136 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.,—1917, 
degrees all are, no doubt, present in all scientific activity. Never- 
theless, they are evidently distinct sources of such activity, whose 
relative predominance at different stages in the history of a science, 
and in minds of differing cast, may vary to a very great extent. 
Our question resolves itself, therefore, into the following: Can 
we count upon the presence and activity of these motives in the minds 
of boys and girls, and is there any normal order of predominance 
among them? To the first part of the question, thus expressed, we 
can give a confident reply. There are few children, if any, who do 
not feel the charm of natural phenomena and cannot be led by it to 
pursue inquiries which, however rudimentary they may be, are yet in 
the direct line of the development of science. The ‘ utility motive,’ 
represented by the desire to find out ‘ how it works’ or ‘ how it is 
made,’ is notoriously conspicuous. The systematising motive, while 
apparently much more variable in strength, cannot be said to be 
inoperative in any normal child. With regard to the second and more 
important part of the question, it may be said (subject to the reserva- 
tion mentioned above) that, although young minds feel the pressure of 
all the motives, yet each of the three enjoys its special period of empire. 
Children before an age which is not far above or below eleven years 
seem to respond most surely and actively to the direct appeal of striking 
and beautiful phenomena. From eleven or twelve to (say) fifteen or 
sixteen the ‘ utility motive’ assumes the mastery, and may, at least 
in boys, reach the force and volume of a passion. With the full advent 
of adolescence the ‘ systematising motive’ has for the first time its 
opportunity of predominance, but there seem to be many minds in 
which its full power is never developed. 
Practical Conclusions —The practical bearing of these observations 
is clear. It is important, in the first place, that the teacher should 
not fail to give due scope to the ‘ wonder motive.’ A science lesson 
should not degenerate into a display of fireworks or into sentimental 
vapourings about the ‘ marvels of nature,’ but it is easy to fall into the 
opposite error. Science-teachers have by no means always avoided 
it. It must be remembered that teaching which is not founded upon 
the pupil’s direct interest in natural phenomena for their own sake 
cannot stimulate genuine scientific activity, and that no ‘scientific 
training ’ can be effective which kills instead of fostering the root from 
which all scientific activity has grown. In addition to this general 
consideration, applicable to all ages of the pupil, we draw the particular 
conclusion that the first stage in science teaching should be a stage 
of ‘ nature study,’ of which the distinctive aim should be not to estab- 
lish the logical foundations of any science, but to awaken the pupil’s 
interest in the more attractive and obvious happenings in garden and 
wood, in pond and field, in sea and sky, and to begin the work of 
disciplining this interest into scientific inquiry. 
Next, it is suggested that to fail to make full use of the ‘ utility 
motive ’ is to allow one of the richest sources of intellectual activity to 
run to waste. Many teachers of science are discovering that for pupils 
between the ages of twelve and sixteen (or later) the most effective 
method of instruction takes the form of an analysis directed to the 
