24 report — 1865. 



■who would carry the critical faculty to a high state of cultivation, the study of 

 the classics affords the means. These tongues constitute the hasis of many of the 

 modern European languages ; and an acquaintance with their literature imparts a 

 cultivation and a polish that it is almost vain to seek from any other source. Just 

 as some minds seek to attain distinction in the wide domain of philology, other 

 minds, as vigorous, though differently constituted, delight in the study of natural 

 laws and affinities. It would he a hard thing to say that provision should not he 

 made in our schools for the latter, as wide and liberal as it has been for the former. 



It is not to be supposed that, beetiu.se science is to form a part of the education 

 of every gentleman, therefore it will constitute the pursuit of his mature years. 

 What is needed is that he possess sufficient knowledge of its principles to qualify 

 him to appreciate the advances which science is making, and to enable him to con- 

 tribute intelligently towards its progress. 



It is certain that if science is to form a useful portion of the education of a boy, 

 it must be undertaken with the determination to deal with it as a matter of study : 

 the same pains must be taken to ascertain that each boy understands the principle, 

 for example, of the air-pump, or the meaniug of the thermometric scale, as that he 

 comprehends a rule in syntax or the analysis of a sentence. To do this, however, the 

 instruction given must not be limited to a dry lecture on the principles of some branch 

 of science once a week. These principles must be logically unfolded, and illustrated, 

 when necessary, by experiments, and the structure of machines and apparatus ex- 

 plained by suitable diagrams ; the boys must be taught to take notes of each lecture ; 

 and the ground covered must be made secure by following up the lectures with fre- 

 quent examinations, both oral and written. These are as necessary to the successful 

 study of a science as the writing of exercises, or the practice of construing, is to the 

 accurate study of a language. Science is not merely to supply her facts ; she is to 

 be employed to develope the powers of the mind, and to discipline them for action. 

 Hence it is of far more importance to instil principles, and to cultivate precision in 

 observation, in thought, and in description, than it is to load the memory with mere 

 facts, however valuable. In short, the system of cramming is to be eschewed, whilst 

 the formation of habits of comparing, reasoning, and judging is to be encouraged in 

 every way. 



It may at first be difficult to meet with well-trained and competent teachers ; but 

 when once the want of instruction in science is proclaimed, the teachers will soon 

 be forthcoming. Some years will, no doubt, elapse ere science is admitted to take 

 equal rank, as a means of education, with the study of classical literature. Still it 

 is but a question of time ; and we cannot but hope that our Universities, following 

 up the commencement which the youngest but not the least active amongst them, 

 the University of London, has made in the establishment of Degrees in Science 

 — we cannot hut hope, I say, that the heads of our Universities will ere long feel it 

 to be their duty, as unquestionably it will be their wisdom, to place themselves at 

 the head of this new movement, which is destined to exercise so wide an influence 

 upon the education of our people. 



But it is time that we proceed to take a rapid survey of some of the principal 

 points in the progress of chemistry during the last twelve months. The course of 

 chemical discovery since our Meeting last year, though not marked by any very 

 striking novelty, has nevertheless been steadily advancing. Ideas previously 

 thrown out have been discussed and developed ; and many of them are leading to 

 new discoveries, or are being applied to explain phenomena before wrapped in 

 obscurity. 



Amongst the problems which have, for some time past, been engaging the minds 

 of philosophical chemists, few are of greater interest than those connected with the 

 idea of the atomicity of the elements. It is well known that chemists now 

 distinguish between the atomic weight and the equivalent of an element; also that, 

 owing to the labours of many distinguished men, amongst whom the names of 

 Williamson, Kekule, Odling, Cannizzaro, and Wurtz are the most prominent, a 

 classih" cation of the elements into families has been made ; and that this classification 

 rests upon what is known as the atomicity of the elements. One group of the ele- 

 ments, like potassium and chlorine, is regarded as monatmnic, or usually equivalent 

 in functions to one atom of hydrogen ; a second, like oxygen and sulphur j is diatomic, 



