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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



is the possession of those who have 

 adopted the scientific habit of thought. 

 A writer in the "Lancet" remarks that 

 a supersensitiveness with regard to 

 truth is the essential characteristic of a 

 scientific frame of mind. Every sugges- 

 tion that is offered in explanation of 

 phenomena which are imperfectly un- 

 derstood is received with cautious re- 

 serve. This characteristic is liable to be 

 mistaken for uncertainty or for preju- 

 dice ; but in reality it is solely the out- 

 ward sign of a just appreciation of the 

 numerous sources of fallacy, which so 

 often tend to render -the most brilliant 

 speculations worthless, when examined 

 rigidly and coldly by the ideal standard 

 of truth. When gauging the probability 

 of the truth of any suggested explana- 

 tion, it is held to be scientifically un- 

 sound to welcome it merely because 

 some one of undoubted honesty of pur- 

 pose has expressed his entire belief in 

 it. There is always the possibility of 

 mental bias to be reckoned with, as well 

 as the possibility of unconscious delu- 

 sion. No single sense is to be implicitly 

 trusted. A preconceived idea may lead 

 to the recognition of one property, while 

 others of greater importance are over- 

 looked. Pushed to its logical conclu- 

 sion, this ideal standard of truth de- 

 mands more proof than can ever be 

 obtained, and for working purposes it 

 is found convenient to employ what 

 may be called provisional truths, which 

 we accept on account of the facts that 

 appear to support them being vastly 

 more numerous than those that appear 

 to oppose them, or because they have 

 been set forth by careful, conscientious 

 observers, after thorough consideration 

 and elimination of all probable sources 

 of error. 



Imperfect education fosters delusion ; 

 indeed, delusions are most rife with the 

 ambitious condition which often comes 

 from " a little learning," when the whole 

 is liable to be rashly assumed from the 

 part ; when a false appearance of truth 

 may bo mistaken for explanation ; when 



the result of an erroneous observation, 

 unchecked by scientific training, may be 

 hastily considered to amount to demon- 

 stration. Education can have no more 

 important aim than to equip pupils with 

 the best known method for the recogni- 

 tion of truth. Every day of their fives 

 they will have to decide as to the truth or 

 falsity of some statement ; and what is to 

 prevent their going astray, if they have 

 not been practiced in searching out all 

 modifying circumstances of a problem, 

 if they have not been accustomed to 

 finding the balance of evidence, and 

 taught the great lesson that judgment is 

 not to be given rashly, but must be sus- 

 pended when sufficient data to warrant 

 a decision are not obtainable ? The old 

 studies of our schools do nothing toward 

 training the young in examining evi- 

 dence and forming judgments. The 

 study of science, however, when rightly 

 conducted, mainly consists of the pro- 

 cess of investigation, the very instru- 

 ment which pupils must be able to use 

 handily in after life to save themselves 

 from becoming the victims of impostors 

 and swindlers. Aside from the material 

 advantages involved, the habit of mak- 

 ing truth the goal of his exertions in- 

 spires in the young learner a respect 

 and fondness for truth for its own sake 

 which can not fail to have an elevating 

 influence on his character. Science 

 should have, therefore, an important 

 place in every school programme ; it 

 should be introduced in the lowest 

 grades, in order to give the child's un- 

 folding faculties the proper bent; and 

 it should be continued throughout the 

 school course in order to save the half- 

 formed habit of intelligent inquiry from 

 being lost by an interruption of its ex- 

 ercise. Our children could well afford 

 to grow up in ignorance of the height 

 of Mount Ohuquibaraba and the length 

 of the Brahmapootra ; they might dis- 

 pense with a smattering of French, or 

 do without the Latin declensions and 

 conjugations, if the time thus saved en- 

 abled them to gain some facility in sift- 



