September 



1922] 



NA TURE 



42; 



and of acquiring knowledge at the same time. When, 

 therefore, advocates of particular courses of instruction 



state that they do not pretend to teach science, but are 

 concerned solely with method, they show unwise in- 

 difference to what is known about educational values. 

 Locke's disciplinary theory — that the process of learn- 

 ing trains faculties for use in any fields, and that the 

 nature of the subject is of little consequence — can no 

 longer be entertained. It has now to be acknowledged 

 that information obtained in the years of school life 

 is as important as the process of obtaining it ; that, in 

 other words, subject matter as well as the doctrine of 

 formal discipline must be taken into consideration in 

 designing courses of scientific instruction which will 

 conform to the best educational principles. 



So long ago as 1867 the distinction between subject 

 and method was clearly stated by a Committee of the 

 Uritish Association, which included among its members 

 Prof. Huxley, Prof. Tyndall, and Canon Wilson. It 

 was pointed out that general literary acquaintance with 

 scientific things in actual life, and knowledge relating 

 to common facts and phenomena of Nature, were as 

 desirable as the habits of mind aimed at in scientific 

 training through " experimental physics, elementary 

 chemistry, and botany." The subjects which the 

 Committee recommended for scientific information, as 

 distinguished from training, comprehended " a general 

 description of the solar system ; of the form and 

 physical geography of the earth, and such natural 

 phenomena as tides, currents, winds, and the causes 

 that influence climate ; of the broad facts of geology ; 

 of elementary natural history with especial reference 

 to the useful plants and animals ; and of the rudiments 

 of physiology." If we add to this outline a few suitable 

 topics illustrating applications of science to everyday 

 life, we have a course of instruction much more suitable 

 for all pupils as a part of their general education than 

 what is now commonly followed in secondary schools. 

 It will be a course which will excite wonder and stimu- 

 late the imagination, will promote active interest in 

 the beauty and order of Nature, and the extension of 

 the Kingdom of Man. and provide guidance in the laws 

 of healthy life. 



The purpose of this kind of instruction is, of course, 

 altogether different from that of practical experiment 

 in the laboratory. One of the functions is to provide 



pupils with a knowledge of the nature of everyday 

 phenomena ami applications of science, and of the 

 meaning of scientific words in common use. Instead 

 of aiming at creating appreciation of scientific method 

 by an intensive study of a narrow field, a wide range 

 of subjects should be presented in order to give exten- 

 sive views which cannot possibly be obtained through 

 experimental work alone. The object is indeed almost 

 as much literary as scientific, and the early lessons 

 necessary for its attainment ought to be within the 

 capacity of every qualified teacher of English. Without 

 acquaintance with the common vocabulary of natural 

 science a large and increasing body of current literature 

 is unintelligible, and there are classical scientific works 

 which are just as worthy of study in both style and 

 substance as many of the English texts prescribed for 

 use in schools. We all now accept the view that science 

 students should be taught to express themselves in 

 good English, but little is heard of the equal necessity 

 for students of the English language to possess even 

 an elementary knowledge of the ideas and terminologv 

 of everyday science, which are vital elements in the 

 modern world, and it is the business of literature to 

 present and interpret them. 



It may be urged that knowledge obtained through 

 descriptive lessons has no scientific reality unless it is 

 derived from first-hand experience, and this is no 

 doubt right in one sense ; yet it is well to remember 

 that science, like art, is long, while school life is short, 

 and that though practical familiarity with scientific 

 things must be limited, much pleasure and profit can 

 be derived from becoming acquainted with what others 

 have seen or thought. It is true that we learn from 

 personal experience, but a wise man learns also from 

 the experience of others, and one purpose of a de- 

 scriptive science course should be to cultivate this 

 capacitv of understanding what others have described. 

 As in art, or in music, or in literature, the intention of 

 school teaching should be mainly to promote apprecia- 

 tion of what is best in them rather than to train artists, 

 musicians, or men of letters, so in science the most 

 appropriate instruction for a class as an entity must 

 be that which expands the vision and creates a spirit 

 of reverence for Nature and the power of man, and not 

 that which aims solely at training scientific investi- 

 gators. 



The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



""PHE area occupied by the Royal Botanic Gardens 

 -L of Kew, as we know them to-day, is mainly the 

 result of the union of two demesnes, both of them 

 famous in a horticultural sense long before they came 

 to be associated in particular with the science of botany. 

 These two demesnes were, first, the grounds origin- 

 ally attached to a house in the Old Deer Park of 

 Richmond known as Ormonde Lodge, Richmond 

 Lodge, and finally, when it came to be occupied by 

 George II. (then Prince of Wales) about 1721, as 

 Richmond Palace ; secondly, the grounds belonging to 

 Kew House or White House, a dwelling that stood 

 near the present Kew Palace, and which, after being 

 occupied by the families of Bennett, Capel, and Moly- 

 neux, came into the possession of Frederick, Prince of 



NO. 2760, VOL. I 10] 



Wales, in 1730. On the death of George II. in 1760, 

 both properties came under the ownership of his grand- 

 son, George III. At that time they were divided by 

 an ancient bridle-path known as " Love Lane," which 

 ran from Richmond Green to a horse-ferry over the 

 Thames at Brentford. George III. obtained Parlia- 

 mentary sanction to close Love Lane, with the oblitera- 

 tion of which, in 1802, Richmond Gardens and Kew 

 Gardens became the larger Kew Gardens we know at 

 the present lime. 



In the aero-photograph here reproduced we are 

 looking almost due north, and most of the area shown 

 belongs to the Kew Gardens of the eighteenth century. 

 It is bounded on the east by the Kew Road, some of 

 the villas of which are shown towards the top right-hand 



