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\Nov. 6, ii 



" Knowledge of Nature is the guide of practical conduct ; . . . 

 any one who tries to live upon the face of this earth without 

 attention to the laws of Nature will live there for but a very 

 short time, most of which will be passed in exceeding discomfort : 

 a peculiarity of natural laws, as distinguished from those of 

 human enactment, being that they take effect without summons 

 or prosecution. In fact, nobody could live for half a day unless 

 lie attended to some of the laws of Nature ; and thousands of 

 us are dying daily, or living miserably, because men have not 

 yet been sufficiently zealous to learn the code of Nature." 



But it is also and mainly on other and far higher grounds that 

 we should advocate universal practical teaching of the elements 

 of natural, and more particularly of so-called physical, science : 

 viz. that it tends to develop a side of the human intellect which. 

 I believe I am justified in saying, is left uncultivated even after 

 the most careful mathematical and literary training : the faculty 

 of observing and of reasoning from observation and experiment. 

 It is entirely from this latter point of view that I shall venture to 

 propound a scheme for teaching the elements of that branch of 

 physical science with which I am most intimately acquainted. 



This Exhibition affords some few noteworthy illustrations of 

 the way in which the importance of teaching the elements of 

 natural science has received practical recognition in our schools. 

 Thus we have indications of the work being done by the Bir- 

 mingham School Board ; the London School Board call atten- 

 tion to their system of training pupil-teachers in science ; Mr. 

 Robins shows plans of one of the best, if not the best equipped 

 school chemical laboratory — that of the Manchester Grammar 

 School. Also, it is well known that at many of the larger 

 schools, such as Clifton College, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, St. 

 Paul's, Giggleswick, and the North London Collegiate School 

 for Girls, ample provision is made for teaching one or more 

 branches of natural science ; and not a few other examples might 

 be quoted. But in how large a proportion of the schools through- 

 out the country is such training neglected? and there is much 

 cause for complaint in the fact that, in those schools in which 

 science is taught, it is after all in most cases but a kind of 

 " refuge for the destitute," only those who have failed on the 

 classical side and those judged to be inferior in intellect being 

 turned over to the so-called modern side. This is probably due 

 to a variety of causes : to the ignorance already referred to of 

 the public of the importance and value of such training, or it 

 would be demanded of the schools ; to the ignorance of even 

 the barest elements of science of the majority of teachers in 

 charge of schools ; to the want of good science teachers and of 

 suitable books ; to the supposed expense of teaching science ; 

 and lastly — and I believe this to be the most important of all 

 the causes which operate against the teaching of science — to the 

 imperfection of our method of teaching : there can be little 

 doubt, in fact, that the majority of teachers of the generally 

 recognised subjects who have themselves no scientific knowledge 

 see clearly enough that very little good comes of teaching science 

 in the manner in which it is commonly taught in schools. 



The great objection to the method at present in vogue appears 

 to me to be that it is practically the same whether science is 

 taught as a part of the general school course, or whether it is 

 taught professionally ; in other words, a lad studies chemistry, 

 for example, at school in just the same way as at a science col- 

 lege, the only difference being that he does not carry his studies 

 so far at school as at college. This, I believe, is the primary 

 fault in our present system. In my opinion, no single branch of 

 natural science should be selected to be taught as part of the 

 ordinary school course, but the instruction should comprise the 

 elements of what I have already spoken of as the science of 

 daily life, and should include astronomy, botany, chemistry, 

 geology, mechanics, physics, physiology and zoology— the olla 

 podrida comprehended by Huxley under physiography, but 

 which is perhaps more happily expressed in the German word 

 Naturkunde — in so far as is essential to the understanding of the 

 ordinary operations and objects of Nature, the teaching from be- 

 ginning to end being of as practical a character as possible, and of 

 such a kind as to cultivate the intelligence and develop the facul- 

 ties of observing, comparing and reasoning from observation ; 

 and the more technical the course the better. The order in 

 which these subjects should be introduced is matter for discus- 

 sion ; personally, I should prefer to begin with botany, and to 

 introduce as soon as possible the various branches of science in 

 no particular order but that best suited to the understanding of 

 the various objects or phenomena to which the teaching for the 

 time being had reference. The extent to which instruction of 

 this kind is given must entirely depend on the class of scholars. 



There are few teachers capable of giving such instruction, and 

 fewer books of a character suited to ordinary requirements. The 

 development of such a system will, in fact, require the earnest 

 co-operation of a number of specialists ; but apart from the 

 difficulty of securing efficient co-operation, there is no reason 

 why some such scheme should not be elaborated at no distant date. 

 If action is to be taken, however, there must be no delay, or 

 the opportunity will be lost. I trust that this meeting will be 

 prepared to give much attention to this question, and that it may 

 be possible to continue the discussion on other platforms, as it is 

 fundamentally important and deserving of the most serious con- 

 sideration of educationalists. No doubt it will be said that the 

 object of introducing the teaching of science into the school 

 course is to afford mental training of a particular character, not 

 the inculcation of useful knowledge, and that this end can be 

 secured by teaching well some one branch of science. Admitting 

 that this has been the case, however, there is no reason why it 

 should be in the future : if while developing the intellect it be 

 possible — and it certainly is — to impart much valuable informa- 

 tion ; and if — as it certainly is — the teaching be rendered easier 

 and more attractive because it has direct reference to the familiar 

 objects and operations of Nature. We cannot, indeed, any 

 longer afford to grow up ignorant of all that is going on around 

 us, and without learning to use our eyes and our reasoning 

 powers ; we cannot afford to be unacquainted with the funda- 

 mental laws of health; but we must ever remember "that 

 knowledge of Nature is the guide of practical conduct," and no 

 effort must be spared to render our system of education an 

 effectual preparation and truly adapted to the exigencies of prac- 

 tical life. The female educators appear already to have grasped 

 the importance of such teaching, and under the guise of domestic 

 economy much that I advocate is being taught in girls' schools ; 

 it is to be hoped that ere long something akin to the domestic 

 economy course in girls' schools will find a place in boys' schools. 



To pass now to the consideration of the mode of teaching my 

 own special subject in science classes, such as those held under 

 the auspices of the Science and Art Department, and in the 

 introductory course for students in science schools and colleges 

 generally. To deal first with the former. Inspection of the 

 syllabus for the elementary stage, together with the study of the 

 examination papers of the past few years, will show that the 

 student is mainly required to have an elementary knowdedge of 

 the methods of preparing, and of the properties of, the commoner 

 non-metallic elements and their chief compounds. There is thus 

 practically no distinction to be drawn between the knowledge re- 

 quired of students under the Science and Art Department, and of 

 those who are making the study of chemistry the business of their 

 lives. But surely it is not the function of the Science and Art De- 

 partment to train up chemists, and I am satisfied that it is neither 

 their desire nor their intention to do so ; their object undoubtedly 

 is to encourage the teaching of chemistry as a means of cultivating 

 certain faculties, and in order that the fundamental laws of chemis- 

 try may be understood and their commoner applications realised. 

 It is not difficult to understand how the system has grown up 

 and why it is maintained ; I not believe it is because the Depart- 

 ment consider it a satisfactory one ; but they know full well that 

 a better system is not yet developed, and that it would be unwise 

 to legislate far in advance of the intelligence and powers of the 

 majority of the teachers. With all deference, however, I venture 

 to add that the programme has been drawn up too much from 

 the point of view of the specialist, and that too little attention 

 has been devoted to it from the point of view of the education- 

 alist. The course I am inclined to advocate would be of a more 

 directly useful character. There is no reason why in the begin- 

 ning attention should be confined to the non-metals, especially 

 when certain of the metals enter so largely into daily use ; and 

 provided that it involve no sacrifice of the opportunities of deve- 

 loping the faculties which it is our special object to cultivate by 

 the study of chemistry, there is no reason against, but every 

 reason for, selecting subjects of every-day importance rather than 

 such as are altogether outside our ordinary experience, such, for 

 example, as the oxides of nitrogen : even chlorine, except in 

 relation to common salt, might be omitted from special study. 

 The presumed distinction between so-called inorganic and organic 

 chemistry should be altogether put aside and forgotten, and the 

 elements of the chemistry of the carbon compounds introduced 

 at a very early stage in order that the phenomena of animal and 

 plant life might come under consideration. To give the barest 

 possible outline of a programme, I would include such subjects 

 as the following in the syllabus : — 



The chemistry of air, of water, and of combustion ; the 



