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ß bœtanaian VoL. IV. TORONTO,DECEMBER,1923 No. 4 NOTES AND COMMENTS HE historian Taine once advised a young man tobegin the study of history by making the roundsof the hospitalsof Paris; and no doubt the medicalaspectsof history have often beentoo muchignored. There hasrecentlybeenpublishedby an Australian surgeon, Dr. Charles MacLaurin, a seriesof historicalessays entitled PostMortera:Essayshistorical and medical (London,1923),whichsubjects to a medicaldiagnosis the cases of such historicalcharacters as Anne Boleyn, Jeanne d'Arc, CharlesV, Philip II, Marat, Napoleon,and BenvenutoCellini. Thereis a mostinteresting paperalsoon "Mr. and Mrs. Pepys". In eachcasethe medicalevidenceis considered, and an attempt is made to trace the historical results of the conditions disclosed. Of AnneBoleyn,for instance, the authorsaysthat "her conduct may be fully explainedby supposing that shewas afflictedwith hysteria and nymphomania"; and he shows that Napoleon suffered for yearsfrom the disease which later becamemalignant andcarried himoff. His•diagnoses donotreadily lendthemselves to quotation, nor do they ignore the unpleasantsideof life; but it must be admitted that few of them fail to throw a distinctly newlight on the phaseof historyWithwhichthey deal. In one chapter,indeed,Dr. MacLaurinventures onsomegeneralizations whichwouldseemto suggest a hithertolittl•2explored phaseof political science: Arterio-sclerosis, high blood-pressure, hyperpiesis,and chronic 285 286 Ta• Cx•Ixr)•x•i H•s•omcxI. R•v•w Bright's disease--all more or lessnamesfor the samething, or at any rate for cognatedisorders--form one of the great tragediesof the world. They attack the very men whom we can least spare; they are essentially the diseasesof statesmen. Although these diseases have been attributed to many causes--that is to say, we do not really know their true cause--it is certain that worry has a great deal to do with them. If a man be content to live the life of a cabbage,eat little, and drink no alcohol, it is probable that he will not sufferfrom high blood-pressure; but if he is determinedto work hard, live well, and yet struggle furiously, then his arteries and kidneys inevitably go wrong and he is not likely to stand the strain for many years. Unlessa politician has an iron nerve and preternaturally calm nature, or unlesshe is fortunate enoughto be carried off by pneumonia,then he is almost certain to die of high blood-pressure if he persistsin his politics. I could name a dozen able politicians who have fallen victims to their political anxieties. ß . . Every politician should have his blood-pressuretested . . . about once a quarter, and if it should show signs of rising he shouldundoubtedlytake a longrest until it falls again; it is not fair that the lives of millions should depend upon the judgment of a man whosemind is warped by arterio-sclerosis. One cannot help wondering what light would be thrown on Canadian history by a medico-historicalstudy of the later years of Sir John Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, or by a psychopathic examination of the careerof William Lyon Mackenzie. A new report on the teachingof history in secondaryschools has been issuedby the Board of Education in England.• The committeewho have producedthis report have made a survey of the developmentswhich have taken place in the teaching of history in secondaryschoolsduring the last fifteen years, and they are able to point out a substantial and gratifying progress. They find teachers "better read in history", and school libraries "far better equipped". They find "a greater care in organisingthe subject as a whole", and "a great increasein the interest taken in the subject, a desire to improve both methods and results" They note, for instance, the introduction of an almost wholly new feature in "the use of so-called source books to stimulate intellectual curiosity on the part of the pupils and for illustration by the teacher"; and they believethat "this recent development TheTeaching ofHistory, Boardof Education: Educational Pamphlets, No. 37 (õd.). NOTES AND COMMENTS 287 of the last few years must be counted to the good, though its value may be set too high". On the other hand, they are obliged to note, in the schoolswhich have come under their observation, one or two prevailing defects,suchas the insufficientplanning of the lessons on the part of the teacher,and the neglectof dates and accuracy in fact...

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