Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1873 [PAGE 2]

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u Books, in this case, ought only to be accessories—not principles. The pupils must be brought in face of the facts through experiment and demonstration. He should pull the plant to pieces, and see how it is constructed. He must vex the electric cylinder tlll'itjyields him his sparks. He must apply with his own hand the magnet to the needle. He must see^, water broken up into its constituent parts, and witness the violence with which its elements unite. Unless%e is brought into actual contact with the facts, and taught to observe and bring them into relation]with the science evolved from them, i t were better that instruction in science should be left alone; for one of the first lessons he must learn from science is not to trust in authority, but to demand proof for each asseveration. All this is true education, for it draws out faculties of observation, connects observed facts with the connections deduced from them in the course of ages, gives discipline and courage to thought, and teaches a knowl edge of scientific method which will serve a life time. ISTor can such education be begun too early. The whole yearnings of a child are for the natural phenomena around, until they are smothered by the ignorance of the parent. He is a young Linnaeus roaming over 4 the fields in search of flowers. He is a young concholgist or mineralogist gathering shells or pebbles on the sea-shore. He is an ornithologist and goes bird-nesting. An ichthyalogist and catches fish. Glorious education in nature, all this, if the teacher knew how to direct and utilize it." LYON PLAYFAIR.