1 52  Obligations  and  Methods  of  Research.    {■^'"-  {Jar'chiVg^o: 
respect.  Though  they  have  both  suffered  much  more  severely 
than  we  have  from  the  German  methods  of  warfare,  they  have 
both  decided  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  their  studies  of  the 
Hterature  of  their  late  enemy. 
Speaking  as  I  am  on  this  occasion  to  those  engaged  in  active  teach- 
ing work,  I  feel  that  research  in  methods  of  teaching  deserves  special 
notice,  especially  as  it  is  often  overlooked.  There  is,  in  fact,  at  the 
present  time,  a  tendency  to  minimize  the  lecture  as  a  method  of 
instruction,  and  to  lay  stress  almost  wholly  on  the  laboratory  and 
the  practical  side.  I  believe  this  to  be  an  error.  There  is  no  at- 
tribute of  humanity  higher  than  intelligent  speech,  and  there  is  no 
method  better  adapted  to  secure  and  maintain  for  a  reasonable  time 
the  attention  of  a  group  of  students  than  a  well  delivered  lecture. 
I  have  long  felt  that  our  preparatory  institutions,  particularly  those 
engaged  in  the  training  of  teachers  should  devote  much  more  time 
than  is  now  devoted  to  instruction  in  lecturing.  This  cannot  be 
obtained  by  the  practice  of  reciting  prose  or  poetry  from  some  stand- 
ard collection  but  must  consist  in  exercises  in  speaking  without  notes, 
or  at  least  with  only  outline  notes,  upon  some  topic  for  which  the 
speaker  has  made  special  preparation.  A  crowd,  whether  of  hood- 
lums or  post  graduates,  has  always  something  of  the  nature  of  a 
collection  of  w^ld  animals  into  which  the  speaker  enters.  His  safety 
lies  largely  upon  keeping  his  eyes  upon  them.  In  lecturing,  clear 
utterance,  careful  selection  of  phrases,  simple  language,  are  important. 
It  is  impossible  to  avoid  technical  terms  in  scientific  teaching  but 
in  many  cases  ordinary  words  will  serve.  Illustrations  of  points  by 
experiment  are  necessary  but  may  be  easily  overdone.  As  far  as 
the  physical  sciences  are  concerned,  the  laboratory  hours  afford  the 
student  much  opportunity  to  perform  illustrative  experiments,  so 
that  the  lecturer  can  give  more  time  to  explanation  and  direct  state- 
ment. The  modern  extensive  use  of  the  lantern  has  one  serious 
drawback — it  keeps  the  room  dark,  thus  taking  away  the  supervision 
of  the  teacher  and  also  interfering  with  note-taking. 
These  are  some  suggestions  offered  as  a  brief  summary  of  the  aid 
that  can  be  rendered  to  the  advancement  of  knowledge  by  those  who 
have  taken  up  its  study  and  practice.  The  opportunities  are  im- 
mense. They  are  by  no  means  limited  to  the  abstruse  and  elaborate 
investigations  that  are  now  so  regularly  contributed  by  leading 
scientists.  The  nature  of  the  atom  and  of  force,  the  existence  and 
properties  of  the  ether,  the  exact  determination  of  atomic  weights, 
