242 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



close study has suggested a method, and for that preliminary study to 

 be effective it must not be hampered by the thought of immediate prac- 

 tical returns. Had Darwin in mind the improvement of domestic races 

 of pigeons and poultry instead of the explanation of their origin, he 

 would have contributed much less than he did to be put to practical 

 use. Therefore the farmer should cease to look upon biology as an 

 expense and luxury meant to entertain rich men's sons; he should 

 recognize that any laboratory that is helping tc analyze the energies 

 of life is contributing something, indirect but none the less important, 

 to further our usage of plants and animals. 



These views are by no means generally held ; they have to be taught. 

 To transmit the new ideas of each generation is the business of teachers, 

 and we may now discuss what kind of men make the best kind of 

 teachers. To this I would answer that, other things being equal, the 

 investigator makes the best teacher. For the teacher's duty is not so 

 much to inform as to interest, and the greater interest he has in his 

 own subject the greater influence he will be likely to have over his 

 pupils. Clearly, then, the investigator should teach well because he 

 has the enthusiasm to undertake the difficult task of advancing his 

 subject. Further than this, he can best treat his subject because he 

 has won knowledge for himself as well as through others, he most fully 

 realize the difficulties and problems, and he should be the least likely 

 to pin his faith to unfounded theories. On the other hand, that teacher 

 can not have great influence who has learned simply from his school 

 and college courses and from text-books, and who has not tried to 

 penetrate into the fascinating field that lies beyond. Louis Agassiz 

 was the greatest teacher of natural science that this country has yet 

 enjoyed, and he was through and through an investigator; take the 

 example of any man whose students have been led to follow his pro- 

 fession, and you will find he was an original thinker. One man may 

 be a very storehouse of detailed information, yet be unable to teach, 

 for too much knowledge is an impediment to clear thought. Another 

 may be ignorant of many things, which is really a desirable quality, 

 and because of his creative spirit of research be an inspiring teacher. 

 The teacher's business is not to drill his students so that they soak in 

 facts like so many sponges ; but he should give them the wish to blossom 

 and break into fruit of their own. Were encyclopedic knowledge the 

 ideal, one generation would receive the knowledge of the preceding, 

 no more, and the centuries when such conditions prevailed were well 

 termed the dark ages. The teacher should create as well as transmit, 

 for creation strengthens his teaching quality. Thus it happens that in 

 the long run it is pure science that is forwarding every movement in 

 general education. We find a parallel in the case of musicians : there 

 are many with a good technique, but very few with the power to com- 



