170 SCIENCE AND ART AND EDUCATION VH 



less known, but not less remarkable. And not 

 the least valuable part of it is "the preface, in 

 which there occurs this passage : " Those who, 

 reading the words of authors, do not form sensible 

 images of the things referred to, obtain no true 

 ideas, but conceive false imaginations and inane 

 phantasms/' You see, William Harvey's words 

 are just the same in substance as those of Mr. 

 Freeman, only they happen to be rather more 

 than two centuries older. So that what I am now 

 saying has its application elsewhere than in 

 science ; but assuredly in science the condition of 

 knowing, of your own knowledge, things which you 

 talk about, is absolutely imperative. 



I remember, in my youth, there were detestable 

 books which ought to have been burned by the 

 hands of the common hangman, for they contained 

 questions and answers to be learned by heart, of 

 this sort, " What is a horse ? The horse is termed 

 Equus caballus ; belongs to the class Mammalia ; 

 order, Pachydermata ; family, Solidungula." Was 

 any human being wiser for learning that magic 

 formula ? Was he not more foolish 3 inasmuch as he 

 was deluded into taking words for knowledge ? It is 

 that kind of teaching that one wants to get rid of, 

 and banished out of science. Make it as little as 

 you like, but, unless that which is taught is based 

 on actual observation and familiarity with facts, it 

 is better left alone. 



There are a great many people who imagine that 



