INTRODUCTION

of reasoning will be much more generally understood
and applied to other studies.
So far as knowledge of the body is concerned a boy
before leaving school should have some idea of his own
structure, of the laws dealing with his own growth and life
and health, the scientific principles of which include such
subjects as sanitation, ventilation, and hygiene generally.
The fourth branch indicated is by far the widest of the
groups as far as schools are concerned : it involves a study
of the past as well as that of the present; the language,
literature, and polity of the ancients ; the history of the
development of nations ; the literature of our own and
other countries ; social and industrial problems of modern
times and bygone days; the processes of nature generally,
and their application through industry and invention for
the benefit of mankind.
Such is a general outline of a complete education : to
what extent this syllabus is being realized at the moment,
and how far it is realizable under present conditions will
be considered in the following pages.
[n connection with the aims of education a conference
 consisting of approved representatives from the Councils
 of the Classical, English, Geographical, Historical,
and Modern Language Associations, issued the following
resolutions which have already been endorsed by the
corresponding Mathematical and Science Associations —
1. It is essential that any reorganization of our educational
 system should make adequate provision
for both humanistic! and scientific studies.
Premature specialization on any one particular group
of studies, whether “humanistic” or scientific,
to the exclusion of all others is a serious danger,

3.

* The word “humanistic” has unfortunately been applied by some
recent writers to indicate those subjects which are not comprised under the
terms * natural sciences ” and * mathematics ”’. It is misleading in so far
as it suggests that the sciences are not a main part of * humanism