556 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 
after a certain amount of general knowledge has been obtained 
by the pupils. Of course it will be necessary in that case to 
devote also more time to the realistic subjects, and less to 
Latin and mathematics in the lower forms, but here too our 
author proposes a remedy, and I may again be allowed to quote 
from his work (page 180). “ No doubt it is indispensable to 
have exact habits of mind, and mathematics and grammar are 
excellent for the promotion of these habits ; and Latin, besides 
having so large a share in so many modern languages, offers a 
erammar, which is the best of all grammars, for the purpose of 
this promotion. Here are valid reasons for making every school- 
boy learn some Latin and some mathematics, but not for turning 
the preliminary matter into the principal, and sacrificing every ap- 
titude except that for the science of language or of pure mathe- 
matics. A Latin grammarof thirty pages, andthe mostelementary 
treatise of arithmetic and geometry, would amply suffice for the 
uses of philology and mathematics as a universally imposed 
preparatory discipline. By keeping within these strict limits, 
absolute exactness of knowledge—the habit which is here our 
professed aim—might be far better attained than it is at present. 
But it is well to insist, besides, that all knowledge may and 
should, when we have got fit teachers for it, be so taught as to 
promote exact habits of mind ; and we are not to take leave of 
these when we pass beyond our introductory discipline,” Fi- 
nally, when alluding to the conflict between the humanists and 
realists, he is inclined to think that both sides will, as is natural, 
have to abate their extreme pretensions; a conclusion with 
which every true friend of culture must heartily agree. I should 
like to dwell much longer upon the clear and excellent con- 
clusions of this eminent writer, but fear that I have already 
taxed your patience more than I ought to have done, and wish 
now to offer you a few concluding remarks. To ameliorate the 
present state of things, and bring it up to the requirements of 
the age in which we live, it is evident that considerable changes 
will have to be made both in the higher and middle courses of 
our educational system.. As long as in the University course 
Latin and mathematics are the principal subjects required, so 
long will the middle schools devote their principal energy and 
time to teach them, to the neglect of other subjects equally 
valuable. The secondary schools at present do not teach for 
the requirements of life, as they ought to do, but merely for 
the enactments of the University ; and all their pupils who do 
not wish to prepare for a university course, but nevertheless are 
anxious to receive a first-class education, to obtain that 
amount of culture necessary for a well balanced mind, are 
obliged to follow a course of study which is designed only for 
candidates for matriculation at the University. Such a system 
is still more to be deplored if it is followed in high schools for 
girls, where probably only one-fiftieth of the pupils prepare for 
a university course, but where nevertheless the whole curriculum 
is arranged for such a purpose; modern languages, and that 
