256 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP.
as a whole is a~ follows : To teach a few congenial and useful things very thoroughly, to encourage curiosity concerning as wide a range of subjects as possible, and not to overteach. As regards the precise subjects for rigorous 'instruction, the following seem to me in strict accordance with what would have best pleased those of the scientific men who have sent me returns :-1. Mathematics pushed as far as the capacity of the learner admits, and its processes utilized as far as possible for interesting ends and practical application. 2. Logic (on the grounds already stated, but on those only). 3. Observation, theory, and experiment, in at least one branch of science ; some boys taking one branch and some another, to ensure variety of interests in the school. 4. Accurate drawing of objects connected with the branch of science pursued. 5. Mechanical manipulation, for the reasons already given, and also because mechanical skill is occasionally of great use to nearly all scientific men in their investigations. These five subjects should be rigorously taught. They are anything but an excessive programme, and
