SCIENCE-CULTURE FOR THE MASSES. 29. 



first place, and as a matter of common sense detail, reason- 

 ably assert that they will never be in any position, or placed 

 in any circumstances in which a knowledge of the despised 

 branch will not come handy, and even be of valuable nature 

 to them? Human policy in this respect, and especially 

 that which would take upon itself the office of educational 

 censor, and of deciding according to its narrow lights what 

 should or should not be studied in view of the unknown 

 future, is of a very shortsighted kind. The study we prose- 

 cute from a liking for it, and in our leisure time, may in the 

 days of the future become the prop and mainstay of our 

 physical and intellectual life, and may unfold sources of 

 pleasure and gratification to us undreamt of until the occa- 

 sion calls them forth. 



But probably you will agree with me that this mode of 

 arguing for the limitation of studies is not a feasible argu- 

 ment, or one worth while attacking. It carries with it its 

 own condemnation, and in this light we can well afford to 

 leave it. Zoology, however, has more positive and direct 

 aspects in which to present herself for your mental accepta- 

 tion. For if you ask me now to explain the benefits of its 

 study, I reply, firstly, that its cultivation forms one of the 

 most valued means of mental training that can be found, 

 and that as such it should form an essential part of every 

 liberal educational programme ; secondly, that its study has 

 important bearings on commerce and the health of nations - f 

 and thirdly, that it involves considerations connected with 

 religion and morality which appeal to every man and woman 

 who counts it a privilege to be able to think and reason as 

 intelligent beings, with minds to cultivate, bodies to con- 

 serve, and hopes and beliefs to strengthen and defend. Such 

 a category of aims and attributes cannot be accepted by 

 you unreservedly or without questioning ; nor would I wish 

 you to simply take them for granted and without proof or 

 illustration of any kind. Let me, therefore, exemplify to 

 you the chief aspects in which zoological study fulfils the 

 undoubtedly high ends I have just enumerated. 



