HOME-MADE APPARATUS. 521 



The time required to get ready the old-fashioned apparatus 

 makes it utterly impossible for a teacher in a public school to 

 use it. Again, the time required for the manipulation of it in the 

 class, causes the pupil's mind to wander to other thoughts than 

 that of the principle which is to be illustrated. Add to this the 

 fact that home-made apparatus is so suggestive of scientific prin- 

 ciples that, while the student is making it, his mind is constantly 

 learning something new, and we have ground for the statement 

 that home-made apparatus economizes time sufficiently to make it 

 practicable to teach science experimentally in the public schools. 



Perhaps the chief argument in favor of home-made apparatus 

 is what might be called the manual-training argument — i. e., 

 the argument of its educational value to the student who con- 

 structs it. It is always noticeable that the student who makes his 

 own apparatus is not only liable to get a better comprehension of 

 the principles which it illustrates, but his mind is thereby stimu- 

 lated to inquire into many kindred principles. 



The third great difficulty in the solution of our problem is 

 often stated in this way : Teachers in the public schools have not 

 sufficient skill to do this work. The reply is, (1) that it requires 

 less skill to illustrate principles with home-made apparatus than 

 with that which has been the awe and admiration of pupils and 

 teachers alike for ages, and (2) that patience and a love for the 

 work are far more essential qualifications than that which is usu- 

 ally called skill. 



To summarize the arguments for home-made apparatus : 



1. It teaches the principles better than the cumbersome and 

 expensive forms of apparatus can. Pupils, as a rule, are not ma- 

 chinists and do not understand a complex machine. 



2. The student takes a more lively interest in it and under- 

 stands it better because he makes it himself. 



3. All schools may possess it because of the slight expense in- 

 volved. 



4. It is applicable to the lower grades because of its simplicity. 



5. It is applicable to subjects which have not hitherto been 

 taught experimentally. 



The last argument has special reference to physiology. It has 

 been customary to speak of physics and chemistry as the experi- 

 mental sciences, but there seem to be equally good reasons why 

 physiology should be taught by experiments also. The processes 

 of respiration, circulation, action of muscles, formation of voice, 

 digestion, and many others admit — nay, demand — illustrative ex- 

 periments, and the advantages of home-made apparatus are quite 

 as apparent in this field as in the realm of the physical sciences. 



