174 



Louis Agassiz. 



and everything, decline firmly to do it. It is an im- 

 position alike on pupils and teachers to teach that 

 which he does not know. Those teachers who are 

 strong enough should squarely refuse to do such 

 work. This much-needed reform is already begin- 

 ning in our colleges, and I hope it will continue. It 

 is a relic of mediaeval times, this idea of professing 

 everything. When teachers begin to decline work 

 which they cannot do well, improvements begin to 

 come in. If one will be a successful teacher, he must 

 firmly refuse work which he cannot do successfully. 



" It is a false idea to suppose that anybody is com- 

 petent to learn or to teach everything. Would our 

 great artists have succeeded equally well in Greek or 

 calculus? A smattering of everything is worth little. 

 It is a fallacy to suppose that an encyclopaedic knowl- 

 edge is desirable. The mind is made strong not 

 through much learning, but by the thorough posses- 

 sion of something.'* 



Lay aside all conceit. Learn to read the book 

 of Nature for yourself. Those who have succeeded 

 best have followed for years some slim thread which 

 has once in a while broadened out and disclosed 

 some treasure worth a life-long search.'' 



" A man cannot be a professor of zoology on one 

 day, and of chemistry on the next, and do good work 

 in both. As in a concert all are musicians — one 

 plays one instrument, and one another, but none all 

 in perfection." 



You cannot do without one specialty ; you must 

 have some base-line to measure the work and attain- 

 ments of others. For a general view of the subject 



