ON SCIENCE IN fcCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS. 467 



Spring Term. 



1 . Asexual reproduction in plants and animals. 



2. Revision of the main facts of sexual reproduction studied in the previous year 

 in connection with hydra, worm, frog, &c., and the higher plants. 



3. Detailed study of eggs of fowl, water snails, slugs and (later in season) caddis-fly. 

 Main phases of development of embryo. 



4. Influence of environment on developing organisms. 



(i) Feeding experiments with tadpoles. 



(ii) Caddis worms and water snails reared in vessels of different capacitj-. 

 (iii) Water-cultures of seedlings and cuttings. 



5. Structure of the cell and simple account of nuclear division (mitosis and 

 meiosis). 



6. Discussion of the phenomenon of inheritance and the relation of nature and 

 nurture. 



Summer Term. 



A ' regional study ' of a pond (if this is impossible a piece of waste land, a hedge-row , 

 a common may be studied). 



A pond being a small and compact entity provides an example of a closely inter- 

 related community of organisms in which their life, behaviour, relation to each other 

 and to their environment can be studied. 



This study should include records of the physical conditions of the pond and the 

 preparation of diagrams of transects to show the distribution of plants. 



FouKTH Year. 



The pupils are now in a position to appreciate several important conclusions at 

 which biological science has arrived and which profoundly affect human interests and 

 human thought. 



By reproducing some of the experiments and investigations even to a very limited 

 extent of certain well-known biologists, the romance and the significance of their 

 work can be realised. 



In the course of this work ideas of unity amid diversity and order amid change 

 must have grown in the pupil and will seek expression in a clear survey of the pro- 

 cesses of change and an inquiry into its method. They are, therefore, ready for a 

 wide and rational conception as expressed in the theory of evolution. 



Books of biography and travel should be at the disposal of the pupils, as also 

 carefully selected books on modern biological thought. A considerable part of the 

 work will naturally take the form of lecture demonstrations preceding or following 

 relevant practical work on the part of pupils. 



The syllabus cannot now be divided into sections of one term each as several topics 

 can be studied concurrently. 



1. Study of Moulds. Examination of common organic materials which have 

 become mouldy. Life history of ' mould.' Mode of nutrition. Pure cultures of 

 moulds. Making a garden of moulds. Yeast. Fermentation and bread-making. 



2. Study of toad-stools. The main groups of the larger fungi. 



3. Study of Bacteria. ' Germs ' causing broth to go ' bad.' Germ cultures. 

 Spontaneous generation controversy. 



4. SterUisation of food by heat and by preservatives. 



5. Pasteur and the silk-worm disease. Lister and the antiseptic treatment of 

 wounds. Manson and Rose and malaria. Phagocytes and bacteria. Life-saving 

 discoveries of Jenner. Koch, Pasteur, Wright in the treatment of widely spread 

 diseases. Vaccines and anti-toxins. 



6. Micro-organisms as scavengers. Fixation of nitrogen. Useful in cheese-making 

 and tanning. 



7. Discussion with practical illustration of Symbiosis and Parasitism. 



The general theory of evolution. Evidences of evolution. The great steps in 

 evolution. Life and work of Charles Darwin. 



Controversy on the subject of the inheritance of acquired characters. 



Mendelism : its fundamental principles and results made plain by means of a 

 model. 



Man's place in the scheme of things. 



Progress in intellectual and practical control. 



HH 2 



