Professor Ray Lankester, who lectured on " Nature and Man"
at Oxford on Wednesday, formulated his views on the duty of Oxford to the nation and humanity. He was convinced, he said, that the true relation of Nature to man had been so clearly ascertained that it should be the guide of State government and the trusted basis of the development of human communities. The knowledge and control of Nature being "man's destiny and his greatest need," Professor Ray Lankester desires to make the chief subject of education, both in school and college, a knowledge of Nature as set forth in physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. "In fact, he would wish to see the classical and historical scheme of education entirely abandoned, and its place taken by a scheme of education in the knowledge of Nature." If the ancient Universities set the example, the schools would follow suit, and the results would be apparent in the greater efficiency of the governing class of the country. Professor Ray Lankester may be right, but we cannot see how the wholesale elimination from the educational system of all influences that tend to build up character is likely to improve the breed of politicians, statesmen, administrators, or the learned professions. As the Times happily observes, there is just as little to be said for being a mere " scarabeist " as there is for being a mere grammarian. Physics, chemistry, geology, and biology untempered by the humanities will no more produce a Lord Cromer than they will produce a Huxley.
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