272 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



how to read than there are who can not conjugate a Greek verb, or identify the 

 geological formation on which tliey stand. I mean by reading simply getting 

 thought from the printed page. 



Now, teachers who are so enthusiastic on teaching nature instead of books, sa^ 

 the children do not understand the books, and then make that a reason for quit- 

 ting them. As tersely stated by Herbert Spencer: "They by their method- 

 induce stupidity, and then straightway make that stupidity a reason for their 

 method." They would say: "Come, children, it takes a 'conscious effort' to- 

 understand this author, let us take a romp in the woods and discover these prin- 

 ciples for ourselves." They romp, see many pretty things, collect some shining- 

 shells, kill some pretty birds and come back refreshed and invigorated in spirits, 

 but perhaps no better able to understand the " horrid book" than before. They 

 will in this way learn many interesting things and profit by the exercise, but still 

 be unable to read — to get thought from the book. They leave school without 

 this ability, and though they may be sharp observers, their observations will be 

 superficial, for they are not deepened by the thoughts of great scientists whose 

 language is the text-book which they have never learned to appropriate because 

 it required a "conscious effort." Any possession, mental or material, that does 

 not cost effort is not worth the having. It is effort and conscious effort that 

 makes men. The tendency to relieve pupils of effort and the neglect of that 

 kind of training which teaches them how to make it, is weakening the efficiency 

 of our schools. 



I will now try to make myself understood regarding what I believe to be the 

 proper use of the text-book. I do not mean that its use is measured by the num- 

 ber of facts it contains, nor that the chief object in mastering it lies in the bare- 

 knowledge it imparts; but that its mastery imphes the ability to read — to interpret 

 recorded thought. The mere facts memorized from a text-book with no under- 

 standing of the principles they teach are.of course worse than useless; and their 

 incumbrance on the mind is even less beneficial than an aimless ramble in the 

 woods; and it is this use, or rather misuse, of text-books that has resulted in the 

 re-action represented by the misguided advocates of no text-books. But how shall 

 the text-book be understood ? How shall the teacher make it an efficient means 

 in scientific pursuit ? How shall he make it a stimulator and not a deadener ? 

 A complete answer to these questions would embody the definition of a true 

 teacher. Whatever is required. beyond the pupil's own resources to enable him to 

 understand the subject at hand must be furnished by the teacher. The value of 

 the teacher lies in seeing just what and how much is needed, and how to apply 

 it. An occasional pupil will be most benefited by receiving no aid at all. He- 

 studies the subject from the book, thinks about it, verifies when practicable by 

 experiment, criticises if thought necessary, observes its bearing on the experiences 

 of life, masters the entire thought of the author, and if his taste leads him to be a 

 specialist, having thus appropriated ancestral experience, he is able then to pur- 

 sue the subject independently and add his might to scientific progress. But the 

 majority of pupils will need some aid from the teacher to enable them to read the- 



