420 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



State teachers' associations. They are only partially answered to most men by 

 the fact that a college education multiplies by fifty tlie chances of promotioa 

 to offices of trust and authority, and brings into active life at least ten years 

 earlier. Our assertion that these educated idiots, as they are called, are the 

 exceptions is met with a " may be so," or at least with a look of doubt. 



We cannot wonder, then, if there appears a disposition to experiment in some 

 new process, or some new adjustment of old methods. Usually, as in most 

 other reforms, the first eifort is to reach an extreme in opposition to what is 

 pronounced a failure. So at this time we find a class of earnest men, con- 

 vinced of the inefficiency of our present schools, rushing to the conclusion that, 

 not science, not literature, but industrial arts are the subjects to bo taught. 

 Since a comfortable living is the first requisite of happiness, should we not 

 secure first that training in skill which may ensure ability to earn such a living? 

 Since the industrial arts must ever be the foundation of material wealth, and 

 so of all prosperity, are not these the solid basis of training for efficient men? 

 Let the few who have leisure delve in the mysteries of science or the intrica- 

 cies of mathematics, but the many must find their work and their wisdom in 

 a trade well learned. This view is supported by a grand array of facts where 

 none are needed, while only conjectures are offered to prove the doubtful state- 

 ment, that proper education and true wisdom will result from such training in 

 a single art or in several of them. 



But without deciding the question, let us briefly examine the nature and the 

 relation of science and these arts with a view to their use in the training of 

 youth up to maturity, so as to develop the ability sought in every system of 

 education. 



Science — and I suppose we shall all accept the definition — is such an arrange- 

 ment of the facts in the world of nature, including humanity, as to set forth 

 the underlying principles of its existence. Facts without clear logical arrange- 

 ment are not science ; and speculations without facts are not science, — though 

 both may be involved in its study. Science seeks to bring all facts and all 

 phenomena into their proper relations as cause or effect. Tlio man of science 

 gathers facts for classification and analysis, that he may know, not only of 

 what the world is made, but how its parts are adjusted, and under wliat uni- 

 form principles it takes its onward course. The laws of mind and of matter 

 are his never-ending study. Do not smile in superior wisdom if lie cannot tell 

 you the definite use of all his knowlege. You might find the same difficulty 

 in answering the simple question, what is the use of sunlight? All of us 

 believe that knowledge truly scientific is the basis of all prudent action and of 

 all progress; and — leaving pure wickedness aside — that imperfect, that is, 

 unscientific knowledge is the source of all waste and destruction, the "little 

 learning" which is the '^dangerous thing." Need the scientific investiga- 

 tor trouble himself about the immediate application of his discovery under 

 patent of his government or for his private benefit, when he finds that every 

 universal fact in the past has found its niche in the world of action? Every 

 day brings to notice the boundaries of human power because of limited 

 knowledge. Like Agassiz and Faraday, he has "no time to make money," 

 because he is making the truth for future generations. The fortune he labors 

 to leave to the world is always as dear to him as if it were counted in stocks 

 or bonds or golden eagles; for it represents his labor of love to the world. 



That even abstruse science is of use to the world — to you and to me — may 

 be shown in a general way by illustrations. Nothing could seem less imme- 

 diately useful tiian Galvani's tickling the frog's leg with his various metallic 



