What should be the method of this study?
The sketching out of a course would be far beyond the scope of this
paper. Here it may only be said that the work must, of necessity, fall
into two main parts. There must be, on the one hand, field-naturalist's
work, for the greater proportion of the animals and plants studied
ought--so far as is in any way practicable--to be observed in their
natural surroundings; and there must be, on the other hand, work allied
to that of the gardener and farmer, the rearing of selected plants and
animals for purposes of experiment and of closer examination. Nothing
worth mentioning can be done on either of these lines without some study
of the food and climatic conditions required by each creature; and this
will involve a study of soils, temperature, atmosphere, and so on--and
also a study of the nutrient properties of those organisms which furnish
forth the food of other organisms. From this knowledge, gained thus
through direct observation and experiment, would be deduced the general
principles which--so to express it--govern life; and upon it as
foundation would be reared the more specialised knowledge of all that
pertains strictly to the life of mankind. Throughout the aim should be
to use books mainly for reference.
It is not necessary--as it might have been a few years ago--to show that
a training on these lines is better, as a preparation for life, than
that offered by the ordinary school and university curriculum; but it
may be worth while to show how far and why it is superior to a
well-planned course in the analytical biology of the laboratory. The
superiority is surely twofold: in that the kind of knowledge acquired is
of greater practical utility; and, again, in that the development which
it ensures, to the powers, bodily and mental of the student, is more
varied, thorough, and effective.