ELEMENTARY SCIENCE. 835 



life of learned leisure or a professional career. In doing- so 

 it is only necessary to mention that, beside tiie probable 

 future need, which many will realise, for exact scientific 

 knowledge as a basis for technical training in the different 

 occupations to which they betake themselves, there is the 

 broad truth that the well-being of every person dej)ends 

 largely on the regulation of his life and conduct in accord- 

 ance with the laws of nature ; and that not only is the 

 individual's own submission to these laws necessary on his 

 own account, but that in addition his welfare is affected in 

 many ways by the life and conduct of his neighbours and 

 fellow citizens. So it follows that for the good of society at 

 large it is desirable, not merely to spread the truths of science 

 as widely as possible, but also to encourage among people 

 generally the spirit of scientific research ; as the more seekers 

 there are for undiscovered truth, the greater hojje will there 

 be of finding it. We are still very fai' from having learned 

 all that should be known concerning the physical, chemical, 

 and vital properties of the different kinds of matter, organic 

 and inorganic, in the midst of which we live and move and 

 have, our being ; es])ecially with regard to their capabilities of 

 directly hurting or benefiting the human organism, or of 

 doing so indirectly by helping or hindering the growth of 

 those animal and vegetable organisms on which we depend 

 for subsistence. 



In determining what in the way of science should be taught 

 in primary schools, it is necessary to consider what subjects 

 are most suitable to the children's immature mental powers, 

 as affording the best kind of discipline for their development, 

 and to take into account the comparative usefulness of the 

 different kinds of knowledge in subserving human wants. It 

 is obvious that anything hke abstruse reasoning is altogether 

 out of place in a curriculum for young children ; as is likewise 

 every subject concerning which a comprehension of the data 

 implies a mental development or an experience of life im- 

 possible, or at least undesirable in childhood. But most of 

 the concrete sciences have their foundation in facts, easily 

 cognisable by very young children. So, without their minds 

 being burdened with any elaborate terminology during the 

 early years of school life, they may quietly, without any brain- 

 oppressing effort or stimulation to premature development, 

 acquire a large stock of knowledge, more or less organised, 

 concerning common things and phenomena that come 

 frequently under their notice, and so have a groundwork laid 



