920 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION L. 



and even eloquently supported, cannot fail to be impressive. It is naturally 

 welcome to those who are devoted to the causeof science, and we can all see that, 

 if accepted, it will simplify many troublesome questions. Will it not guide us in 

 choosing a school staff, in drawing up a curriculum, in fixing the future occupa- 

 tions of our children ? 



But we must first scrutinise the verdict itself. Let us begin by putting a 

 preliminary question so as to remove all risk of ambiguity. Who or what is to 

 possess the Icnowledge whose worth is to be estimated ? Spencer seems to con- 

 tend that for everybody and uuder all possible circumstances science is that 

 knowledge which is most valuable, but this is a conclusion hard to receive. There 

 are persons who are iutellectually unfit to acquire the scientific habit of mind, or 

 who follow an occupation incompatible with any but a light and recreative study 

 of science. Suppose that a jouth is wholly uninterested in science ; or that after 

 fair trial he shows no capacity for it ; or that be is eager to become a poet ; or that 

 be will inherit a lucrative business in which science plays no part ; would not 

 these propensities and ciicumstances modify our choice? I cannot believe that 

 Spencer was so unpractical as to deny them any weight at all. Is it possible that 

 he was thinking of mankind, of the Britishnation.or of some other large collection 

 of men ; that it is to the nation or the race that science will prove it.self of most 

 worth? If this is the right interpretation, we have some ground for blaming 

 Spencer's neglect to mention so important a qualification. Those who admit that 

 the nation requires scientific knowledge bfyond knowledge of any other kind are 

 not compelled to maintain that the individual man must give his chief attention 

 to science. A minute division of labour, intellectual as well as manual, is neces- 

 s.ary in modern life, and we become every day more dependent upon other people's 

 knowledge. An elementary knowledge of many sciences, sucb as Spencer valued 

 and himself possessed, steadily becomes less attainable, and less applicable to real 

 business; less attainable, because the standard is always rising ; what was a respect- 

 able acquaintance with science in the days when Spencer was educating himself 

 would now be thought no better than a smattering; less applicable, because 

 business now requires and commands the science of experts. The instances which 

 used to be quoted half n century ago of workmen who attended a course of 

 chemistry in a mechanics' institute, and straightway suggested improvements in 

 the manufacturing processes upon which ihey were engaged, have become rare, 

 and will soon disappear altiiget her. Business demands the very best science that 

 the age can supply, and it can aflbrd to pay high enough to get it. Obviously the 

 best knowledge of any kind can onl v be possessed by a few. 



Spencer seems to expect that everj' intelligent mother should enjoy a knowledge 

 of human physiology which w ill be a sufficient practical guide for the rearing of a 

 familj', but here, too, I have my doubts. Since the first publication of bis essay 

 the requirements of human physiology have risen in a surprising degree. The 

 knowledge that can be got by reading even so admirable a text-book as ' Huxley's 

 Lessons' does not nearly sutfico for the practical adviser. On thi.s point I can 

 s[)eak with experience. When I was preparing for biological work I dissected the 

 human body, took out courses in physiology, and walked the hospital. But this 

 tincture of professional knowledge, though better than that which any elementarj' 

 or secondary school could supply, has never proved applicable, except to the 

 least serious of emergencies. A little knowledge may indeed be dangerous when 

 it is applied to the diagnosis of disease or to sanitary construction. 



Those who agree with me that the science which is applicable to industry or to 

 public health is steadily growing harder of attainment will not, I hope, turn this 

 into on argument for restricting the study cf science to a few. The elementary 

 science of the school, if good of its kind, is valuable for its efl'ect upon the cha- 

 racter and the intelligence ; it is necessary for the timely discovery of young people 

 who can bo trained to carry on scientific discovery ; and it engenders a sympathy 

 with science which is of high importance to the State. If the science of the 

 school does no more than make the phenomena of everyday life a little more 

 comprehensible and a little more interesting, it will fully justify itself. 



Spencer would, I fi.>el sure, have admitted ihiit even when science is to be tjje 



