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The light of genius which inspired the old philosophers 

 was suffered during the Roman epoch of war and conquest, 

 and the Macedonian King's ambitious career, to flicker down to 

 a feeble ray, until it was renewed in the 15th century of our 

 time by the pure oil of reason, that waxed strong and 

 strenuous in the devotion of the students of nature who 

 interpreted and surpassed the masters of philosophy in the 

 earlier days. The flash of light burned low again till the 

 close of the 18th century, when it burst into an unextinguish- 

 able flame which has lighted the pathway of genius, giving 

 us, in its rekindling, the guiding ray to all the knowledge we 

 possess of nature's ways and works. 



We may safely contend that inventions, in the civiliza- 

 tion, the well-being and progress of the world, and the 

 improvements in the intercommunications of nations, have 

 been the outcome of the zeal for the communion with, and 

 better understanding of nature in her own domain. 



In estimating the work of the great men of the past 

 century in bringing into practical form their realization of 

 the forces of nature, the supreme honour is theirs, of noble 

 accomplishments for the benefit of the race, self-sacrificing, 

 with no ulterior thought of personal aggrandisement. 



Natural history can, however, only record one here and 

 there in a generation, of the great ones of the world, who 

 have spent their lives in elucidating the laws of nature. 



The subject of natural science being of such vital 

 importance, and affecting as it does the general interests and 

 welfare of civilized life, it is essential that studies with some 

 pretentions to future usefulness, should be introduced into 

 schools and colleges of the country, that the curriculum of 

 national education should include the systematic, graduated 

 instruction in nature studies. 



I shall be reminded that scholastic training does include 

 the study and use of the globes, that botany is taught in our 

 high schools, that aspirants for fame can be coached in the 

 study of astronomy, geology, meteorology, and possibly 

 zoology ; that with the higher mathematics the scholar mav 

 pass through a course of instruction in animal and plant life 

 from the coloured book descriptions illustrated by the best 

 masters. 



