CXXVI ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



It has been said that the greatest discovery of the 19th century 

 was the " Suspended Judgment," and it -vrill be found that this logical 

 advance to the recognition of the principle of the temporal character of 

 the judgment furnishes the key to the great transformation which has 

 taken place. The focus of scientific inquiry has shifted from the static 

 Ic the dynamic, from classification to function, from examination of a 

 single cross-section to the examination of a series of succeeding cross- 

 sections, with the purpose of gaining control of the life process. In 

 other words, it has been found on the psychological aide that the for- 

 ward movement of thought activity is not from individual to universal, 

 but from individual to individual through the universal. 



The purpose of scientific investigation has thus become not so much 

 the possession of a knowledge of certain facts for their own sake as the 

 acquisition of a power of insight — a capacity to understand a new 

 situation and to prophesy with some degree of certainty regarding what 

 is likely to take place in the future. Thus the criterion of scientific 

 investigation is this: Does this activity prepare the learner to see 

 farther, and do better the next time, and conversely in just so far as we 

 perform any activity as to give us clearer insight and better control in 

 future reconstruction in just so far are we proceeding scientifically, no 

 matter whether the work be done by the little child or by the trained 

 specialist. With this conception of science, nature study may be de- 

 fined on the knowledge side as the adaptation of natural science to the 

 needs of the growing' child and on the side of discipline as the placing 

 of the child in intelligent and sympathetic relation with his environ- 

 ment. 



A study of genetic psychology, reinforced by many years of school- 

 room experiment, reveals the fact that during the period of childhood 

 (from 6 to 12 or 13 years), when the pupil is in the primary classes 

 of the elementary school, the unity of interest is found in serial order, 

 a. relation of means and ends, and in the control of motor energy. He 

 likes to observe the process from one stage to another, and see how it is 

 going to come out. He also finds his greatest pleasure in activity and 

 in the development of skill. It is a delight to him to find that he has 

 gained power to cause the process to come out in a different way from 

 ivhat it otherwise would. He is not content with mere play as he was 

 in the previous infancy stage, but begins to look ahead, to make plans 

 for the future and to work for the achievement of his purpose. With 

 such an attitude the child naturally finds the close differentiation and 

 severe experimentation of laboratory work distasteful, but such forms 

 cf study as the life history of birds, trees and insects, the care of 



