NA TURE 



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THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1888. 



ELEMENTAR V INS TR UCTION IN PRA CTICAL 

 BIOLOGY. 



A Course of Elementary Instruction in Practical Biology. 

 By T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S., assisted by H. N. 

 Martin, M.A., M.D., D.Sc, F.R.S. Revised Edition. 

 Extended and Edited by G. B. Howes, Assistant Pro- 

 fessor of Zoology, Normal School of Science and Royal 

 School of Mines; and D. H. Scott, M.A., Ph.D., 

 Assistant Professor of Botany, Normal School of 

 Science and Royal School of Mines. With a Preface 

 by Prof Huxley, F.R.S. (London : Macmillan and 

 Co., 1888.) 



TH E appearance of the first edition of " A Course of 

 Elementary Instruction in Practical Biology" in 

 1875 marked an epoch in biological education. The great 

 effects which the doctrine of evolution had been gradually 

 producing in the general system of biological education 

 were then set forth, and widely extended, by means of a 

 clearly written volume containing an account of thirteen 

 types of the organic kingdom. On the appearance of a 

 greatly extended edition of the work, it may not be out 

 of place to say a few words upon the " type-system " of 

 biological education for which the book in its earlier form 

 has done so much. The immense educational success of 

 the work may perhaps be best judged by the fact that, 

 since its publication, an ever-increasing demand has ren- 

 dered necessary the production of quite a number of new 

 books following the " type-system," and constructed on 

 an identical plan, but dealing with other forms of life. 



The important changes in teaching which have followed 

 these publications are seen in the far smaller amount of 

 systematic and classificatory work which is now imposed 

 upon beginners, and its replacement by the acquisition of 

 a thorough knowledge of well-selected types. Remem- 

 bering that classifications are no more than a condensed 

 abstract of the opinion of the day upon the relative 

 affinities of organic forms, it is clear that no one of the 

 suggested schemes of arrangement can be regarded as 

 final, except as perhaps expressing in the best way the 

 results of a limited state of knowledge. We know that 

 opinion on the subject of affinity has greatly changed in 

 the past, and as long as new facts are revealed by bio- 

 logical research, so long will opinion continue to change 

 in the future. From its necessarily shifting character, 

 and from the fact that the teacher cannot fairly insist 

 upon the accuracy of its conclusions, classificatory bio- 

 logy is eminently unsuited to the needs of a beginner. 

 And there is also another reason, in that classification, if 

 properly taught, is far too advanced a subject to be made 

 an element in early education. If classification is the 

 concise expression of biological opinion, it should never- 

 theless represent an opinion arrived at after the consider- 

 ation of all the facts and arguments which bear upon the 

 question. The true and only vindication for any sug- 

 gested modification of existing schemes of affinity must 

 lie in the decided proofs of a better accordance with 

 existing facts. Whoever suggests a modification is under 

 a great responsibility, for, if the alteration is not an im- 

 provement, it will certainly be pernicious in adding to our 

 Vol XXXVII. —No. 961. 



present state of confusion. It is to be hoped that the 

 whole subject will be treated in a more serious spirit in 

 the future than has been accorded to it in the past. 



If, then, classification must be dethroned from the high 

 educational position it has held for so long, and which it 

 still maintains to a considerable extent in botanical 

 teaching, what is to be put in its place ? Under the type- 

 system a beginner is set to acquire a thorough knowledge 

 of certain central forms of life, each of which is an 

 example of, and a key to, the understanding of an im- 

 portant organic group. At first the types only represent 

 the very largest groups, such as the sub-kingdoms, so 

 that the amount of implied classification is extremely 

 small. As the student progresses, the number of types 

 increases, and the less important organic groups are 

 represented, so that at the end of his course the advanced 

 student finds himself a master of the solid framework of 

 classification, and then the filling in of the details can be 

 carried on in an intelligent and satisfactory manner. It 

 is at this advanced stage of education that advantage 

 can be gained by means of the celebrated " Hunterian 

 system." The comparative study of long series of homo- 

 logous structures, considered out of relation to the 

 organisms in which they occur, can only confuse the 

 beginner who is not well acquainted with the organisms 

 themselves. But just as the type system prepares the 

 way for, and in fact culminates in, all that is educationally 

 important in classification, so, when a large number of 

 types has been thoroughly learnt, and the varied relations 

 of organ to organ, and of isolated structure to the whole 

 organism, have been grasped in very many instances, then, 

 and not till then, can great advantage be gained by the 

 Hunterian method. And the extensive use of this system 

 will be wisely postponed to a very late period ; in fact, 

 until the student is beginning to make use of the training 

 which he has received in the wide fields of biological 

 research. The Hunterian system must always form the 

 backbone of a large part of biological research, although 

 it would be most unwise to make it a fundamental part of 

 biological education. It must, however, be conceded 

 that there are certain systems of structures (such as the 

 osteological and dental systems) which especially lend 

 themselves to this mode of teaching, but on account of 

 this very facility such subjects are liable to assume too 

 great a relative importance in biological training. 



One incidental, but by no means necessary or even 

 natural, result of the prevalence of the type-system is to 

 be greatly deplored. This result, which is especially 

 found among students of botany, follows from the habit 

 of rejecting the good as well as the bad points in a dis- 

 used system. Just as the introduction of section-cutting 

 has led to a too great neglect of dissection and the exa- 

 mination of solid structures, so the prevalence of the 

 type-system seems to threaten the existence of the field 

 naturalist and botanist. Those who follow the old, and, 

 upon the whole, the very foolish system of botanical 

 education which a few years ago was the only system 

 taught, have at least one great advantage : they have a 

 keen and intelligent interest in any country walk, while 

 if they possess a little originality and perseverance, they 

 ran contribute something towards the solution of some of 

 the most difficult biological problems. But it is not at 

 all uncommon for the successful student of the newer 



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