30 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 80. 



As to the text-books— and there are many 

 of them of various grades of excellence — 

 none seem to me to come up to the standard 

 which should be striven after. The defects 

 are due either to an author's imperfect 

 knowledge of modern physiology or to un- 

 familiarity with the actual needs of the 

 school room. I believe no truly gr^at text- 

 book for school, college or university can be 

 created out of hand. It must be an evolu- 

 tion, a growth in its natural environment, 

 the school room or laboratory where the 

 pupils can help the teacher by their ques- 

 tions and difficulties. The atmosphere 

 must be one of freedom for learner and 

 teacher. Books written by so-called ' ex- 

 perts,' under the suj^ervision of the scientific 

 department of a temperance organization, 

 may, it is admitted, make the subject ' very 

 exciting and entertaining ; ' that is not 

 what is here advocated, however, but a 

 book by a teacher who, on the one hand, is 

 ti'uly an expert in the grade of schools 

 where the book is to be used, and on the 

 other, the possessor of a knowledge of phys- 

 iology at first hand ; that is, he must have 

 a knowledge that is recognized as expert by 

 the physiologists of the world, then he must 

 write under the supervision of his own con- 

 science, not that of an organization. 



It is a truism which cannot be repeated 

 too often or too emphatically that one can- 

 not teach what he himself does not know. 

 Therefore, for the teacher of physiology the 

 first requisite is knowledge. Knowledge 

 from books and of books and monographs, 

 but greater than all book learning is knowl- 

 edge at first hand from nature herself. 

 Such knowledge has the precious quality of 

 being alive, of being the leaven to vitalize 

 the whole lump of knowledge obtained 

 from books, and it makes teaching an in- 

 spiration to both teacher and pupil. Such 

 information can only be acquired by the 

 expenditure of considerable time and money. 

 A six weeks' course will hardly accomplish 



it, although I hasten to add that a term at 

 a university summer school or at a sea-side 

 laboratory where the instruction is given 

 by original investigators will give an uplift 

 and inspiration to an earnest teacher that 

 will be of inestimable value. 



But, given the suitable text-book and the 

 capable teacher, xohat shall be taught and 

 how shall it be taught ? The question of 

 instruction upon the effects of alcohol and 

 other narcotics need take but a sentence, 

 for the subject has been most ably treated 

 by President Jordan and discussed by 

 our Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 Charles P. Skinner, and others. If I rightly 

 understand them, my view corresponds 

 with theirs and with those of my honored 

 teacher, Prof. Burt G. Wilder, who is to 

 discuss this paper. It is, in a word, to tell 

 the truth, to present fairly both sides of the 

 question, so that when the pupils use their 

 own eyes and put the statements to the test 

 of experience, as most of them surely will, 

 they may feel, as well as know theoretically, 

 that the statements made are true, and the 

 teacher's earnest counsel is reasonable and 

 not merely lurid sentiment . 



Another problem will confront the teacher, 

 prepared as indicated above; that is the ex- 

 perimentation upon living animals for the 

 purpose of instruction in the schools. If he 

 has the knowledge requisite he will know 

 that, excepting a few facts, all which is 

 known of physiology and hygiene has been 

 acquired by experimenting upon living ani- 

 mals or living human beings. If one stops 

 for a moment to reflect, physiology deals 

 with the functions or activities of living or- 

 ganisms ; it has to do with the living, not 

 with the dead. For example, how shall 

 one know whether a plant is good for food, 

 whether it is medical or poisonous ? Of two 

 white crystalline substances, like chlorid of 

 sodium (common salt) and chlorid of mer- 

 cury (corrosive sublimate), how is one to 

 know that one is almost indispensable for 



