PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 373 



function in a community, because they keep alive the interest 

 in all kinds of knowledge. They tend to impress on the public 

 the importance of all new knowledge in all that concerns 

 national greatness. Anyone who joins a society of this kind 

 hopes, I believe, to aid in some way or other towards the 

 advancement of learning, or to assist in discovering some pepper- 

 grain of truth in order to augment the sum of human informa- 

 tion. It often seems to me that societies like this might be 

 developed, in many directions, along lines which would be of 

 great benefit to individual members and to the city or com- 

 munity at large. In the Society with which I am more or 

 less connected I have endeavoured to point out some of the 

 directions in which that might take place, but I shall not 

 attempt this evening to do so, lest I should lay myself open 

 to the charge of being the wise man from the East ! Therefore, 

 I conclude by conveying to you the congratulations of the 

 Scottish Natural History Society on this your Jubilee cele- 

 bration. 



Mr. D. B. Morris, Town-Clerk of Stirling, said — If I attempt 

 to say anything this evening on the subject of " Nature Teach- 

 ing," it is because I take a great interest in it in connection 

 with School Board work. Perhaps you will bear with me if 

 I suggest some considerations that will guide us in directing 

 the young to the study of Nature. It seems to me that we 

 should get some help if we enquire, What does the study of 

 Nature mean to the ordinary grown-up naturalist? and ask if 

 that will guide us in any way to teach the young. What does 

 the study of Nature mean to us? What faculties of the mind 

 does it bring into play? First of all, there is the faculty of 

 observation. It is the old story of " eyes and no eyes," but as 

 every speaker on the subject refers to this I need not dwell 

 upon it. Did you ever notice that the young child using his 

 eyes always sees the small objects, while larger objects are 

 unnoticed? He will see the distant hill if it is pointed out to 

 him, but he has no conception of landscape as a whole. 



My second point is, faculty of judgment. This is what is 

 often called the scientific habit of mind, and to many men this 

 is the end of scientific training. But this is a faculty which, 



