March 19, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



463 



inductive reasoning, because it leads to no 

 higher intellectual level than that of the 

 major premise. Every conclusion and every 

 thought is subordinate to that with which 

 we begin the process, while inductive rea- 

 soning proceeds to broader and grander 

 facts, which tax the human mind more and 

 more in the eifort to comprehend them. 



Now, let us consider in what manner we 

 may develop power to reason inductively. 

 In the lecture room the teacher may lead 

 his class step by step through an inductive 

 process, and he may receive evidence that 

 they have followed him in answer to such 

 questions as, " Why do you believe that 

 magnetism is a molecular phenomenon?" or 

 " Why do you believe that a body in motion 

 will continue in motion indefinitely, unless 

 acted upon by some external force?" But 

 discipline in inductive reasoning is best 

 obtained in the laboratory. It is not de- 

 rived from such experiments as determining 

 the coefficient of expansion of iron or 

 measuring the resistance of a coil of wire. 

 This class of work is similar to the work 

 that a mechanic does in sharpening and re- 

 pairing his tools. It may furnish useful 

 manual training, but no such discipline as 

 does the measuring the resistance of many 

 coils of wire so selected as to furnish a line 

 of argument confirming the laws of resist- 

 ance. Neither do such exercises as the 

 last possess any such value as do original 

 researches ; here the experimental method 

 reaches its maximum value. 



We thus see that laboratory work is 

 necessary to the best development of the 

 pupil's mind, and that the object of the 

 laboratory course is not to discover laws 

 and facts ; not to prove that the book tells 

 the truth ; not the manual training in- 

 volved ; but its great advantage over other 

 means of developing the mind. 



We see also that class-room work may 

 be made valuable and that it is necessary, 

 because of the culture derived by the stu- 



dents, and because of the opportunity which 

 the teacher is afforded of guiding the stu- 

 dents' mental processes, and this combina- 

 tion of laboratory and class-room work is 

 the plan recommended by the ' Committee 

 of Ten.' Let us call it the American 

 method for the present. 



If I catch the spirit of the method of 

 instruction in science employed in the 

 schools of Germany, it is expressed in one 

 word — ' Questions ' — questions which lead 

 the students step by step through their own 

 thoughts to the facts and laws of the 

 sciences. I am unwilling to admit that in 

 the products of corresponding schools the 

 German is superior to the American ; but I 

 believe that we may with profit combine 

 the two phases, and that increased educa- 

 tional value will be found in experiments 

 which are performed with a set of questions 

 to be answered before the pupil. Not such 

 questions as " What color is this gas?" but 

 questions so shaped as to compel thinking 

 and to guide the thoughts of the student. 

 In many experimental sciences the direc- 

 tions for experiments are accompanied by 

 questions, but most of them are intended to 

 call attention to facts. What I insist upon 

 is that the teacher have in mind the mental 

 process to which the question will lead the 

 student. In closing, let me say that I found 

 the Regent's syllabus in physics altogether 

 too long for this class of work, and I believe 

 that many teachers who are ready to do this 

 higher grade of work are now rushing 

 through the long course, developing only 

 the memory. 



Last November, in his opening address as 

 President of Section A of the British Asso- 

 ciation, Professor J. J. Thompson says : " I 

 hope I may not be considered ungrateful if 

 I express the opinion that, in the zeal and 

 energy which is now spent in the teaching 

 of physics in schools, there may lurk a temp- 

 tation to make pupils cover too much 

 ground. It is, indeed, not uncommon to 



