SCIENCE-CULTURE FOR THE MASSES. 31 



essence of this study lies in the cultivation of the observant 

 faculties, and in the true culture of the senses to appreciate, 

 and, through appreciation, to understand and enjoy the 

 objects which are set before the mind. 



To observe rightly and truly, and as science teaches us 

 to observe, is a habit which lies at the foundation of all order 

 in mental things ; and without this habit of looking at things 

 in their due sequence, thoughts and thinking can only 

 appear as acts and processes which exist but to confuse 

 and bewilder the thinker. And to the young, in their re- 

 sponsible duty too little thought of in its serious nature both 

 by pupil and teacher of laying up stores of mental wealth 

 for future use, how great a boon must be the acquirement of 

 these orderly habits in the work of the mind ! The great 

 difficulty, I presume, of every educator of youth is not to 

 arouse his pupils' thoughts, not to incite them to think, but 

 to train them so to think that they shall understand, 

 appreciate for themselves, and in due order arrange, for future 

 use, the material which their education furnishes. For the 

 well-balanced mind is like a duly arranged storehouse, where 

 the fruits of each year's industry are not only duly arranged 

 within, but are capable of being brought forth for use in 

 good order and at the proper season and time. I have no 

 intention of depreciating in the slightest degree the value of 

 mathematical and allied sciences as means whereby this 

 mind-training may be effected. I fully recognise the value 

 of such studies ; but I make bold at the same time to main- 

 tain that in their universality of application, and in their 

 suitability for both sexes, and for minds of all ages, the 

 natural sciences present means of wider application and of 

 fuller use than are included in the studies of exact science. 

 And withal, what argument is needed to enforce the 

 pleasantness of natural-science studies, which bring us into 

 contact with the fairest aspects of this great world, and with 

 all that is lovely and attractive in the surroundings of our 

 lives? If we have no appreciation of the beautiful in 

 nature which, by the way, we are supposed to seek in our 



