ON THE STUDY OF PHYSICS. 215 
CHAPTER XL 
ON THE STUDY OF PHYSICS.* 
I HOLD in my hand an uncorrected proof of the syllabus 
of tliis course of lectures, and the title of the present lec- 
ture is there stated to be " On.the Importance of the Study 
of Physics as a Means of Education." The corrected proof, 
however, contains the title: "On the Importance of the 
Study of Physics as a Branch of Education." Small as 
this editorial alteration may seem, the two words suggest 
two radically distinct modes of viewing the subject before 
us. The term Education is sometimes applied to a single 
faculty or organ, and if we know wherein the education of 
a single faculty consists, this will help us to clearer notions 
regarding the education of the sum of all the faculties, or 
of the mind. When, for example, we speak of the educa- 
tion of the voice, what do we mean? There are certain 
membranes at the top of the windpipe which throw into 
vibration the air forced between them from the lungs, thus 
producing musical sounds. These membranes are, to some 
extent, under the control of the will, and it is found that 
they can be so modified by exercise as to produce notes of 
a clearer and more melodious character. This exercise we 
call the education of the voice. We may choose for our 
exercise songs new or old, festive or solemn; the education 
of the voice being the object aimed at, the songs may be 
regarded as the means by which this education is accom- 
plished. I think this expresses the state of the case more 
clearly than if we were to call the songs a branch of edu- 
cation. Regarding also the education of the human mind 
as the improvement and delvoprnent of the mental faculties, 
I shall consider the study of Physics as a means toward the 
attainment of this end. From this point of view, I degrade 
Physics into an implement of culture, and this is my de- 
liberate design. 
The term Physics, as made use of in the present 
Lecture, refers to that portion of natural science which lies 
midway between astronomy and chemistry. The former 
indeed, is Physics applied to " masses of enormous weight," 
* From a lecture delivered in the Royal Institution of Great Britain 
in the spring of 1854. 
