u 4 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



history or Latin that is, by committing 

 and reciting lessons from books. It is 

 universally admitted that this is ab- 

 surd, but what to do about it is the 

 difficulty. The system is self-perpetu- 

 ating. The normal schools go on in 

 the old ruts, and continue to furnish 

 teachers of the old type. Higher 

 standards of attainment may be ex- 

 acted in the routine branches, and there 

 is unquestionably some improvement in 

 methods; but little is done to bring 

 the minds of pupils into familiar rela- 

 tions with Nature. Scarcely any thing 

 is done for the thorough cultivation 

 of the observing powers by exercising 

 them upon objects and experiments. In 

 response to the demand for studying 

 Nature, we have only the rude expe- 

 dient of object-lessons for children, ad- 

 ministered by teachers who know noth- 

 ing of physical science on the one 

 hand, nor the science of the growing 

 mind on the other. 



What we want in every State in the 

 Union is what Prof. Agassiz is prepar- 

 ing to supply in Massachusetts, an op- 

 portunity for teachers to come together, 

 where there are cabinets, laboratories, 

 specimens, and experiments, and an 

 able corps of instructors who are at 

 home with all these resources, and can 

 teach directly from Nature herself. If 

 the vacation-weeks only are to be de- 

 voted to this work, the scheme of 

 studies will require to be drawn up 

 with strict reference to their urgent 

 and practical requirements. Nantucket 

 will be favorable for studying the zoo- 

 logical productions of the sea ; but Na- 

 ture is an inexhaustible museum, and 

 every place abounds with the material 

 for the illustration of scientific study. 

 The air, the fields, the woods, and the 

 streams, swarm with life ; the rocks 

 are uncovered, minerals abound; the 

 earth is carpeted with vegetation, the 

 forces of Nature are ever playing 

 around us, while every family, school, 

 church, factory, poor-house, jail, neigh- 

 borhood, and village, affords materials 



for the scientific study of social phe- 

 nomena and laws. What is needed is, 

 to teach teachers to bring their minds 

 to bear directly upon those things, to 

 observe, compare, and analyze them, 

 so that their knowledge may be real, 

 positive, and worthy the name of sci- 

 ence. It may not be easy to found a 

 proper curriculum for a scientific teach- 

 ers' institute, selecting just the proper 

 subjects, and assigning them their 

 due proportions ; yet the work is 

 entirely practicable, and experience 

 would soon fix the adjustments. As a 

 preliminary step to such a movement, 

 nothing could be better than a national 

 convention of teachers, professors, and 

 school superintendents, called for the 

 distinctive purpose of laying down the 

 plan and organizing the means for the 

 promotion of scientific education. Prof. 

 Agassiz has broken the ice, and will 

 show us what it is possible to do in this 

 direction during a single vacation. His 

 enterprise is a national movement, and 

 at once raises the important question 

 as to how similar advantages may be 

 gained for the general ^education of the 

 country. 



Since the above article was put into 

 type, an important change has taken 

 place in Prof. Agassiz's programme. 

 He has been presented with an island 

 as a location for his school, and with a 

 $50,000 endowment to assist in defray- 

 ing its expenses. The donor is Mr. 

 John Anderson, of New York, and the 

 island of 100 acres, known as Penikese, 

 is one of the Elizabeth group, near 

 New Bedford, four miles from the 

 main-land, and twenty-four miles from 

 Newport. It has been the summer 

 residence of Mr. Anderson, and con- 

 tains such buildings and improvements 

 as a wealthy occupant would construct 

 for purposes of residence. What the 

 effect of this change will be upon the 

 original plan is yet problematical, but 

 it can hardly fail to be considerable. 

 We see it stated that $30,000 addi- 



