STUDY OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 31 



A fairly good method of gauging the trend of modern 

 scientific teaching in the higher schools is afforded by a con- 

 sideration of the qualifications of candidates who present them- 

 selves for the Entrance Scholarship Examinations in the older 

 universities. In former days it was common for a candidate 

 to present himself for examination in four subjects, and quite 

 usual for him to take at least three ; whereas now the majority 

 simply take chemistry and physics, and occasionally only 

 one of these. This is surely a sign of the times. Is it a 

 good sign? 



Many of the brilliant discoveries of recent date are un- 

 doubtedly due to the work of the chemist and physicist ; but 

 it has not always been so. The discoveries of geologists in 

 the past — as, for instance, in settling the antiquity of man — and 

 of biologists in throwing light on the origin of species, have 

 profoundly affected the thoughts of man ; and what has happened 

 will no doubt occur again. 



Also it must be remembered that research is not the only 

 goal of scientific teaching. The practical applications of science 

 are in many cases in the hands of those who are not engaged in 

 research work. Each of the natural sciences has its practical 

 bearing, and discouragement of its study by those who are 

 responsible for the education of the people of a nation will have 

 its effect in checking the progress of that nation. 



In considering the value of a subject in connection with 

 education, we are not, however, concerned so much with the 

 possibilities of research, or of the importance of that subject on 

 account of its applications, as with its actual use as a means of 

 education. We have therefore to consider what value physical 

 geography possesses in this aspect, and whether its value is in 

 any way different from that of the sciences which are usually 

 taught in schools — namely, chemistry and physics. 



As a means of quickening the memory, the subject is neither 

 better nor worse than any other in which a large number of 

 facts must be acquired by oral instruction, reading, and obser- 

 vation, and so co-ordinated as to give us that " exact, regular, 

 arranged knowledge " which is science. 



In cultivating the powers of observation, again, physical 

 geography shares much in common with the experimental 

 sciences. Inasmuch, however, as it depends little upon experi- 

 ment, but chiefly upon study of natural physical features, the 



