The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-03-20

THURSDAY EvEN'G, MARCH q


The Northwestern, published at Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, is ole of the sprightliest of our
exchanges. 1t has an excellent article on
the study of Natural History in the
schools, from which we quote:
The whole world of nature is spread out
before our eyes--and yet its varied forms
of vegetation, its diversified examples of
animal life, its wonderful secrets concealed
under numberless DISCUSSES in the mineral
kingdom, the starry heavens above our
heads, the mysterious workings of the forces
known as attraction, magnetism and electro
city, the latent power in single drop of wa
tcr,light and heat, in their various manifesta-
tons all these pass under our observation
with scarcely a thought beyond the transit
tory recognition forced upon us by the in
voluntary action of our senses. We travel
across prairies carpeted with plants and
flowers, and through forests studded with
the monarchs of centuries, and know only
how much per thousand feet can be realiz-
ed; we visit menageries and admire the
variety and peculiar forms Of beasts and
birds, yet have no idea of the law of deyel-
opment of the origin of life or the formation
of races ; the stars and planets are only
SO many tallow candles lighted for our
convenience; and we go on through life
ignorant of the laws which give power and
direction to water, steam, and electricity,
forcing them into just subsection to
human intelligence. Our boys study the
wisdom of Daboll and Euclid as to figures
and forms. the languages of Xenophon and
Cicero as models Of pathological excellence.
and graduate from our common schools
and colleges with as little knowl-
edge of the world in which they are COM
PEELED to live as the child born blind pos
sesses of light, shade and color.
There is not boy or girl of ten years of
age, who is not capable of understanding
the first principles Of natural philosophy.
nor a youth Of fifteen who ought not to
understand the simple laws of chemical
affinity, or the few families into which
are grouped the numerous forms of yege-
table life, or the natural formation of
the several strata which form the crust of
the earth's surface. Why this kind of ed
ucation has been so long neglected in our
public schools is mystery only explained
by the fact that we are creatures of habit.
and allow our stupidity to govern us in fol-
lowing the customs of our ancestors. pre-
ferring to use in educational matters. the
old spinning wheels of our grandmothers
rather than the thousand spindles and looms
invented by modern genius. A knowledge
of fractions is good qualification for a |
small retail trader; knowledge of great |
words and dead languages will do fora pet
tifogger or sentimentalist but knowl- |
edge of our everyday surroundings and of |
the admirable laws by which the world of |
nature is governed and regulated by an om- |
nipotent and omnipresent intelligence, is
necessary to the full development Of the
capacities Of the human mind. Let Us
have more science and less dogmatism
more inquiry and fewer axioms. Let us
use our eyes as well as our ears--more
judgment and less belief, and draw more
from the original sources at our command
than from dusty tombs.
The common school is the place to incul-
cate love for the study of nature; and
whatever of precedent or custom stands in
the way, let it be abolished. Pope was
partially correct when he said that ''the
proper study of mankind is !" since |
the study Of man is included in the study
of nature; but the declaration is so limited. |
The proper study of mankind is that ma
tnre, through which we look to NATURES
God"