VII THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY 223 



ness, what is the good of their attempting to 

 instil that knowledge into boys whose real busi- 

 ness is the acquisition of reading, writing, and 

 arithmetic ? 



These questions are, and will be, very commonly 

 asked, for they arise from that profound ignorance 

 of the value and true position of physical science, 

 which infests the minds of the most highly edu- 

 cated and intelligent classes of the community. 

 But if I did not feel well assured that they are 

 capable of being easily and satisfactorily answered ; 

 that they have been answered over and over again ; 

 and that the time will come when men of liberal 

 education will blush to raise such questions I 

 should be ashamed of my position here to-night. 

 Without doubt, it is your great and very important 

 function to carry out elementary education ; with- 

 out question, anything that should interfere with 

 the faithful fulfilment of that duty on your part 

 would be a great evil ; and if I thought that your 

 acquirement of the elements of physical science, 

 and your communication of those elements to your 

 pupils, involved any sort of interference with your 

 proper duties, I should be the first person to pro- 

 test against your being encouraged to do anything 

 of the kind. 



But is it true that the acquisition of such a 

 knowledge of science as is proposed, and the com- 

 munication of that knowledge, are calculated to 

 weaken your usefulness ? Or may I not rather 



