26 THE TEACHING BOTANIST 



come from the quarry to the builder, of diverse sizes, 

 shapes, and textures. The skilled workman does not 

 first reduce them all to one kind, but he takes ac- 

 count of the differences of their natures, and makes 

 of this but a common building stone, of that a col- 

 umn, and of another the capstone of an arch. So the 

 effort to train students all alike through their school 

 course, leaving the cultivation of their particular tal- 

 ents to the college, is not logical and not economical. 

 In summary, the opinions as to the place of the 

 Sciences in Education that are here advanced are these, 

 that the Sciences are intrinsically of as great educa- 

 tional value as other subjects, for some minds more valu- 

 able and for some less, and hence should be admitted to 

 full equality with them, being required where they are 

 required and they being elective where the Sciences 

 are elective; that since the school curricula are full, the 

 Sciences should be introduced as limited options and the 

 older subjects put upon the same basis ; that the election 

 should be on a group system to secure all needful 

 breadth ; that schools which cannot afford to teach 

 several Sciences shall teach but one or two, making 

 these the equivalents of elementary courses in the col- 

 leges ; that specialization should be made the centre of 

 every individual's education. Whether or not the reader 

 agrees with these conclusions matters less than that, he 

 shall have definite opinions upon these subjects and 

 actively forward them. 



