PREFACE. VU 



natural sciences, is the discipline which it gives the 

 mental powers. It cultivates the perceptive and rea- 

 soning powers together, thus forming that habit of 

 intelligent observation which makes its possessor, as a 

 matter of course, a person of extensive general infor- 

 mation, and is an essential element of success in almost 

 any pursuit in which he may engage. 



In the present prevalent mode of conducting educa- 

 tion the observing powers of the mind are, we may 

 say, systematically neglected. A premium, even, is 

 paid for their neglect ; for the study of language, the 

 execution of the processes of mathematics, and the 

 memorizing of Geography, Grammar, etc., are allow- 

 ed to have such exclusive possession in most of our 

 school-rooms, that any disposition on the part of a 

 pupil to attend to Zoology, or any of the natural 

 sciences, must be repressed, if he wishes to maintain 

 his standing in school. And even if such studies are 

 admitted at all, they commonly have a very subor- 

 dinate place in the general arrangement, and an ex- 

 amination for the purpose of determining the standing 

 of the pupil is not extended to such studies, because 

 they are not deemed essential, but otily extraordinary 

 and ornamental. 



This strange neglect of these studies is seen even in 

 our colleges. "When a young man, for instance, en- 

 ters Yale College, he is not supposed to know any 

 thing of the natural sciences, or at least no knowledge 

 of them is required as a qualification for admission. 

 And after his admission, he is drilled in mathematics 

 and the languages alone for two long years. The 

 natural sciences are wholly excluded till his junior 

 year, when he begins to attend to Natural Philosophy, 



