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entering into any accurate comparison of their value as con- 
trasted with other departments of study. 
Firstly, as regards Discipline , very little need be said as to 
the value of scientific studies. That the study of Physical and 
Natural Science is of the highest efficacy in developing and 
training the mental powers in their lower plane, may be 
assumed, without danger, as being generally admitted. Witness 
— if witness be needed — the unchallenged position occupied by 
mathematics, at once the handmaiden and the mother of so many 
of the sciences. From one point of view, however, Science has 
a special value as a disciplinary agent; since its training is of a 
twofold character. The labour, namely, necessary for acquiring 
the facts of Nature develops and increases the powers of obser- 
vation and sharpens the senses ; whilst the study of the gene- 
ralizations of Science constitutes one of the severest forms of 
intellectual training. It may be claimed, therefore, with some 
show of reason, that the educational discipline afforded by 
scientific studies presents certain advantages over that which 
can be derived from other branches of knowledge. Even if this 
be admitted, it can only be with the strong assurance that 
these advantages cannot be realized unless Science be taught 
'practically. It is not enough for the teacher to rely upon 
books, either for his own knowledge or in his teaching. He 
must himself have a personal knowledge of his subject ; and the 
facts which he brings before the learner must be illustrated by 
actual examples from the world around him. So far, at any 
rate, as concerns the young, it may be doubted if science- 
teaching is of any avail, unless it be carried out in the labora- 
tory and the museum, on the hill-side or by the seashore, by 
the living voice of Nature rather than by diagrams and techni- 
calities. When so taught, Science yields to no other study as 
a means of mental discipline ; and its value as an educational 
agent cannot be fairly estimated when it is taught otherwise. 
If we inquire, in the second place, what educational Standing- 
Science can claim on the score of Utility, here, again, it would 
appear that its pretensions are well-founded and undeniable. 
Always admitting that the ideal education would consist in a 
judicious intermixture of the scientific and non-scientific know- 
ledges, we must remember that the time allotted by the 
majority of mankind to learning is too short to admit of this 
general culture, and that the average schoolbo}'- is not likely 
to conquer with any thoroughness more than one department 
of knowledge. Having painfully mastered “ the three r*s,” 
the ordinary schoolboy is driven to make choice as to what 
set of studies he will more especially pursue; and his choice is, 
