K— BOTANY 229 



mere information, especially if recent, too little to the principles which are 

 involved. This is not intended as a stricture upon the teachers, since, with 

 our present system, earlier and earlier in the students' career they are striv- 

 ing to achieve a dual objective, the training which should be their chief 

 concern and their preparation for University examinations at a stage in 

 mental development which cannot adequately appreciate the educational 

 content of the curricula. Thus the student who has taken the Intermediate 

 Examination from school is often handicapped in comparison with those who 

 would appear to be starting their University career in a less advanced stage. 



Just as the increased demand for material things facilitated the replace- 

 ment of the products of the craftsman by mass production of machine- 

 made articles, so too the rapid increase of population following the 

 industrial revolution inevitably led to something analogous to mass pro- 

 duction in the education of children and the training of teachers. 



Many there are who blame the examination system, which, however, 

 with all its faults, if rightly used, is in reality a fairly efficient sieve for 

 separation where large numbers are involved. But the examination 

 machine is often expected to effect a grading of the human material 

 with which it deals that can only be attained by more individual methods. 

 As a consequence undue importance is attached to examination results 

 and a wrong emphasis is often laid on their significance. This leads to 

 a premium being placed on mere erudition and so subjects are liable to be 

 taught not as living realities but, in the forceful phraseology used by 

 Winston Churchill in one of his novels, ' Knowledge is presented as a 

 corpse which bit by bit we painfully dissect.' 



Furthermore our educational methods are, I fear, too often divided 

 in their allegiance ; on the one hand we aim at the provision of a liberal 

 culture which will make for the greatest happiness of the individual, con- 

 sidered in terms of mental contentment and an abiding resource in later 

 life ; whilst on the other hand we aim at the equipment of the student 

 for the earning of his daily bread to ensure bodily comfort. We are not 

 sufficiently trustful that the provision of the former is, to employ the 

 expressive northern phraseology, the ' gainest way ' to the latter end, 

 and so we adopt a sort of mental squint — which permits neither of the 

 clear vision of the full beauty of integrated knowledge nor even of keeping 

 our eyes on the main chance. It is no more possible in education than 

 in ethics to serve both God and Mammon. It is not merely good educa- 

 tion but the apotheosis of worldly wisdom to seek first the cultural back- 

 ground and believe that the vocational proficiency will be added unto you. 



The Universities cannot be held blameless for the lack of appreciation 

 by the general public of the implications of our subject. May I, in this 

 connection, quote a passage from an American report on University 

 Education which loses none of its cogency on this side of the Atlantic : 

 ' Appointing authorities too often place undue stress on specialisation, 

 instead of placing adequate emphasis on scholarly background, versatility 

 of intellectual interest and general culture.' 



Whilst activity and distinction in research is a necessary qualification 

 of the teacher, the capacity to impart knowledge to others is no less 

 essential. Too often in the selection for University posts aptitude as 

 a teacher, which should be a first consideration, is entirely subordinated 



