an over-production in the Far East. The result of it gave Holland a great advantage, temporarily, at least. The next few years will prove the wisdom or the fallacy of Stevenson's plan.

The rise of prices caused a boom in rubber reclaiming in our country; that is, collecting and treating rubber scrap to make it fit for a commercial product. In fact, this is now a big industry.

THE FUTURE OF RUBBER.

What is to be the future of rubber? One thing is sure: we must have rubber for our many needs, especially for automobile tires. Of course, there are substitutes, but rubber will always be in demand. There are two ways of meeting the demand: extending the cultivated areas of rubber, and increasing the yield per tree.

The regions of the lower Amazon will probably be made into plantations, even though at a terrific expense; the United States will probably extend her rubber activities in Hawaii and the Philippines; our southwestern states may produce in quantity, and the rubber regions of Africa will surely be developed. The Firestone Company has acquired large areas in Liberia, and the British are investigating the cultivation of the South African rubber plants. These two facts go to show the keen competition in the rubber market.

WHY?

Because well or ill, on foot, in motors, or in trains, on land, in ships on the sea, in planes in the sky, in the mines and the subways below the earth, in fair weather and in storm, to control natural forces, for health, for comfort, for safety, and for progress, we need rubber, and the history of economics proves without the shadow of a doubt that nature and science have always fulfilled the demands for supply; therefore the outlook for rubber is promising.

The world will continue to be (as you no doubt are, after these many pages) rubber-tired.

HAROLD T. EATON, A. M.

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH,
BROCKTON HIGH SCHOOL, BROCKTON, MASS.

ANY times it is difficult for the teacher to size
up the class at the beginning of the year, and

M it is sometimes extremely difficult for the prin

cipal or the superintendent to arrange classes, especially when it is possible to make several classes of the same grade of work. Teachers, superintendents, and principals would all like to know the mental calibre of each member of class. It is impossible, as yet, to devise any scheme which is one hundred percent. accurate, but at the same time, any objective means of classification of students that is better than mere opinion deserves a little attention.

It is with the hope that the following suggestions may prove of value that the writer offers them to the attention. of educators. For a number of years, he has used these simple methods of diagnosing the mentality of pupils, and has found the results very worth while. Certain symptoms of intelligence, or for that matter, lack of it, are reasonably easy to find, and if they are not always absolutely accurate, they nevertheless deserve serious attention.

There is always a danger that the inexperienced teacher may form from the results of tests arbitrary rule-of-thumb conclusions, which are not justified by the facts. Pupils are not pieces of machinery which can be governed absolutely by the putting on or the shutting off of the power. They are human beings, and this fact should never be forgotten. Although certain symptoms of intelligence are valuable to the educator, they do not necessarily tell the whole story. The wise teacher will always be clever enough to modify her judgment where it is necessary and advisable to do so.

(1) In the first place, the age of the pupil in any given class is of importance. The average age of the high school

pupil is as follows: First year, 14-15; second year, 15-16; third year, 16-17; fourth year, 17-18. The pupil who is very much over age may seem to do fairly good work until the fact is noted that he is really accomplishing in a mediocre manner work which he should have done several years previously. The under-age pupil many times seems to be doing average work, but when the fact is noted that he is doing work far ahead of what might be expected from his age, one realizes that he is superior rather than average. It is always worth while to keep the record of each pupil's age in the class record book, and to note especially the pupils of the class who are either very much under or very much over age.

The under-age and over-age cases are worth further investigation. It may be found that the over-age student has left school for some valid reason, and has later returned to resume his work. In a case like this, the age itself means very little. At the same time, it will probably be found that about 75% of the over-age pupils are dull, while conversely, nearly 75% of the under-age pupils will be doing superior work.

(2) The past scholarship of the pupil is relatively important, but is no absolute criterion from which to judge his present and future performance. Still, when it is possible, it is generally wise to find out what kind of work the pupil has done in previous years. Some years ago, the writer made a study of pupils who were repeating various courses ["The Intelligence of Pupils who Repeat," School and Society, February 3, 1923], and the results showed that over half of them were below average high school intelligence. About 50% of the time, then, previous failure demonstrates that the pupil is not exceptionally bright. On the other hand, one must not forget that the other 50% of the time, the student has failed because of lack of application.

(3) Another sign of intelligence can be noted in the result of any simple vocabulary test. Dr. Terman states that "the Stanford test [vocabulary] gives a mental age correct within

one year in about 60% of the cases, and within a year and a half in 80% of the cases." [Terman: Intelligence of School Children, pages 308-309.] Of course the ideal way of giving a vocabulary test is to give it to each pupil individually, but for the busy teacher that is not always possible. If the test is written on the board, and the pupils are asked to write the definitions of the words of the test, the results should be reasonably accurate. The papers can be corrected by the teacher, or, if necessary, by the members of the class. If a one-hundred word test is used, the pupils of 13 should define correctly forty-five words; the pupils of 14, fifty words; the pupil of 15, fifty-seven words; the pupil of 16, sixty-five words; the pupils of 17, seventy; and the pupil of 18, seventy-five or better. Sixty-five correct definitions represents average adult intelligence, although the results of the army testing would seem to demonstrate that for the nation as a whole, the average results would be much lower than this. If the fifty-word test is used, the average requirement should be halved. Disregarding the results achieved by pupils who suffer because they do not know the English language, the test will be found remarkably accurate.

(4) The ability to read correctly, clearly, and with expression is in itself a sign of reasonable intelligence, since reading shows an adequate vocabulary. If the pupils are given the opportunity to read, both silently and orally, and are then graded by results into three or four classes, it will be found that the best readers are, on the whole, the more intelligent pupils.

After these few simple tests have been given, it is valuable to place the results in the record book. A small space will be sufficient to give the results of all tests. In conclusion, the writer states again that the average teacher who would like to size up a class at the beginning of the year will probably find the four tests mentioned very satisfactory as long as she avoids making the mistake of considering them infallible.

A "Progressive" in Traditional Clothing

My right hand seemed always to be moving, sketching, tracing, drawing, dreaming-this lonely pine, that last little blossom, the tumble-down fence, anything. I loved to do it. It made me happy so to express my heart.

A queer tiny figure I must have been and perhaps annoying to most of my teachers. Numbers were so very unattractive unless softened with filigrees and decorations. A dictation was so stupid unless garbed in interpretive scrawls. So I thought. So I dreamed.

In the History class notes were being taken down rather hurriedly. Somehow my hand started again tracing, drawing, idling, dreaming. I heard my name, jarring slightly on the decorative scheme. I continued to embellish my notes. A second jar flashed gratingly on my consciousness. Heaven ceased. Faintly I asked, "What, please?"

"Mary, you take that note book down to Mr. Wiggins. And ask him what he thinks about it!" These stern commands came over my shoulder from the teacher.

Glancing at my book I saw my notes trailing off into pretty sketches, pictures, dreams, but no notes. Mechanically I arose and walked ever so gloomily to the office of the headmaster. A kindly man was Mr. Wiggins, just and severe in his judgments. He answered my knock, bidding me enter.

My hands were icy and my heart icier as I held out to him my poor note book, stammering that my teacher wanted to know what he thought of that. Past master of such events he looked me over, then glanced through the note book.

"That is splendid, Mary. Keep that up and we can expect a lot from you one of these days." With these words he grasped my hands, and Mr. Wiggins turned into a saint.

The returning circulation propelled me back to my room with no uncertain steps to tell the teacher the exact words of the dear old man.

Pityingly and sorrowfully did the teacher look at me. But her hand never went moving, scratching, flourishing, dreaming

PAULINE BURKHARD,

Newton Center, Mass.