THE PHYSICAL LABORATOET IN MODERN EDUCATION 615 



about by the combined intellect of the world acting through ages of time 

 and that he, though his intellect were that of Newton, can, at best, do 

 very little toward it. Knowing this he seeks all the aids in his power 

 to ascertain the truth, and if he, through either ambition or love of 

 truth, wishes to impress his opinions on the world, he first takes care 

 to have them correct. Above all, he is willing to abstain from having 

 opinions on subjects of which he knows nothing. 



It is the province of modern education to form such a mind while at 

 the same time giving to it enough knowledge to have a broad outlook 

 over the world of science, art and letters. Time will not permit me to 

 discuss the subject of education in general, and, indeed, I would be 

 transgressing the principles above laid down if I should attempt it. I 

 shall only call attention at this present time to the place of the labo- 

 ratory in modern education. I have often had a great desire to know 

 the state of mind of the more eminent of mankind before modern science 

 changed the world to its present condition and exercised its influence 

 on all departments of knowledge and speculation. But I have failed 

 to picture to myself clearly such a mind while, at the same time, the 

 study of human nature, as it exists at present, shows me much that I 

 suppose to be in common with it. As far as I can see, the unscientific 

 mind differs from the scientific in this, that it is willing to accept and 

 make statements of which it has no clear conception to begin with and 

 of whose truth it is not assured. It is an irresponsible state of mind 

 without clearness of conception, where the connection between the 

 thought and its object is of the vaguest description. It is the state of 

 mind where opinions are given and accepted without ever being sub- 

 jected to rigid tests, and it may have some connection with that state of 

 mind where everything has a personal aspect and we are guided by 

 feelings rather than reason. 



When, by education, we attempt to correct these faults, it is neces- 

 sary that we have some standard of absolute truth: that we bring the 

 mind in direct contact with it and let it be convinced of its errors again 

 and again. We may state, like the philosophers who lived before Gali- 

 leo, that large bodies fall faster than small ones, but when we see them 

 strike the ground together we know that our previous opinion was false 

 and we learn that even the intellect of an Aristotle may be mistaken. 

 Thus we are taught care in the formation of our opinions and find that 

 the unguided human mind goes astray almost without fail. We must 

 correct it constantly and convince it of error over and over again until 

 it discovers the proper method of reasoning, which will surely accord 

 with the truth in whatever conclusions it may reach. There is, however, 



