The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-04-28
Communicated.
OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Essay on some Of the Natural Sciences Oh
Branches of our Common School Course.
DoNALDsoNvILLB, April 1s, 1888.

Essay on some Of the Natural Sciences a
Branches of our Common School Course.
DoNALDsoNvILLB, April 1s, 1888.
EDITOR CHIEF:
''This is an age of common schools ant
common sense" To study the works o
Gods hands, as manifesting his power, wis
dom and goodness, is certainly sbeneftting
creature upon whom He has bestowed tn,
faculty Of reason. Every part Of the Crea
ton is worthy of investigation. What {
vast field for the exercise of human reason
is there in the world of objects revealed by
the microscope! How far beyond our com
prehension are the bodies which compos,
the planetary system, further than the laws
which regulate Their motions Still less car
we know of the myriads of fixed stars
Within the sphere of our natural vision there
is field for study more within our compre
hension, and the results to be obtained more
productive of usefulness, but the short
space of human life does not afford time
enough to become well acquainted with this
field for investigation. Those subjects
therefore, which are the most useful ought
first to engage our attention.
Why is it, Mr.. Editor, that in our public
schools q smattering knowledge of astron
omy is taught our children, whilst chemistr,
a very practical science, is entirely sighted
Why is it that the distances Of Saturn and
Jupiter from the Sun, and tho Sun from our
Earth, and knowledge of the laws which
govern the movements of the planets arc
particularly impressed Oh the mind ofpupis,
whilst Il knowledge of the laws of chemical
combination of bodies has not been thought
worthy of any attention. 1t seems to me
that chemistry and philosophy ought to
form two prominent branches of common
education.
Would it not be better that our children
would learn IL chemical knowledge of soap
than to learn that the Milky-way is COM
posed of myriads of starsi Would there
not be more practical information in know
ing the antidote of sugar of lead and various
other poisons, than knowing that the Polar
star formed the tip Of the tail of the Little
Bear! How much mere interesting and
instructing and how. much better an intel
lectual exercise would experiments Illus
trating the science of chemistry be, than in
tracing out the imaginary figures on celes-
tial map.
Of how much practical Importance is the
study of the structure and functions of the
different parts of the human body? Is it
not strange that difficult mathematical prob
lens and fine-spun theories in metaphysics
will be assduously taught, whilst the uses
of those very important organs, the teeth
and salipary glands are scarcely thought of
How many miserable dyspeptic would
have avoided all the train of evils which
eventuated in his lingering death, had he
of the proper performance of the functions
of the teeth and saioary glands. OF how
much Importance is O knowledge of the
| whole process of digestion1 How few there
are apart from the medical profession who
know that bile is a natural, healthy product,
and that digestion could not be properly
performed without it. The mass of the
people, indeed, are apt to suppose that bile
is the cause of much disturbance, and in
order to get rid of this great disturber they
resort to compounds and nostrums, to the
great injury of the delicate texture of vari-
GUS parts of their digestive apparatus.
Anatomy and physiology are the q b cs
of the science of medicine. say anatomy
and physiology because the latter, of course,
can not be understood without knowledge
of the former. No one who is ignorant of
physi ology can form an intelligent notion
of disease. AS we'll might you expect a
man who is ignorant of the uses of the
wheels of watch to form an intelligent
notion of what might be wrong in the i'm
pairment of that beautiful piece of muchu-
cry.
Look over our newspaper advertisements
and tell me why are those gross impostures
blazoned forth with all the unblushiug
effrontry of the veriest mountebankism that
ever existed, even in the darkest ages. Why
is it that inducements are held cut in every
public Journal, and placarded on every cor
ner, for the people to drug themselves. Is
it not because an intelligent notion of dis
ease can not be formed by one-third of the
community, and these impostnres are suf-
tered because credulity is the child of isnor-
ances Alas for the poor corpus hun,a,,sta,
What pill swallowing and drug taking
machine it has become; at one time surfeit-
| ;pp al, Il;
then resorting to pill and bous, producing
u temporary relief, only that the same rou-
tine again may be gone round. travelling in
u circle which grows less and less, until
pill and 6olus are in requisition every day
Thus might be enumerated the evils arising
from u want of u knowledge of the u c's of
tue sciencr Of medicine.
The absence Of this information is the
princi pal source of cuticura, sup pos. j. tor.
les, balm Of Gilead, ginger tonic, infallible
worm destroying lozenges aud that shocking
absurdity, the vegetable pill, which like u
! sort of epidemic diarrhoa, has tormented
the intestinal canal Of thousands of our ia r
seeing cornpatriots, until the American pop
ulatiou have become hardened i'll purgation
| If Horace were here he would not think
the dura missorum ilia the toughest things
in creation. G..
High Authority.
| DR.. W. E. Scott. President of the College of
Physicians, Montreal, writes: s. 1 have recon-
mended Colden's Liebig's Liquid Extract oi
Beef and Tonic Inyigorator as tho best pre-