STUDY AND RESEARCH. 663 



energetic antagonist of the movement, lias liacl to yield, and a qualified 

 representative of the Evangelical Church, our esteemed colleague, Dill- 

 man, a few years ago made use of the following significant words in his 

 rectorate address: "A church which is unable to stand the light of 

 science, or is compelled to mitigate its brilliance by all sorts of colored 

 glasses, should be laid with the dead." Truly the modern conception 

 of life is based AvholJy upon the natural sciences, and no one can 

 seriously dispute the fact. 



In view thereof the question is permissible whether the young- 

 charges of our higher schools ought not to be initiated into this new 

 knowledge to a greater degree than hitherto. We willingly concede 

 that disputed points, upon which the authorities themselves are not 

 agreed, shall be excluded from the instruction in the schools, and shall 

 be reserved for the special training at the university. On the other 

 hand, it is just to demand that a young man supposed to be sufficiently 

 self-dependent to make proper use of academic liberty of study should 

 be able to take in the chief results of astronomic and biologic science 

 without danger to himself. Can he be considered mature if his whole 

 world in a sense is closed to him ? And how can the instruction at the 

 university be expected to take effect when the young man is left 

 without the instruments needed for his difficult work ? 



He needs mathematics, not for its own sake nor to be able to under- 

 stand the movements of the heavenly bodies. Physics has gradually 

 turned into a mathematical science, and even chemistry and physiology 

 find themselves forced daily with more urgency to make delicate calcu- 

 lations. They enable the investigator to i^enetrate to the comprehen- 

 sion of the most recondite processes, and to learn not only to Judge of 

 the strength of living forces, but to calculate them accurately, and so 

 regulate their j)ractical application. 



But mathematics alone is inadequate. Thinking is a necessary fiic- 

 tor in understanding. Many have an idea that it is supererogation to 

 make thinking an object of study; that systematic thinking is not 

 indispensable to success. Unfortunately even logic has fallen almost 

 into oblivion among students. At many schools the opinion prevails 

 that it is sufficient occasionally to quote a proposition of logic. How 

 is it possible for one who does not know the laws of thought to study 

 psychology ? How can the complex relations between spiritual acts and 

 the j)hysical constitution be made clear to him? The young medical 

 student enjoys an advantage in this regard; but what can be expected 

 of the jurist, the theologian, the pedagogue? At least the school can 

 inculcate respect for philosophy; even that were a great attainment. 

 The impulse to learn to think philosophically would soon assert itself. 



Finally the natural sciences. What admirable topics for study and 

 for instruction are offered by the descriptive sciences — botany, zoology, 

 and mineralogy! It is a misconception to assume that the university 

 teacher lays chiei" stress upon systematic information. By no means; 



