494 Proceedings. 



immediate aims, having regard to those special New Zealand problems 

 which early in this address I declared could only be carried out on New 

 Zealand soil ? In this farming community nothing more demands years 

 of close study than this soil itself. The world over, soil science, notwith- 

 standing many books on the subject, is in its infancy. Chemical analysis 

 of a soil, even were the methods for so doing far more satisfactory than 

 at present, is only one portion of the question. The extremely difficult 

 matter of soil-physics at once confronts the investigator. Then there is 

 the rich soil-flora and the rich soil-fauna. When more of a fundamental 

 character is known as to the relation of soil-physics, soil-chemistry, and soil- 

 biology to one another, then undoubtedly new methods of soil-utilization 

 will be in sight. 



Turning to a very different matter, there is the science of economics — 

 really hardly a science as yet. A small coninmnity such as we are offers 

 material not too bulky to estimate rightly. The effect of our legislation 

 called " experimental," and of that which is non-experimental also, ought 

 to be gauged with fair ease. Problem after problem is offered, but all such 

 problems must be approached in the spirit of true science ; all political bias 

 must go to the winds ; doubt may unhesitatingly be felt for many accepted 

 dogmas ; the accurate methods of science must alone be used. 



In the domain of anthropology there is no need always to confine one's 

 investigations to primitive races. Amongst the settlers of a new land 

 evolution in certain directions goes on apace. The question of dialect 

 among the people of New Zealand would form a valuable study. The 

 mere record of how various words of the English language are generally or 

 occasionally pronounced in various parts of the Dominion would make a 

 beginning in the study of that gradual change of dialect which is taking 

 place, but which is far more noticeable by the old than by the young. The 

 Oxford Dictionary lays down the so-called correct pronounciation of each 

 word. But no one follows its dictum. On the other hand, according to 

 its tenets the most cultured are constant sinners. 



Education— still far awav from being a science — should be approached 

 by true scientific methods. At present the best that can be got are 

 opinions more or less biased. The teacher of classics of the present day 

 will explain that Latin affords the perfect mental training : the school- 

 master in Queen Elizabeth's time would explain that it was necessary to 

 read and write the Latin tongue fluently, since it was the written language 

 of the learned. Many subjects are taught not because any one reaUv 

 knows that they are essential, but because it is the fashion to teach them ; 

 and so too with the methods of teaching. Certainly the sooner education 

 becomes an exact science the better for the nation, so that less time be 

 Avasted in teaching useless subjects or using bad methods. The use of 

 standards in the elementary school may be necessary, but it is biologically 

 unsound, as it assumes that all the scholars are equal in intellect. At one 

 time — and the custom is not extinct by any means here in New Zealand — 

 every girl in an English middle-class school was taught music, no matter 

 the degree of tone-deafness with which she was afflicted. How many, 

 too, I wonder, are there in our schools who are forced to study subjects 

 for which they have no aptitude t 



There is room for much research in New Zealand history, young thougli 

 our country may be. The splendid gift of his library to the people of the 

 Dominion by the late Mr. .\. H. Turnbull should certainly stimulate historical 

 research. With tliis end in view we may cordially welcome the establish- 

 ment of an historical section by the Wellington branch of our Institute. 



