^^g' 5, 1875J 



NATURE 



277 



no want of appreciation of the ancient classical literature, 

 or of the classical languages as means of mental culture. 

 It may, therefore, be desirable to say that we appreciate 

 the treasures bequeathed to us by them in philosophy, 

 poetry, history, and art, and in the principles of juris- 

 prudence." After speaking in high terms of the value 

 of the classical languages as pedagogical instruments, Sir 

 James went on : — 



" But while we thus emphatically express our sense of 

 the value of the classical languages as instruments of 

 mental training and sources of the highest literary culture, 

 the curriculum of this school includes pure and applied 

 mathematics. These studies, which stretch back to the 

 period of Greek civilisation, have grown with the deve- 

 lopment of astronomical and physical research. They 

 are the instruments of the abstract investigation of physi- 

 cal laws. But we have also sought to place the school 

 practically in relation with nature! science. The question 

 has been much discussed whether science should be thus 

 taught through the whole school course, or whether it 

 should be interstratified with the other studies. We shall 

 endeavour to solve these questions by introducing in the 

 junior forms the cultivation of the faculties of observation 

 by the practical study of botany and physical geography, 

 for both of which this neighbourhood affords consi- 

 derable opportunities. For somewhat more advanced 

 students we have built a good chemical laboratory, and 

 we are about to extend this building so as to provide 

 separate rooms and apparatus, and for the practical study 

 of experimental physics. The thorough knowledge of 

 any branch of experimental science involves an acquaint- 

 ance with the instruments and modes of investigation, as 

 well as skill in manipulation. These are not to be ac- 

 quired from books. It is indispensable that pupils should 

 become familiar with the phenomena of the operation of 

 natural forces. They must learn to observe, to practise 

 the philosophy of induction by following the footsteps of 

 the great masters of research in preparation for inde- 

 pendent efforts. The faculties exercised in such pursuits 

 are not altogether the same as those employed in literary 

 studies. They may be compared without the deprecia- 

 tion of either. The student of literature has opportunities 

 to cultivate what is metaphysical — whatever relates to art, 

 to poetry, to history, philosophy, or language ; while the 

 student of nature may more successfully develop the facul- 

 ties of observation and those brought into play in the 

 processes of inductive and deductive reasoning. The 

 search for hidden truths trains the ripe student in habits 

 of scrupulous exactitude. To record such observations is 

 an exercise in accuracy of thought and language. 



" The scientific habit of mind which is the result of a 

 thorough practical training in one or more branches of 

 science is not to be attained by any devotion to language 

 or literature, just as the development of taste in litera- 

 ture, or of critical skill, or of the power of philological 

 research and discovery cannot be gained in the labora- 

 tory. These distinctions between literature and science 

 are in harmony with the diverse capacities of boys, and 

 they may be employed as auxiliaries in the development 

 of boys of limited or one-sided capacity. Some pupils 

 who have low grammatical and linguistic power may yet 

 exhibit facility in mathematical processes. Others in 

 whom both these faculties are feeble, awaken to intel- 

 lectual life as observers of nature. To some minds the 

 facts and principles of science become easy only when 

 they are in contact with the actual phenomena. Hence 

 one part of the value of practical studies in the field and 

 the laboratory. It may be confidently asserted that when 

 any of these classes of mental power is feeble, the develop- 

 ment of that part of the brain which is most easily 

 awakened to activity will communicate vigour to the rest ; 

 the whole brain will become more healthy and active. A 

 boy incapable of successful literary effort, but who has 

 power as an observer, may, by that form of mental cul- 



ture, by-and-by become more capable of literary applica- 

 tion and success. Thus the literary, the mathematical, 

 and the practical scientific studies of schools become, in 

 the hands of a thoughtful and skilful master, preparatory 

 or co-ordinate instruments of mental development. 



** There has been of late a'new era in the development 

 of the natural sciences. This commenced with the dis- 

 coveries of great mathematicians and astronomers, and 

 extended to every department of physical research. After 

 Kepler and Newton, mathematics in their apphcation to 

 experimental physics and astronomy established them- 

 selves, especially at Cambridge, as a prominent part of the 

 studies of the European Universities. But during the 

 present century, the rapid development of every depart- 

 ment of natural science has created new claims for the in- 

 troduction of new courses of study, for which the universi- 

 ties are gradually increasing their means and appliances, 

 and towards the successful cultivation of which they are ex- 

 tending their honours and rewards. What tiappened at the 

 revival of learning with respect to the classical literature 

 is about to happen in the fuller recognition in the univer- 

 sities of every department of natural science. The Chan- 

 cellor of the University of Cambridge has recently 

 munificently founded a physical laboratory in that uni- 

 versity. Certain of the colleges have established chemical 

 and biological laboratories. The Geological Museum 

 lectures and fieldwork continue to develope. These are 

 preliminary steps towards practical instruction in every 

 department of natural science. At Oxford, the univer- 

 sity has built an admirable museum, with which are con- 

 nected laboratories for chemical and biological studies, 

 and for those of experimental physics and geology. Cer- 

 tain of the colleges have also laboratories, and readers or 

 demonstrators of practical science. The Commission on 

 Scientific Instruction, which has just closed its five years' 

 labours, has made many suggestions as to the facilities to 

 be granted to students of natural science in both univer- 

 sities. For example, it recommends the freer admission 

 of those who are successful to the honours of the univer- 

 sity, as well as to the scholarships, fellowships, and 

 government of the colleges. The Commission had such 

 opportunities of ascertaining to what extent these recom- 

 mendations expressed the opinions of the governing 

 minds of the universities, that there can be no doubt that 

 no insurmountable obstacle will be encountered in the 

 estabhshment of studies in natural science in a position, 

 in relation to their honours and rewards, which will duly 

 represent the part which science has to play in the edu- 

 cation of the country. 



" The methods and results of natural science have now 

 so far affected all our modes of thought that they claim 

 their place in the arena of all forms of discussion. They 

 must, therefore, also take their place in the studies 

 of the public and grammar schools, and of the colleges 

 and universities which would fitly train men for the work 

 of life. It would be a grave disadvantage to this nation 

 if its rulers in Parliament and in the Cabinet should repre- 

 sent chiefly literary culture, without a familiarity with the 

 physical sciences. Such a result could not now long exist 

 without a neglect of opportunities of promoting scientific 

 culture and research, which would be injurious to the 

 education of the country and prejudicial to the develop- 

 ment of its material resources. Perhaps it would be a 

 much graver misfortune if there should grow up in the 

 country two forms of thought — one derived from the 

 exclusive contemplation of the metaphysical, and the 

 other resulting from purely physical and materialistic 

 studies. Moreover, to a man of education, however ripe 

 and complete maybe his classical accomplishments, it must 

 be a great misfortune to have had no training in the 

 natural sciences. He must have a sense of partial deve- 

 lopment, and of the deprivation of a great source of 

 mental pleasure. These are, doubtless, among the reasons 

 why, in the great public schools, instruction in natura 



