V NOTES OF AN AFTER-DINNER SPEECH 123 



That is what I understand by scientific educa- 

 tion. To furnish a boy with such an education, 

 it is by no means necessary that he should devote 

 his whole school existence to physical science : in 

 fact, no one would lament so one-sided a proceed- 

 ing more than I. Nay more, it is not necessary 

 for him to give up more than a moderate share of 

 his time to such studies, if they be properly 

 selected and arranged, and if he be trained in 

 them in a fitting manner. 



I conceive the proper course to be somewhat as 

 follows. To begin with, let every child be 

 instructed in those general, views of the phse- 

 nomena of Nature for which we have no exact 

 English name. The nearest approximation to a 

 name for what I mean, which we possess, is 

 " physical geography." The Germans have a 

 better, " Erdkunde" (" earth knowledge " or 

 " geology " in its etymological sense), that is to 

 say, a general knowledge of the earth, and what 

 is on it, in it, and about it. If any one who has 

 had experience of the ways of young children will 

 call to mind their questions, he will find that so 

 far as they can be put into any scientific category, 

 they come under this head of " Erdkunde." The 

 child asks, " What is the moon, and why does it 

 shine ? " " What is this water, and where does it 

 run ? " " What is the wind ? " " What makes 

 this waves in the sea ? " " Where does this animal 

 live, and what is the use of that plant ? " And 



