This is the first of two talks, within the series, on 'The Difficult Child.' Today Mrs. St. Aubyn will discuss the problem in general, and in the second she will deal with it rather more particularly. Despite the attention it now receives, the 'difficult' child is probably no more a problem of today than of yesterday; but education tends more and more to attempt an understanding of the individual child rather than children collectively, and this has brought to light the need to understand all special characteristics and idiosyncrasies, since therein, probably, lies the key to the child's development.