Show STUDENTS' STUDENTS WEEKLY ABSTRACT PEDAGOGY II n. The Ornamental and the Useful MAN in the primitive state seeks after the ornamental rather than the useful This tendency may be noticed among any of the uncivilized races When they first come in contact with civilization and are able to secure articles of apparel they wear them only when the weather is fine and there is no danger of soiling r If they have to go out in a cold storm they leave their cloak behind that it r may not get wet and be damaged This fact is one cause of the great mortality among mong native races when they come in contact with civilized man i f Only a few generations ago men in ini general paid great attention to their manner of dress They powdered their hair and sometimes wore it in ringlets Their garments were cut for show rather than for comfort and convenience But Butin Butin Butin in this century which is one of gre great t advancement in science and the mechanical mechanical mechanical me me- arts man has no time to keep track of the fashions In dress he prefers prefers prefers pre pre- fers a maximum of comfort with a minimum minimum minimum mini mini- mum of attention to d details tails Time once devoted to folly may now be used in accomplishing the work of the world and bringing about a higher state of civilization Happily too the frivolities f of dress and fashion which were cheri cherished cherished cher cher- i hed so long by womankind are now being looked upon wi with th disfavor Many customs injurious to health have been done away with and women are coming to think that comfort and usefulness should be the first consideration It is true that some fashions which have nothing to do with either comfort or convenience such as s the wearing of big sleeves are still stilli i held on to but wi with th the responsibilities f of woman suffrage no doubt the ladies will be drawn away even from this modern fashion and will probably settle down to wearing earing bloomers Then indeed fashion will be referred to one one of the past stages of mans man's evolution But custom rules in other things b besides sides dress and even in our colleges men and women conform to fashion in selecting their course coarse of study It is commonly thought that every scholar must be acquainted with all the names and dates of history with all popular novels and must be able to read Homer and Virgil in the original Time Tim therefore therefore therefore there there- fore must be devoted to these to the exclusion of more important subjects and the student may leave college without without without with with- out knowing anything of the practical affairs of life pr or of the industries of the world He may not even know how properly to ventilate a room and the great science and art of training children children children chil chil- dren is something that he has never thought of Now just as there has been reform in dress so should there be reform in edu edu- cation Not that Greek and Latin should be taught no more but they should be studied for their relative value and not as a matter of fashion Let the most important studies have the first place in the curriculum The sciences and those subjects which teach man how to live and get on in the world should have first consideration Of course these must be accompanied by a certain knowledge of mathematics and language History may be studied but let it not be a mere memorizing of names and dates It should be a study of the development of the race of the social and political conditions that have obtained in times past and of the effects of those conditions upon succeeding generations Then history becomes philosophic It leads to the study of comparative sociology which is of practical practical practical value to the race and not a mere ornament to society It may be argued that certain studies should be pursued not be because ause they are of any practical value but because of their heir dis disciplinary value as training ther the r memory in the study of languages and history and the development of ther the r reasoning powers in the study of higher mathematics In answer to this it may mayI maybe be said that no subject or group of subjects subjects subjects sub sub- can surpass science as a means of I 1 developing reason judgment memory and in short all the faculties of mind S. S VI We Vile e conclude therefore that those thos branches of knowledge which are most useful are also of greatest value in developing developing developing de de- the mind Let us profit by this I A thought of a great poet and philosopher Till b by r experience taught th the mind shall learn i That not to know at large of things remote From use obscure and subtle but to know That which before us lies lits in in daily dally li life e t. t I Is st the h prime wisdom d. d om Ii ant |