from the Standpoint of Science 39 



teaching how to observe and how to reason 

 on observation as distinct from a knowledge 

 of facts, or from a training in art or handicraft. 

 Mechanical skill, the trick of the trade, may 

 be learn^best in the workshop ; facts and 

 formulae may be found in books ; pro- 

 cesses followed in the foundry and the 

 weaving-shed in a manner that can only be 

 mimicked in the schools ; but true scouting 

 can be learnt only from the master-scout. 

 And here arises the real value of a band 

 of men trained to observe and reason. This 

 is why we want scientific schools and men 

 of science if the nation is to maintain its 

 position. 



If you turn in almost any direction, you 

 will see this want of trained scouts. We 

 want them in our diplomatic service to keep 

 their hand on the pulse of other nations ; we 

 want them in new countries to tell us of new 

 mineral and new food supplies ; we want 

 them, above all, in our trade, to tell us what 

 to make and how and where to send it ; we 

 want them to see what competitive nations 

 are doing, and to provide for our mercantile 

 marine, our railways, our manufactures being 



