542 



■GIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 224. 



came. Very soon, however, the mean is 

 passed, the new has become the old, the 

 simple the complex, and another advance, 

 return, or deflection, is in order. 



The history of biological instruction in 

 schools furnishes a good illustration of these 

 phenomena. The'systematists had the first 

 botanical opportunity, which they pro- 

 ceeded to abuse. Not content with the 

 original practice of giving beginners a slight 

 acquaintance with the names and properties 

 of the more prominent local plants, they 

 arranged for the laying of broader founda- 

 tions for systematic work ; manuals con- 

 taining thousands of species and requiring 

 extended experience for their profitable use 

 were put into the hands of academic pupils 

 prepared only by a brief course in defini- 

 tions. The vital activities of plants went 

 unnoticed ; they were not organisms to be 

 understood, but objects to be named. Such 

 a one-sided and sterile method could not be 

 perpetuated in the treatment of a subject 

 having any practical bearings, and the neces- 

 sary revolt followed. Numberless facts of 

 internal structure and organic functions, 

 problems in physics, chemistry and elec- 

 tricity were then brought to light and put 

 before the budding mind as containing the 

 essence of botany, and now the extreme of 

 development in this direction is being 

 reached. 



That the training of specialists is not the 

 primaiy object of instruction in biology, in 

 primary and secoudarj'' schools, or even in 

 the college, will be admitted by all. The 

 available time is limited, more commonly 

 painfully short. The interest of pupils is 

 necessarily divided and fragmentary on ac- 

 count of the numerous subjects they are ob- 

 liged to follow simultaneouslj^ ; oi'iginality 

 and the power of clear insight are in pro- 

 cess of destruction by a continuous surfeit 

 of educational provender. Biology cannot 

 hope to monopolize time or attention, and 

 hence the first problem of instruction is 



to employ the meager opportunities to the 

 greatest good of the student. The course 

 which will obtain the maximum of pleasur- 

 able interest is also that which will produce 

 the most lasting and satisfactory results. 

 The teacher is the mentor and guide in the 

 fields of knowledge. If he were in charge 

 of a party of his pupils who were visiting 

 England, and had a week to see London, the 

 systematist would advise that six days be 

 spent with the maps and guide books, so 

 that his students might be able to call the 

 principal buildings and streets by name 

 while driving to Westminster on Sundajr ; 

 the laboratory instructor would consistently 

 employ the week at the Tower, mostly in 

 careful examination of the foundations, 

 Both suggestions would have advantages if 

 the visitors were to remain in London six 

 months or a year, but with the sojourn 

 limited to a week the young people would 

 in each case come back disappointed at not 

 having seen the city, and this may properly 

 be the state of mind of thousands of stu- 

 dents of biology and its departments. They 

 have a right to see as many and learn as 

 much about living creatures as time and op- 

 portunity will permit ; to proceed as though 

 th&y were to spend a lifetime in pursuit of 

 some biologic speciality is a piece of crimi- 

 nal stupidity not unfrequently alloj'ed with 

 a considerable amount of laziness, since 

 both the extreme methods are reducible to 

 a definite class-room or laboratory routine 

 capable of comparatively easy management, 

 while to maintain a well-balanced middle 

 course, giving a maximum of knowledge in 

 logical and orderly arrangement, requires 

 alert and sympathetic comprehension, both 

 of facts and of persons. 



But of what should general tuition in 

 biological subjects consist? The answer 

 must vary with the pupils, the facilities 

 and the time. To specify' anj' method, 

 standpoint or sequence as the unqualified 

 ' best ' is to lose sight of the diiferences and 



