BIOLOGY IX EDUCATION. 11 



of animals and plants, present subjects which may be made y 

 with sufficient means of illustration, to convey a great 

 amount of solid information to the youngest pupil who is 

 able to think for himself or herself. For example, I do not 

 see that an intelligent teacher, with a good set of diagrams 

 and a few specimens, should have the slightest difficulty in 

 interesting a very youthful auditory in the structure and 

 metamorphosis of Insects, and in the general course of 

 insect-life. He would find in the details furnished by the 

 common observation of his pupils, a ready assent to and 

 illustration of most of the facts he would set before them ; 

 and he would send them back with renewed interest from 

 his class-room to study the caterpillars in the garden, or the 

 development of the silkworm's eggs, which formerly had 

 been kept as mere playthings. A lecture on Shells and 

 their inmates would in like manner be readily illustrated ; 

 and with the aid of a few microscopes and some stagnant 

 water, the wonder and interest of the pupils might be excited 

 over the description of lesser worlds than ours. 



With pupils of more advanced age and intelligence, the 

 sphere and labours of the teacher of biology may be greatly 

 extended. There is no reason why, for example, a regular 

 systematic course of lectures on zoology or botany should 

 not be given to pupils who make up the greater bulk of the 

 population of secondary schools. My own experience m 

 this respect goes to prove that average school pupils may, if 

 required, be trained to a pitch of excellence in zoology equal 

 to that so far as the test of a written examination may be 

 deemed satisfactory proof demanded from candidates for 

 honours in art examinations, or for the natural history part 

 of the first professional examination in medicine in the 

 Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. To pupils of this 

 age the teacher may enter into considerable detail, and may 

 even, if necessary, touch upon the hypothetical questions 

 which environ the modern study of biology, and which may 

 in some degree facilitate, through their suggesting the com- 

 parison of views, the comprehension of other parts and 



