492 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 199 



tion to the industrial arts, and in universities or 

 colleges, should come under review, as well as its 

 promotion by scientific bodies or societies ; also 

 the means afforded for its cultivation among 

 adults, by means of museums, botanical and 

 zoological gardens, public lectures, evening and 

 other adult classes, public libraries, etc. My in- 

 quiry has, as far as possible, ranged over all these 

 subjects ; but inasmuch as many of them are vol- 

 untary and not state-aided, and therefore not sub- 

 ject to inspection and report, it has been difficult 

 in several instances to get accurate information 

 about them. 



There appeared to be two methods of present- 

 ing the subject : 1°. To take each means of ad- 

 vancing scientific education separately, and con- 

 sider what is done in that particular matter by 

 each colony ; 2°. To take each colony separately, 

 and give a general view of its various methods of 

 promoting education in science. After careful 

 consideration, I decided to adopt the second alter- 

 native, since comparisons — proverbially odious, 

 and sometimes basad on data not strictly com- 

 parable — would thereby be avoided. 



This is scarcely the time or place to dilate uj)on 

 the advantages to be gained by giving science a 

 proper place in education ; i.e., recognizing that 

 it is of equal value to literature and art as an 

 educational instrument : your presence here to- 

 day proves that you have more or less sympathy 

 with such proposals. To those, however, whose 

 sympathy is less rather than more, I would com- 

 mend a careful perusal of three Cantor lectures on 

 science-teaching, recently deliverefl at the Society 

 of arts (and since published separately) by Prof. 

 Frederick Guthrie of the Science schools, South 

 Kensington, whose powerful arguments, and clear, 

 incisive style, can scarcely fail to make a decided 

 impression upon iinprejudiced minds. I wish 

 that time permitted me to quote some of his 

 amusing remarks. 



In reviewing the whole subject, I have been 

 very much struck with the fact, that, in every 

 colony, education is a distinct department of the 

 state, under a responsible minister of public in- 

 struction, the teachers themselves being in many 

 instances civU servants. The advantages of this 

 plan, enabling the minister, as it does, to take a 

 broad and statesmanlike view of the whole sub- 

 ject, are well seen in a speech on public education 

 in New Zealand, delivered on July 21, 1885, in the 

 house of representatives, by the Hon. Robert 

 Stout, minister of education. This case may be 

 considered a typical one, and will be alluded to 

 again in the detailed account of that colony. 



Another noteworthy point is the obvious desire, 

 on the part of nearly every colony, to realize Pro- 



fessor Huxley's aspiration ^ for Great Britain, that 

 the state should provide " a ladder reachmg from 

 the gutter to the university, along which every 

 child in the three kingdoms shall have the chance 

 of climbing so far as he is fit to go." In most 

 colonies, not even excepting South Africa, this 

 appears to be more or less the case. A state-aided 

 system of scholarships enables a boy in the pri- 

 mary schools to pass through the secondary and 

 high schools, colleges, etc., and finally to study at 

 the Colonial university. Sometimes the same 

 system is so far extended that holders of such 

 scholarships proceed to England, and take uni- 

 versity degrees there, frequently in science. 



I propose to consider the provisions for educa- 

 tion m science in the following order, in each 

 colony, and to take the colonies themselves in 

 geographical succession, beginning with the most 

 westerly : primary, secondary, and high schools ; 

 colleges, both special and general ; universities, 

 museums, libraries, scientific societies, lectures, 

 and other means of encouraging a knowledge of 

 science among adults. 



Canada. 



Province of Ontario (including Ottawa City). — 

 In the iDiiblic or primary schools, with the excep- 

 tion of a little descrij)tive geography and very 

 simple object-lessons, no elements of science are 

 taught. The high-school course, however, in- 

 cludes elementary physics and botany, even in its 

 lowest classes. The course of study for all teach- 

 ers, however, embraces the elements of natural 

 science ; and the Normal school at Toronto has, as 

 Dr. Gladstone and I can personally testify, a mag- 

 nificent collection of apparatus for the teaching of 

 physical and other branches of science, a selection 

 from which can be seen in the Canadian courts 

 educational division. Various denominational col- 

 leges teach science to a limited extent ; but the 

 chief provision for higher instruction therein is to 

 be found at University college, Toronto, where are 

 three well - equipped laboratories, — chemical, 

 physical, and biological, — the apparatus alone in 

 which cost $27,500, and also three museums. In 

 the School of practical science, connected with 

 this, upon which $50,000 were expended, there are 

 three courses of study, — engineering (civil and 

 mining), assaying and mining geology, analytical 

 and applied chemistry. The Agricultru-al college 

 at Guelph has a reputation over the whole conti- 

 nent, and natural science is a large feature in its 

 programme. Nearly a quarter of a million dollars 

 were expended on its establishment, and the cur- 

 rent annual expenditure exceeds $52,000. 



For persons beyond the ordinary school age, 

 there is an excellent organization throughout the 

 1 Fortnightly review, January, 1878. 



