ones. Reforms are always slow, but Mr. John Stuart Mill thought they were the slowest in schools. He said: "A few practical reformers of school tuition, of whom Arnold was the most eminent, have made a beginning in many things; but reforms, worthy of the name, are always slow, and reform-even of Governments and Churchesis not so slow as that of schools, for there is the great preliminary difficulty of fashioning the instruments, of teaching the teachers."

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LECTURE IV.

The operations of the Mind briefly described-The Primordial Forms of Mental Activity-Nature and Development of Perception-Residua-The Blending of Residua-Nature and Development of Ideas-Association of Ideas-Language the Atmosphere in which Thought lives-Misuse of Language in Teaching the Inductive Sciences-Memory-Its Culture -Constructive Imagination-Creative Imagination—The Logical Processes of the Mind-Necessary and Contingent Truths-Deductive and Inductive Reasoning-Intelligence as Thought.

In order to be able to judge correctly whether a subject-say Chemistry-is taught in accordance with the laws of thought, which is the only true and rational method of teaching any subject, it is necessary to be acquainted with the various ascending stages of the intellectual powers, and the operations of the mind involved in reasoning. This Lecture will therefore be devoted to this important subject; we shall then be prepared to consider the merits and demerits of the different methods which have been proposed or adopted for teaching Chemistry and Chemical Technology.

The entire phenomena of the human mind are, by an almost universal consent, classified under

those of the INTELLECT, the EMOTIONS, and the WILL.* We shall deal only with the INTELLECT,† which requires for its growth, as the body does, nutriment as well as exercise; but whilst the actions constituting the life of the body, as digestion, circulation, respiration, excretion, secretion, &c., are synchronous, the actions constituting thought do not occur together, but one after another.

In passing over the Primordial forms of mental

*"All classifications in modern Psychology come at last to this practical conclusion, that man is sometimes in a predominant state of intelligence, sometimes in a predominant state of feeling, and sometimes in a predominant state of action and determination. To call these, however, separate faculties is altogether beside the mark. No act of intelligence can be performed without the Will, no act of determination without the Intellect, and no act either of the one or the other without some amount of Feeling being mingled in the process. Thus, whilst they each have their own distinctive characteristics, yet there is a perfect unity at the root. So much indeed is this the case, that the three always answer and correspond to each other. For every stage of Intellectual development there is a corresponding stage of Emotion and Will; and the human elements which enter into a given elevation of thought, must enter equally into the same elevation both of our voluntary and emotional nature."-MORELL.

"The primary or fundamental attributes of the intellect are, according to Professor Bain-(1) Consciousness of Difference, (2) Consciousness of Agreement or Similarity, and (3) Retentiveness. Every properly intellectual function involves one or more of these attributes, and nothing else.

(1) "The fundamental property of Discrimination is also expressed as the Law of Relativity. As we can neither feel nor know without a transition or change of state, every feeling and cognition must be viewed as in relation to some other feeling or cognition. The sensation of heat has no absolute character; there is in it a transition from a previous state of cold, and the sensation

activity, as vital force, nerve force, mind force, and preconscious mental activity, we may observe that the forces we have named can, like the physical forces, heat, light, electricity, &c., be transformed into each other. Force, like matter, is never lost; it is only transmuted from one form of activity into another.

How we come to a consciousness at all of external objects remains still undiscovered, although numerous theories have been constructed to

is wholly relative to that state. It is known, with regard to the feelings generally, that they subsist upon comparison: the pleasure of good health is relative to ill health; wealth supposes comparative indigence. Also as regards knowledge, everything known is known in contrast to something else. There cannot be a single or absolute cognition.

(2) "The conscious state arising from Agreement or Similarity in the midst of Difference, is equally marked and equally fundamental. Supposing one experienced, for the first time, a certain sensation, as redness, and after being engaged with other sensations to encounter redness again, we are struck with the feeling of identity or recognition; the old state is recalled at the instance of the new, by the fact of agreement, and we have the sensation, if not together with a new and peculiar consciousness, the consciousness of agreement in diversity. As the diversity is greater, the shock of agreement is more lively. All knowledge finally resolves itself into Difference and Agreement.

(3) "The attribute of Retentiveness has two aspects or degrees. First, the persistence or continuance of the mental agitation after the agent is withdrawn. When the ear is struck by the sound of a bell, there is a mental awakening, termed the sensation of sound; and the silencing of the bell does not silence the mental excitement there is a continuing though feeble consciousness, which is the memory or idea of the sound. Secondly, there is a further and higher power-the recovering, under the form of ideas, past and dormant impressions, without the originals, and by mere mental agencies."

bridge over the gulf which lies between matter and mind. Our THOUGHTS belong to, or are part of, ourselves. THINGS are independent of us, and are without; we do not make them, but we make our thoughts by thinking about them. "In all human knowledge both THOUGHTS and THINGS are concerned."

PERCEPTION is the operation of the mind which converts sensations into experience, for neither the operations of the Intellectual Powers nor the higher Emotional States are immediately called forth by Sensations. By Perception we recognize an object external to us. A subjective sensation is the first act called forth by the presence of that object, whatever it may be. Recognition of the externality of the cause of that sensation next follows; and lastly, a notion is formed respecting the quality of the object which called it forth. There can, of course, be no perception without attention. The mental act which takes place when we first look upon an object we have not seen before, is one of SEPARATION and COMPARISON; and this act of separation and comparison "forms the first link in the whole vast chain of mental development which ensues. Every succeeding act of our mind's development is only a more progressive act of separation and comparison."*

*Professor Max Müller, when speaking of ComparativePhilology, says-"People ask, What is gained by comparison?