48 HENRY DEANE. 



be answered in the affirmative, and that we as members of the 

 premier scientific society of this colony, should do something more 

 to bring about a better state of things. 



I think we are bound, in the first place, to advocate the placing 

 of science in a more prominent position in the education of the 

 young. I do not in any way intend to depreciate the value of 

 literary studies and languages, because it is certain that anything 

 approaching a complete education cannot be arrived at without a 

 grasp of literature and language, but the day has gone by when 

 these were universally considered to be the only way in which the 

 mind could be trained. It is now accepted by our best authorities 

 that science answers exactly the same purpose, and it has this 

 advantage that it leads to habits of observation and to a sharpen- 

 ing of the outward faculties which at the present day of compe- 

 tition must be of great utility, and that while the study of ancient 

 languages and literature helps the retrospective faculties, with 

 the aid of science man deals with the present and makes plans 

 for the future. 



It is very much to be regretted that men in high positions, 

 when they make speeches at scientific meetings, should affect to 

 despise science or say that they know nothing about it, and pass 

 off their own ignorance with a laugh, as if it was not rather a 

 matter to be deplored. Science is so wide in its scope that surely 

 every man in a prominent position should have studied some par- 

 ticular branch of it. 



Importance of Technical Training to all those engaged in the 

 mechanical and manufacturing arts. — Few now dispute the 

 importance of technical training. Much has been written and 

 spoken on this subject in Great Britain during the last few years, 

 and the question has been the subject of an important inquiry 

 and report by a Commission appointed by the British Government. 

 It is now acknowledged that the British manufacturer has allowed 

 himself to be outstripped in manufacturing progress, because other 

 nations, notably the Germans, have for a long time based their 

 practice on sounder scientific knowledge. In their country 



