September 27, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



475 



" Those authors, therefore, are to be read 

 at schools that supply most axioms of pru- 

 dence, most principles of moral truth, and 

 most materials for conversation ; and those' 

 purposes are best served by poets, orators 

 and historians." 



This statement was, no doubt, entirely 

 adequate fco the demands of Johnson's time. 

 Polite conversation and elegant manners 

 were the chief characteristics of an age in 

 which Chesterfield was a bright and shin- 

 ing light. With the dull, hard-working, 

 unlettered crowds, that plodded on in the 

 steps of their grandfathers, educators had 

 nothing to do ; for such they had no educa- 

 tional theories. 



How wonderfully conditions have changed, 

 both as to the curriculum and as to the con- 

 stituency of education. It is interesting to 

 picture, in fancy, the bewilderment of a 

 Sam Johnson in the learned circles of this 

 scientific and industrial age. Imagine him 

 attempting to join in the discussions of our 

 British and American Associations for the 

 Advancement of Science, in our educational 

 conferences, or in the halls of exchange, 

 where the active minds of our generation 

 do mostly congregate. He would find it 

 difficult, in spite of the wonderful vigor of 

 his intellect, to be either useful or orna- 

 mental, though he could easily be amusing. 



From the days of John Milton, in 1608, to 

 the end of the eighteenth century, univer- 

 sity training culminated in a preparation 

 for the professions of law, medicine and 

 theology, and in the training of the nobility 

 for the duties and responsibilities of gov- 

 ernment and elegant society. 



But when alchemy developed into chem- 

 istry; when physics became an experimental 

 science ; when Leibnitz and Newton elab- 

 orated the infinitesimal calculus ; when 

 Watts invented an efficient steam engine ; 

 when Fulton built a successful steamboat ; 

 when Stephenson devised the locomotive 

 and constructed a road with smooth rails ; 



and finally when Siemens and Gramme 

 produced the electric motor—vast fields of 

 fascinating and useful material were opened 

 for study and research. Mathematical anal- 

 ysis and the principle of mechanics, which 

 had previously been devoted to the problems 

 of physical astronomy, were now directed 

 to the study of the transformation and 

 transmission of energy, the theory of struc- 

 tures, and the phenomena of electricity. 

 The theory of evolution gave a new mean- 

 ing to all vital phenomena ; and the doc- 

 trine of the conservation of energy per- 

 meated all study of motion and force. 



In the earlier days, Alexander Pope 

 voiced the popular notion that '■ the proper 

 study of mankind is man. ' '■ Nature Study,' 

 which to-day is the bright, attractive feature 

 of the primary school, and equally the in- 

 spiring field of the savant, was not coun- 

 tenanced by polite society. For centuries 

 it was held to be little short of blasphemy 

 to wound the earth by digging for ores 

 which were intended to be hidden away 

 from our sight and touch, or to attempt in 

 any way to improve upon God's workman- 

 ship. When in 1680 a Spanish engineer 

 proposed to deepen the channels of certain 

 rivers and to restrain their overflows in 

 the interest of navigation, the Spanish 

 Council decreed as follows: "If it had 

 pleased God that those rivers should have 

 been navigable. He would not have needed 

 human assistance to make them so ; but as 

 He has not done it, it is plain that He does 

 not want it done"; and the improvements 

 were forbidden. This decree reminds me 

 of a bit of Mrs. Eddy's logic which you may 

 remember in substance as follows : Had the 

 Almighty intended that drugs should be 

 used in treating sick people, He would 

 have placed drugs in the hands of Jesus 

 and his disciples ; Jesus and his disciples 

 used no drugs ; it is therefore evident that 

 the Almighty does not wish drugs to be 

 used upon people who are sick. 



