Some Humbugs of Science 139 



with ease or certainty. Yet, they all know 

 algebra. I met a college graduate who 

 thought that the stars lay in the track of 

 the planets, and wondered why they never 

 bumped ! He had taken the whole course 

 in mathematical astronomy. 



It is time to strip science of its affecta- 

 tions. If this is not done, if distasteful 

 studies are forced upon pupils naturally 

 eager for advancement, exact knowledge 

 may fail in esteem, and we may return to 

 the errant and speculative philosophy of a 

 prior century for intellectual training and 

 employment. It might be as well. 



And here is where the gain of the tramp 

 comes in : that on the road one looks and 

 judges for himself; that while his training 

 may quicken his sight for things described 

 in the books, it will also make him ready 

 to detect error. He needs only to use 

 sense. What queer reasons they used to 

 give for fossils ! They were made by light- 

 ning, carved by water, engraved by men, 

 hardened by heat, anything, rather than 

 admit that they were the remains of 

 animals. 



