receptive minds which. In turn, we are trying to help grow, like the tender young plant, to maturity and perfection." An attempt will be made to have Dr. Kribs come to Portland next Jan uary for a series of lectures on "The New Education." Get A thr To Breed rrm. '.a- - . v . - v.vw.-I I Fi rom and Their ProqenyTeld jS'.. ' A Good Living r t . ... '. .. . .... . r. ' ' , . ", - s t v i . x 1 i BT RENE BACHE. ROYALTY has hit upon a brand new fad. Only a few weeks ago, at Pots dam, the Princess victoria Lulse, eldest daughter of the German Emperor, at tracted surprised attention as she was driven through the streets In her auto mobile. Her whole booy seemed lit erally to shimmer as with a golden light. "What is that our princess wears this day?" aske-d one citizen of another. "It is some kind of Celestial fabric, surely," was the reply. - Yet the notion was a mistake. At all events, what the Princess Victoria Lulse had on was not a fabric at all. In the ordinary sense of the word. It was a coat of silver fox fur "tipped" with gold; and she carried a muff to mutch. This Is a new ami quite remarkable invention, one should explain gold be ing applied by an electrolytic process to the tips of the long black hairs of the fur. Thus Is produced the peculiar "shimmering" effect described. It is a curious fact that, so far as known, silver fox is the only kind of fur which can be treated in this way successfully. The hairs of no other fur will hold the gold. Hence It appears that this particular and latest touch In costume Is obtainable only by very wealthy women silver fox being by far the most costly of all furs. As a matter of fact, however, the available supply of this kind of fur is almost entirelv monopolized by royalty. Ermine Is out of fashion nowadays with kings and queens, save as a trim ming for robes of state. Peraps this Is because it has been imitated so exten sively by the skillful manipulation of ordinary pussy-cat A first-class skin of a silver fox, on the other hand. Is worth 12000 today, and to counterfeit It is impossible. The Government Bureau of Animal Industry reckons that at least 1250,000 Is paid annually in this country for furs of all kinds. But It is very diffi cult to obtain sliver fox fur at any price. Not long ago one skin of great beauty was sold In London, at auction, for $2825. No such price has ever been paid for the pelt of any 'other kind of animals. And yet the American multi-million- i W, iXV &:iA iP'AyiTAu,: : t::: aire is always ready to bid against royalty for anything. Whence It comes about that a few of our richest women are able to boast the possession of sil ver fox furs. At the last horse show In New York was seen one set of black fox, consisting of only three skins, which Is known to have coBt $16,000. Another lady, on the same occasion, wore a coat of Siberian marten (com- monly known as Russian sable) which cost $22,000. But the marten is a much smaller animal, and the number of pelts that went to make up the garment was considerably greater. One naturally asks, from what source Is the rare and precious silver fox fur obtained? The answer is that the bulk Prince Edward Island, off the Canadian coast. That is the only place in the world where sliver foxes are reared under conditions of partial domestica tionthe business being so profitable that up to now its very existence has been kept carefully secret by the few persons engaged in it. If the pelts are costly, the living an- of the small market supply comes fromiimala are much more so, being useful for breeding purposes. Silver fox ;ups born In 1912 have a value of $3000 to $4000 apiece; but to get one at even that price would be extremely difficult. To kill one for its lur would be like wringing the neck of the goose that laid the golden eggs save only where there are superfluous males, which furnish the furs that are sent to mar ket. These skins, so few and so costly, are shipped to London, where they are disposed of at the treat auctions of furs that city beinj, as everyone knows, the fur market of the world. Thence they find their way almost In evitably into the hands of the royai families, which have standing orders with agents to buy them at almost any price whenever they are offered. The Empress of Russia has a magnificent set of silver fox furs, which is rivaled perhaps only by another set in tn possession of the morganatic' wife of the heir to the Austrian throne. Prince Franz Fedinand. A mother fox is able to bear young ordinarily for nine years, and, averag ing four pups to the litter, may be rea sonably expected in her lifetime to rear at least 30 offspring. This allows for some loss by death from accident or from disease. Reckoning the skins as worth from $1500 to $2000 apiece, it Is easy to see that a pair of the ani mals might be expected under favora ble circumstances to yield an annual Income of something like $5000. (Concluded en Pag 7.)
