28 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCB 
but even synthesis is not peculiar to science. To pass by. the 
incidental and the temporary, and to reach the real and 
permanent contribution of science to education is to discover 
that it lies, not in teaching the laboratory method, in develop- 
ing the power of observation, in cultivating the spirit of analy- 
sis, Or even in carrying one to the heights of synthesis. It is 
in the mental attitude demanded in reaching the synthesis. In 
this regard the demands of science are diametrically opposed to 
those of the humanities, for example, using this term to express 
the great region of literature and its allies. The general effect 
of the humanities in the scheme of education may be summed 
up in the single word appreciation. They seek to relate the 
student to what has been said or done by mankind, that his 
critical sense may be developed and that he may recognize what 
is best in human thought and action. To recognize what is best 
involves a _ standard of comparison. In most cases this 
standard is derived and conventional; in rare cases it is orig- 
inal and individual; in no case is it founded on the essential 
nature of things, in absolute truth, for it is likely to shift. It 
is the artistic, the esthetic, which predominates, not the abso- 
lute. The whole process is one of self-injection in order to 
reach the power of appreciation. If the proper result of the 
humanities is appreciation, whose processes demand self- 
injection, the proper and disinctive result of science is a 
formula, to obtain which there must be rigid self-elimination. 
Any injection of self into a scientific synthesis vitiates the re- 
sult. The standard is not a variable and artificial one, 
developed from the varying tastes of men, but absolute, founded 
upon eternal truth. 
Two such distinct mental attitudes as self-injection nae self- 
elimination are not contradictory, but complementary. The 
exclusive development of either one must result in a lopsided 
development. Persistent self-injection tends to mysticism, a 
confusion of ideals or even vagaries with realities, a prolific 
source of all irrational beliefs. Persistent self-elimination nar- 
rows the vision to a horizon touched by the senses. The two 
processes and the two results are so distinct and so comple- 
mentary, that any scheme of education which does not provide 
for the definite cultivation of both of these attitudes is in con- 
stant danger of resulting in mental distortion. 
