5 io 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Gresham College to-night, there was a 

 pretty experiment of the blood of one dog 

 let out (till he died) into the body of an- 

 other on one side, while all his own run out 

 on the other side. The first died upon the 

 place, and the other very well, and likely to 

 do well This did give occasion to many 



pretty wishes, as of the blood of a Quaker 

 to be let into an archbishop [e. g., Laud ?] 

 and such like ; but as Dr. Croone says, may, 

 if it takes, be of mighty use to man's health, 

 for the amending of bad blood by borrow- 

 ing from a better body." 



W. WOODBRIDGE, M. D. 



EDITOR'S TABLE. 



SCIENCE IN EDUCATIONAL DISCIPLINE. 

 TTTE note a very healthy curiosity 

 V V on the part of many of our ex- 

 changes in regard to the progress of 

 Mr. Spencer's discussion of Sociological 

 Study. Now that he has considered 

 the "Theological Bias," there is much 

 solicitude expressed that he shall not 

 forget the " Scientific Bias." Well, he 

 has not forgotten it. We give his views 

 in the present number of the Monthly, 

 and commend them to the careful pe- 

 rusal of our readers. Mr. Spencer's 

 treatment of the subject, however, has 

 important bearings that he does not 

 pursue. Although pointing out the in- 

 fluence of the study of various sciences 

 in forming the mental habits necessary 

 to deal with the single subject of So- 

 ciology, he in reality develops the dis- 

 ciplinary value of the sciences in their 

 adaptation to the general work of edu- 

 cation. 



And the supreme question of educa- 

 tion is undoubtedly that of mental dis- 

 cipline. Its primary object is to get 

 the use of the tools of learning the 

 arts of reading, writing, and elementary 

 computation. So much is indispensable 

 for everybody; but, where education 

 proceeds to its higher work, the next 

 step is the application of the imple- 

 ments to the acquisition of knowledge. 

 Here difficulties arise from its bound- 

 less extent. All subjects cannot be 

 studied; whole ranges of them can 

 never be even approached by any sin- 

 gle mind ; and, as what can be actually 

 acquired is relatively so small, it was 

 long ago seen that the main work of 



the school must be to form the mind 

 and develop its capacities for effective 

 action in subsequent life. An impor- 

 tant truth was here recognized, but 

 its bearing and exact value were far 

 from well understood, and its undue 

 influence led to bad results. For, al- 

 though the principle is sound, that the 

 chief purpose of education is to culti- 

 vate the mental capacities, yet this can- 

 not be done except by means of studies 

 selected for the purpose ; and it was a 

 grave mistake to lose sight of the value 

 and adaptation of the knowledge to be 

 gained, however comparatively small 

 might be its amount. Yet such was 

 the result. The staple studies of a 

 liberal education had not been chosen 

 with a view to their special mental in- 

 fluence, and were originally adopted 

 for reasons of utility, because they 

 were suited to the business wants of 

 the professional classes. Yet their su- 

 premacy and permanence were defended 

 on the ground of their incomparable 

 merit for discipline. And, when mod- 

 ern studies began to press for increas- 

 ing recognition in the higher schools, 

 they were resisted on the principle that 

 the acquisition of knowledge was not 

 the object of academic study, but only 

 mental training. The studies in use 

 were defended for their superior claims 

 in this respect, and the sciences were 

 kept out of the schools, or but par- 

 tially and grudgingly admitted, because 

 they were said to be unsuited for the 

 attainment of discipline. But this is 

 one of the cases in which the truth 

 turns out to be exactly the reverse of 



