INTRODUCTION 15 



were first uttered: 'A nation's greatness depends 

 upon the education of its people.' There is a great 

 deal in that word ' education.' And it will be well to 

 bear in mind that all we learn at school does not 

 comprise an education ; this is only a fraction 

 of what the word embraces. Whatever else the word 

 may include, the study of Nature ought to be a part 

 of it. We are inseparably connected, inseparably 

 linked with Nature, hence it is impossible that the 

 course of study in any school or college can be com- 

 plete, or fairly satisfactory, which does not include a 

 general knowledge, at least, of the astounding facts 

 with which we are surrounded, and of which we 

 form a part. The aged statesman's reply to the 

 request that he would become an honorary member 

 of the Guildford Natural History and Microscopical 

 Society is worth repeating in part here : 1 * I think 

 that the neglect of Natural History, in all its multi- 

 tude of branches, was the grossest defect of our old 

 system of training for the young ; and further, that 

 little or nothing has been done by way of remedy for 

 that defect in the attempts made to alter or re- 

 form that system.' 



There can be no difference of opinion as to this 



1 Mr. Gladstone: The Standard, January n, 1895. 



