PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. Ill 
were specially commissioned by other museums to inspect our cases 
and method of arrangement, and at least one important museum in 
the south has decided to adopt our plan. 
SCIENCE TEACHING. 
In watching the signs of the times, it is very gratifying to note the 
greatly increased importance which our public men and educational 
authorities attach to science as a leading factor in modern education. 
For instance, Lord Balfour, the Secretary of State for Scotland, in his 
recent important address at the opening of the new Grammar School 
at Paisley, said that, even in our elementary schools, “ The claims of 
science have not received sufficient attention.” One reason which he 
assigns for this is the heavy cost of the apparatus, &c., required for 
practical scientific teaching. The same idea is expressed, even more 
forcibly, in a circular issued by the Scotch Education Department, 
dated 19th August, and signed by Sir Henry Craik. Under the 
head of “ Experimental Science,” it recommends that, “ In rural 
schools, and in summer, some investigation of plant life and of the 
elements of Botany should be added. In the third year at least three 
hours a week of practical work will be expected from each pupil.” 
Still more striking, however, are the recommendations under the head 
of “ Geography,” which are :—“ The reading of maps (e.g. of contour 
lines) and their construction ; elementary exercises in surveying and 
mapping; a thorough regional survey, by means of excursions, of the 
physical geography, flora, fauna, and historical antiquities of the 
district in which the school is situated.” These are entirely the lines 
on which our Society has always worked, namely, to encourage the 
investigation of the natural history of our own district, and it is 
certainly gratifying to see the principle recognised in so influential a 
quarter. At the same time, the Government have given additional 
encouragement to scientific education in Scotland by enacting that 
the Grants to which she is entitled under the Local Taxation Account 
Act of the present year shall be devoted to the higher grade science 
schools, and especially to Agricultural Education. They have also 
removed from the Grants available for Technical Education under 
the Act of 1890 the liability to deductions under the Infectious 
Diseases of Cattle Acts. The recognition of the value of scientific 
training, however, is advancing with even more rapid strides in the 
United States and in Canada, as will be seen from the report recently 
published by the Technical Instruction Committee of the city of 
Manchester, a copy of which Sir Robert Pullar has just placed in our 
Library for reference. One noticeable feature of this report is the 
importance which is attached in America to the establishment of 
Educational Museums in connection with Technical and Science 
Schools. 
The only other reference I shall make to recent public utterances 
on this subject is to quote a memorable phrase from a speech which 
Lord Rosebery delivered at the opening of the People’s Palace at 
Glasgow in January last. Speaking of the benefits of Free Libraries 
and Museums and public places of recreation, both to the inhabitants 
