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NA TURE 



\Oct. 17, 1889 



science as " trained and organized common-sense," which 

 implies that those same mental processes whose use has 

 led to great scientific discoveries are also applicable to 

 even the commonest affairs of life with equally successful 

 results. In order to make chemistry subservient to the 

 needs of mental education, it is necessary to depart 

 almost entirely from the usual method of teaching it, 

 which is better adapted for the subsequent training of 

 those comparatively few students who intend to follow 

 chemistry as a profession. Instead of attempting to 

 traverse the greater part of the science, the teaching 

 must be restricted to those portions of it which best ex- 

 emplify the scientific method of investigation ; and it 

 should, as far as possible, have reference to objects 

 which are more or less familiar to the pupils, or which 

 can be readily understood by them. 



The Committee having agreed as to the principles on 

 which a scheme of elementary instruction should depend. 

 Prof. Armstrong undertook to prepare a series of sugges- 

 tions for an actual course of instruction in sufficient detail 

 to serve as a general guide to teachers. These sugges- 

 tions form a part of the Committee's Report, and are of 

 very considerable importance. The course is divided 

 into six "stages." Stage I. deals with lessons on com- 

 mon and familiar objects ; the classification of these 

 according to their uses and origin ; elementary physio- 

 graphy and Naturkundc. Stage II., with lessons in mea- 

 surement. Stage III., with studies of heat on things in 

 general; of their behaviour when burnt. Stage IV., the 

 problem stage — to determine what happens when iron 

 rusts ; to determine the nature of the changes which take 

 place when substances are burnt in air ; to separate the 

 active from the inactive constituent of air; to determine 

 the composition of chalk ; to determine what happens 

 when organic substances are burnt ; to determine what 

 happens when sulphur is burnt ; to determine what hap- 

 pens when metals are heated with acids ; to determine 

 what happens when oxides are treated with acids ; to 

 determine what happens when the gas obtained by dis- 

 solving iron and zinc in sulphuric acid or muriatic acid 

 is burnt ; to determine what happens when hydrogen and 

 other combustible substances are heated with oxides ; to 

 determine whether oxides, such as water and chalk gas, may 

 be deprived of oxygen by means of metals ; to determine the 

 composition of salt-gas and the manner in which it acts 

 on metals and oxides ; to determine the composition of 

 washing-soda. Stage V., the quantitative stage : study of 

 the quantitative composition of some of the substances 

 which have already been qualitatively examined. Stage 

 VI., studies of the physical properties of gases in com- 

 parison with those of liquids and solids ; the molecular 

 and atomic theories, and their application. 



Without pledging themselves to accept every detail, 

 many of which would naturally be modified by teachers 

 to suit their own special cirumstances, the Committee 

 state that Prof. Armstrong's suggestions are typical of 

 the kind of instruction which they wish to see generally 

 introduced into schools. They prefer to speak of it as a 

 course of elementary instruction in " physical science,'" 

 since, although it is mainly chemical, physical problems 

 are largely introduced, and the course, as a whole, may be 

 looked upon as a suitable introduction to the study of any 

 of the physical sciences. 



In bringing this scheme under the notice of teacher?^ 

 the Committee make several recommendations as to the 

 manner in which it should be carried out, but these can 

 only be briefly alluded to here. They insist that the 

 instruction should be commenced with young children, 

 and that every pupil in the school should receive it. In. 

 order that it may be successful, a fair share of the school 

 time must be devoted to the subject, and a larger number 

 of teachers must be employed than is now usually the 

 case. While this may lead to some extra expense, on 

 the other hand it is pointed out that the simplest labora- 

 tory fittings and apparatus are all that will actually be 

 needed. Thus the expenditure attending the adoption of 

 the new course need not be greater than it is now in 

 those schools where science teaching occupies a prominent 

 place among the subjects of study. 



Space does not allow of more than a passing mention 

 of the series of statistics in reference to the teaching of 

 chemistry in public elementary schools which have been, 

 admirably collected and commented upon by Prof. 

 Smithells, and which form the second part of the Report. 

 As in the higher public schools, the teaching of elementary 

 science in Jhese institutions is shown to be far from 

 satisfactory, and here also a scheme of the kind suggested 

 by the Committee might be introduced with very great 

 advantage. 



In the discussion which followed the reading of the 

 Report the Committee had the satisfaction of learning that 

 their recommendations receive the approval of several 

 teachers of experience. A representative of Section E 

 stated that those interested in the efficient teaching of 

 geography felt strongly that the course of work advocated 

 by the Committee was on the proper lines. The head 

 master of a large elementary school complained of the 

 present methods of teaching chemistry, and stated that 

 they tended so strongly towards making those who 

 followed them into professional and technical chemists,, 

 that he had been obliged to substitute for chemistry 

 instruction in some other branch of science, A useful 

 contribution to the discussion was made by a former 

 assistant science master in one of the largest public 

 schools in London, who gave a graphic account of the 

 hardships which were suffered by the solitary science 

 master and his assistant in their efforts to teach " practical 

 chemistry " to large classes of boys. If the comparison 

 he instituted between the methods respectively adopted 

 in this school in teaching classics and science be true, 

 and if his statistics are correct as to the number of boys 

 who are " taught " science, and the number of masters 

 employed to teach them, they reveal a scandalous state of 

 affairs, which no City Company ought to tolerate in a 

 school which it endows. Finally, Prof. Armstrong read 

 letters which he had received from Prof. Huxley, the 

 head master of Rugby, Sir Philip Magnus, and other 

 authorities, in which they spoke with approval of the 

 scheme for science teaching which the Committee 

 advocate in their Report. 



It seems likely, then, that through the action of this 

 Committee a considerable impetus in a new direction will 

 be given to the elementary teaching of science in this 

 country. The words which Mark Pattison wrote more 

 than twenty years ago are as true now as they were ther,. 

 and may appropriately bring these remarks to a con- 



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