258 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail 



3. Because the methods and results of science have so profoundly 

 affected all the philosophical thought of the age, that an educated 

 man is under a very great disadvantage if he is unacquainted 

 with them. 



4. Because very great intellectual pleasure is derived in after 

 life from even a moderate acquaintance with science. 



5. On grounds of practical utility as materially affecting the 

 present position and future progress of civilization. 



This opinion is fully supported by the popular judgment. All 

 who have much to do with the parents of boys in the upper classes 

 of life are aware that, as a rule, they value education in science on 

 some or all of the grounds above stated. 



4. There are difficulties in the way of introducing science into 

 schools ; and we shall make some remarks on them. They will be 

 found, we believe, to be by no means insuperable. First among 

 these difficulties, is the necessary increase of expense. For if 

 science is to be taught, at least one additional master must be 

 appointed ; and it will be necessary in some cases to provide him 

 with additional school-rooms, and a fund for the purchase of 

 apparatus. It is obvious that the money which will be requisite 

 for both the initial and current expenses must in general be obtained 

 by increasing the school fees. This difficulty is a real but not a 

 fatal one. In a wealthy country like England, a slight increase in 

 the cost of education will not be allowed (in cases where it is 

 unavoidable) to stand in the way of what is generally looked upon 

 as an important educational reform ; and parents will not be unwill- 

 ing to pay a small additional fee if they are satisfied that the 

 instruction in science is to be made a reality. 



Another ground of hesitation is the fear that the teaching of 

 science will injure the teaching in classics. But we do not think 

 that there need be the slightest apprehension that any one of the 

 valuable results of a classical education will be diminished by the 

 introduction of science. It is a very general opinion, in which 

 school-masters heartily concur, that much more knowledge and 

 intellectual vigour might be obtained by most boys, during the 

 many years they spend at school, than what they do as a matter 

 of fact obtain. It should, we think, be frankly acknowledged, and, 

 indeed, few are found who deny it, that an exclusively classical 

 education, however well it may operate in the case of the very few 

 who distinguish themselves in its curriculum, fails deplorably for 

 the majority of minds. As a general rule, the small proportion of 



