230 ON THE RELATION OF THE 



greater perfection iu their scientific form, the mental sciences have the 

 advantage that they have treated a richer subject, and one that is of 

 more intimate interest to man, namely, the human mind itself, with its 

 various desires and operations. They have the higher and more difii- 

 cult task ; but it is clear that the example of those branches of kuowledge 

 which have advanced further by reason of their easier subject-matter, 

 must not be lost to them. They may learn methods from them and 

 derive encouragement from the abundant harvest of their results. I 

 believe, indeed, that our times have already learned much from the 

 natural sciences. The great respect for facts and accurate collections, 

 a certain distrust of appearances, the striving after the discovery of 

 unvarying laws which distinguish our times from former time, seem to 

 indicate such an influence. 



How far mathematical studies, being the representatives of conscious 

 logical thought, should obtain a greater influence in our educational 

 systems, I will not here consider. That is mainly a question of time. 

 As science becomes more extended, system and organization must be 

 improved, and students will And themselves obliged to pass through a 

 severer course of thinking than grammar is able to afford. What I 

 have particularly noticed in my own experience with students who 

 pass from our grammar-schools to scientific and medical studies, is a 

 certain laxness in the application of strict universal laws. The gram- 

 matical rules to which they were accustomed are usually furnished with 

 long lists of exceptions ; the students are, therefore, not used to trusting 

 the certainty of the legitimate consequence of a general law without 

 reserve. Secondly, I find them too much inclined to seek authorities 

 where they might be able to form an opinion of their own. In phi- 

 lological studies, the scholar who can rarely overlook the whole field, 

 and who frequently must depend upon an aesthetic perception of 

 elegance of expression and of the genius of the language which require 

 long culture, will, even by the best teachers, be referred to authorities. 

 Both errors proceed from a certain sluggishness and an uncertainty of 

 thinking, which will disqualify the student for later scientific studies. 

 Mathematical studies are certainly the best remedy for both ; in them 

 there is absolute certainty of inference, and there is no authority but 

 our own reason. 



So much for the mutually supplementing tendencies of the mental 

 labors of different sciences. 



But the acquisition of knowledge is not the only object of man on 

 earth. Although the sciences awaken and develop the most subtle 

 powers of the human mind, yet he who studies only for the purpose of 

 knowing, doys not fulfill his destiny on earth. We often see highly 

 gifted men who are by some fortune or misfortune placed iu comfortable 

 circumstances, without ambition or energy for action, drag out a tedious 

 and unsatisfactory life, while they believe that they are carrying out 

 the object of their existence by increasing their knowledge and devel- 



