Vol. 59.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. XClii 



which can be laid down is that the didactic and authoritative 

 method is certain to have less and less effect as the scholar grows 

 older and his experience broadens, and the experimental and 

 original more and more. But there is no escape from the conclusion 

 that it is the common interest of the teacher and the scholar to 

 make use of both methods; for the knowledge of every man — 

 the genius, the scholar, the wise man, and the fool — is alike in 

 this, that it is the sum of that knowledge which is due to his 

 own individual experience, and that portion of the collective know- 

 ledge of humanity which is due to the antecedent experiences of his 

 forefathers, aud which he has received at second-hand. It is not 

 that the present educational systems are wrong in laying stress on 

 the memorizing and the applying of what is already known, but 

 that they are defective in neglecting the individual and original half 

 of a liberal education. 



As I have already pointed out, the central plane of Geonomy is 

 the knowledge of the surface of the earth, whose present and whose 

 present conditions belong to Geography, and whose past and evolution 

 belong to Geology. But in the earlier phases of the education of 

 the scholar there can and need be no distinction in his mind between 

 these two sciences ; they are rather combined in a geonomic stage — 

 in a generalized organism, so to speak, — destined to evolve and 

 differentiate later on. Yet in this early stage the dominating section 

 of the subject is essentially Geography. As such it presents two very 

 different aspects : the general geography, namely, that of the world 

 and its surface as a whole ; and the local geography, namely, the 

 geography of the home and the surroundings of the scholar. The 

 general geography must be taught didactically, with the aid of 

 such lecture-illustrations as globes and maps ; and the instruction 

 must be received by the scholar more or less as an article of faith. 

 The local geography, however — and by this I would understand not 

 only the topography of the district, but the geography of the town 

 or village, the playground, and the very schoolroom itself, — should 

 be taught practically at first hand, the data being recognized, 

 collected, and classified, the experiments made, and the conclusions 

 drawn, as much as possible by the scholar himself. 



Maps as Means and Symbols of Earth- Know ledge. — It is 

 along this local side of Geonomy that some of the most important 

 advantages will accrue to Geology, and not only to Geology but 

 to all its associated sciences. One of the most necessary qualifi- 



