em of personal guardianship and close
supervision exercised by the probation officers, official and voluntary.
Where the intervention of the newly constituted tribunal can not only
save the child from evil association when first arrested, but can rescue
him without condemnation and committal to prison, its functions may be
relied upon to diminish crime by cutting it off at the source. Much
depends upon the quality and temperament of the presiding authority.
Where a judge with special aptitude can be appointed, firm, sympathetic,
tactful and able to gain the confidence of those brought before him, he
may do great good, by dealing with each individual and not merely with
his offence, realizing that the court does not exist to condemn but to
strengthen and give a fresh chance. Where the children's court is only a
branch of the existing jurisdiction worked by the regular magistrate or
judge fulfilling his ordinary functions and not specially chosen, the
beneficial results are not so noticeable. (A. G.)

CHILDREN'S GAMES. The study of traditional games has in recent years
become an important branch of folklore research in England, and has
contributed not a little towards elucidating many unrecorded facts in
early history. These games may be broadly divided into two
kinds--dramatic games, and games of skill and chance. These differ
materially in their object. Games of skill and chance are played for the
purpose of winning property from a less fortunate player. The dramatic
games consist of non-singing and singing games; they are divided between
boys' games and girls' games. Boys' games are mostly of a contest
character, girls' of a more domestic type. The boys' dramatic games have
preserved some interesting beliefs and customs, but the tendency in
these games, such as "prisoner's base," has been to drop the words and
tune and to preserve only that part (action) which tends best for
exercise and use in school playgrounds. The girls' singing-games have
not developed on these lines, and have therefore not lost so much of
their early characteristics. The singing games consist of words, tune
and action. The words, in verse, express ideas contained in customs not
now in vogue, and they may be traced back to events taking place between
men and women and between people of different villages. The tunes are
simple, and the same tune is frequently used for different games. The
actions are illustrative of the ideas to be expresse