1826.] of the British System of Chemical Instruction, 37 S 



and may fearlessly assume a loftier style, suitable to the dignity 

 of his subject. But if he enter on a critical enumeration of the 

 discoveries of Scheele, Higgins, Richter, Lavoisier, Berthollet, 

 and Davy, before his class is well grounded, nay, far advanced 

 in knowledge of the facts of Chemistry, — the labour will be as 

 much misplaced, and of as little service, as a display of the 

 refined methods of La Place's Mecanique Celeste would be to 

 one who is labouring through the Elements of Euclid. 



A judicious recapitulation of the most important facts at the 

 conclusion of each lecture, and a brief summary of them at the 

 commencement of the succeeding one, will be found eminently 

 useful throughout the preparatory course. Almost every young 

 person understands a subject better by having it twice ex- 

 plained, and some are in absolute need of repetition, where the 

 doctrine is entirely new to them. Those necessarily absent 

 from a particular lecture, are at the next in evident want of a 

 summary of what they have lost, to enable them if possible to 

 recover it by reading, and profit by the remainder of the course, 

 which is, (or ought to be) an exhibition of particular facts, and 

 general reasonings on them, so arranged that the first parts ot 

 the series shall form natural and easy stepping-stones to enable 

 a constant audience to arrive at the last. 



An hour's lecture is perhaps too much for a very young 

 audience. Few youths of either sex have learned to command 

 their serious attention so long, and it is of particular conse- 

 quence to avoid fatiguing it. It is perhaps of equal importance 

 to avoid distracting it by entering upon unconnected topics in 

 the same day. The convenience of both parties must of course 

 determine the times and duration of the sittings, but it will be 

 invariably found that the oftener they can meet, and the less in 

 proportion the lecturer attempts to impress on his pupils* 

 memory at each meeting, the greater effect will his instructionji 

 have. 



A lecturer to a junior class should not only speak slowly and 

 distinctly, but if possible avoid reading to them. The prepara- 

 tion of manuscript lectures necessarily consumes a large portion 

 of time; and, after all, his pupils will yield far more deference to 

 passable extemporaneous, than to the best written communica- 

 tions. This is quite natural, and a teacher who speaks froni 

 the fullness of his subject (using his bottles and glasses and 

 specimens for memoranda as he proceeds), not only commands 

 greater attention, but really acquires a more intelligent and con- 

 vincing style than the best reader can hope to attain. Eloquence 

 is not indispensibly necessary to an instructor in this science : 

 high-wrought mystical language, and all attempts at display, 

 are foreign and injurious to the end proposed, particularly be- 

 fore an elementary class. If the lecturer be really possessed ot 

 the desire to teach, and set about it earnestly and unaffectedly 



