Eosphorite occurs as crystals of prismatic habit with angles very nearly
the same as those of childrenite. Unlike childrenite, it has a distinct
cleavage in one direction, and often occurs in compact masses as well as
in crystals. The colour is sometimes yellowish-white, but usually
rose-pink, and on this account the mineral was named from [Greek:
eosphoros], dawn-bearer. Hardness 5; specific gravity 3.11-3.145. It was
discovered in 1878 in a pegmatite-vein at Branchville, Connecticut,
where it is associated with other rare manganese phosphates. (L. J. S.)

CHILDREN'S COURTS, or JUVENILE COURTS, a special system of tribunals for
dealing with juvenile offenders, first suggested in the United States.
The germ of such institutions was planted in Massachusetts in 1869, when
a plan was introduced at Boston of hearing charges against children
separately, and apart from the ordinary business of the lesser
tribunals. No great progress was made in the development of the idea in
Massachusetts, as the legal authorities were not fully convinced of the
utility or need for a separate court so long as the children were kept
strictly apart from adults, and this could be assured by a separate
session. But the system of "probation," by which children were handed
over to the kindly care and guardianship of an appointed officer, and
thus escaped legal repression, was created about the same time in Boston
and produced excellent results. The probation officer is present at the
judge's side when he decides a case, and is given charge of the
offender, whom he takes by the hand, either at his parent's residence or
at school, and continually supervises, having power if necessary to
bring him again before the judge. The example of Massachusetts in due
course influenced other countries, and especially the British colony of
South Australia, where a State Children's Department was created at
Adelaide in 1895, and three years later a juvenile court was opened
there for the trial of persons under eighteen and was conducted with
great success, though the system of probation officers was not
introduced. A juvenile court was also established at Toronto (Canada) on
the South Australian model.

The movement when once fully appreciated went ahead very rapidly. In the
United States Illinois was the first state to call a distinct children's
court into existence, and Judge Richard Tuthill was the pioneer at
Chicago, where the court was established