The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent Ellis County, Texas, has kept its educational program abreast of the development of the community and thereby has met the educational needs of the children in this section of the state.

It was this writer's problem to determine which of these two contentions is correct; i.e., to find out whether or not it is possible for a person to perceive a difference in 2/4 and 4/4 meters by listening to the accents. It was felt that a large group of college music students and faculty members should provide satisfactory subjects for this experiment. If, as a result of this experiment, it was found that these trained musicians could actually discriminate between the simple meter and its compound with any marked degree of consistency, it would then be admitted that the difference in the two meters is important. If, however, it was found that even musicians, who knew the technical distinctions between 2/4 and 4/4, could not really hear the difference in the two when the music was played by competent performers, it would then be contended that no important difference exists.

The problem which is reported in these pages represents an attempt to bring into one work a critical and analytical survey of the material currently available in the field of music therapy. There is such a wealth of new material, especially since the termination of the war, that the necessity for a new and up-to-date compilation of material is evident. The objective of this thesis is to collect general information as to the theory and practices of music therapy, rather than to secure for purposes of statistical analysis great numbers of detailed items in regard to a technique that has not yet been carried to a point where it can be standardized. However, this compilation does include some actual experiments which have been conducted in hospitals with the object of determining the effect on physical and mental patients of certain musical compositions and certain instruments.