144 Second Conference 



this experience have not coalesced into that correlated 

 and interrelated system without which even the be- 

 ginnings of science are impossible. And herein lies 

 a second danger, against which we must be on our 

 guard the danger lest the teacher, who is, let us sup- 

 pose, a scientific botanist, should grow impatient of 

 fostering the powers of observation and affording 

 facilities for simple investigation, and should en- 

 deavour to inculcate general laws and principles 

 beyond the comprehension of the child. 



How far technical terms are to be introduced must 

 depend on the tact and judgment of the teacher. 

 There is no more difficulty for the child in the terms 

 pistil, stamen, or petal than there is in the words 

 honeysuckle, dandelion, or buttercup. If the child 

 recognizes a pistil, there is no valid reason why he 

 should not be taught to call it by this name to which 

 the more comprehensive technical significance will in 

 due time become attached. But a whole battery of 

 technical terms, suitable to a botanist by profession, 

 may seriously overload the youthful digestive organs. 



Among those who advocate the desirability of lay- 

 ing firmly, in the early years of life, the foundation of 

 a more adequate knowledge of the phenomena of the 

 world in which we live, there are two sections. The 

 constituent members of the one section urge the value 

 and importance of those Nature-studies which we are 

 here met to encourage. The constituent members of 

 the other section lay special stress on the value and 

 importance of elementary experimental work in phy- 

 sics and chemistry. And unfortunately the views of 

 the two sections are to some extent at variance. 

 Granted, however, that both afford a valuable mental 



