526 TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION L. 



6. Discussion on the Place of Science in the Education of Boys. 



7. Science Training ivhich should he given to Girls who propose to 

 become Teachers of Domestic Craft or to devote themselves to a 

 Domestic Life. By Mart E. Marsden. 



The influence of school education upon professional training is deep and far- 

 reaching. The latter depends largely upon habits formed at school. 



Success in professional training in Domestic Craft depends mainly upon 

 manipulative skill, accuracy of work, and knowledge of Physics and Chemistry. 



A knowledge of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry up to matriculation 

 standard should have been attained at school by intending teachers of Domestic 

 Craft. 



The fundamental ideas of Physics and Chemistry play a much larger part 

 in Housecraft than those gained from the study of any other science, e.g. Botany. 

 The school course in Physics should include measurement and the general pro- 

 perties of matter and heat. The Chemistry course should include an outline of 

 the chemistry of air and water; natural waters, hardness of waters, acids, 

 alkalies and salts, chalk, carbon and its principal compounds, combustion and 

 elementary chemical theory. If time permits, it is advisable for girls to study 

 the outlines of the chemistry of such substances as common foodstuffs, soap, 

 &c. In order to prove the necessity for the study of these subjects as a pre- 

 liminary to a course of professional training, a brief outline is given of the 

 science included in the Battersea Polytechnic Training Department for Teachers 

 of Domestic Subjects. 



The Physics course includes general measurement, specific gravity and heat, 

 accuracy in observation and in measurement being one of the paramount aims. 

 The Chemistry course comprises the chemistry of air and water, elementary 

 chemical theory; the common acidsj alkalies and salts; coal-gas, fuel; sugars, 

 starch, alcohol ; the study of the principal foodstuffs ; textile fabrics, soap ; 

 the outlines of the bacteriology of the air, water, milk, meat ; preservation and 

 purification of foodstuffs ; antiseptics and disinfectants. Much time could 

 obviously be saved if the earlier portion of the work had been efficiently done 

 in Secondary Schools. There are also additional courses in Experimental 

 Cookery and Laundrywork, of which the object is mainly to apply the know- 

 ledge gained in Physics and Chemistry to practical Housecraft. Much import- 

 ance is attached to the study of Hygiene, which is treated as a science based 

 largely upon Physiology, Chemistry, Physics, and Bacteriology. The course 

 includes personal, domestic, and public hygiene ; infant feeding and care ; the 

 common physical and mental defects of children; &c. 



For those students who show special aptitude for the scientific side of the 

 training, an additional one-year course has been in operation for some years at 

 Battersea Polytechnic. This course includes Physics, Chemistry, Bacteriology, 

 Physiology and Hygiene, and the work is much more advanced than in the earlier 

 course, both as regards pure Science and its application to Housecraft. Domestic 

 Craft is full of possibilities for invention and research. It is an essential factor in 

 the reconstruction which must follow after the war. Women must take their 

 share if that reconstruction is to be accomplished, and in no sphere can they do so 

 more adequately than in Domestic Craft. Efficiently trained women are necessary 

 in order to spread the knowledge which will lead to the substitution of wise 

 economy of time, labour, and money for the almost imiversal thriftlessness of 

 English households, to check the appalling wastage of infant and child life, and 

 to make it impossible for the present physical unfitness of so large a proportion 

 of our adult population to be repeated in future generations. 



M. Science in the Education of Girls, particularly those hoping to he 

 Medical Students. By Dr. Mary H. Williams. 



T. Why science teaching should become an integral part of the girl's educa- 

 tion. Aim of education is to manufacture the best possible citizen; one with the 

 highest moral standard and equipped with that special knowledge which shall 

 enable her to do the work for which she is best fitted. 



