COMMITTEE OF BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 179 



to him in his daily hfe. Let us get him imbued with that idea, 

 and votes will follow." 



Mr. W. F. Stanley, of Croydon, held that if science is to 

 make lieadway in the future we must get hold of the "■ boy in 

 the street," rather than the man. He pointed to the excellent 

 results achieved by the various Polytechnics, and suggested that 

 the local scientific societies should get into direct touch with 

 these institutions. 



" I think," remarked Mr. Stanley, " if our societies can 

 affiliate themselves to the polytechnics, and have representa- 

 tives on the committees of these bodies, which, so far as I am 

 aware, are very anxious for their admission, we shall have 

 ibegun to unite our societies together, and we shall be able to 

 draw them to a focus." 



Several high authorities on scientific education contributed 

 to the further discussion of the subject. The Rev. J. O. Bevan, 

 expressed his fear that the suggestions had come too late, and 

 that efforts ought to have made long ago for securing the due 

 representation of science on the various educational bodies 

 which had recently been constituted. He referred to the 

 unsatisfactory way in which science is, in many cases, 

 introduced to the young student, and observed that 



" Science is often at a discount in the minds of the pubHc because, as a matter 

 of fact, the science whicli is taught in some of our schools is, not to put too fine a 

 point on it, no science at all. We want it taught by well-trained teachers, 

 rather than that the children should be crammed with certain facts of science by a 

 teacher, who, because he has just taken a course of twelve lessons in agriculture, 

 for example, is supposed to know all about the nature of the soil, the value of 

 manures, the rotation of crops, and so on. As a matter of fact he knows very 

 little, and parents unite in holding him up to scorn. I do not want a cook who 

 can present yards of certificates, and yet spoils my dinner. Science is at a 

 disadvantage. Let us be careful ; we not only want science taught, but we want 

 it taught in a proper scientific way." 



The Chairman (Mr. ^Vhitaker) pointed out that at the 

 Croydon Natural History Society, a junior class of members had 

 been started. The young members pass into the Society as full 

 members, w^hen they become a certain age, without the formality 

 of election, but merely by an increase in their subscription. 



Mindful of the immense value of imbuing young people with 

 scientific tastes, it seems to me that much good might arise from 

 the general adoption of such a course as that which has been 



