Note 20 — Chapter III · Of Methods of acquiring clear Scientific Ideas; and first of Intellectual Education.

It is a curious example of the influence of the belief in definitions, that elementary books have been written in which Natural History is taught in the way of question and answer, and consequently by means of words alone. In such a scheme, of course all objects are defined: and we may easily anticipate the value of the knowledge thus conveyed. Thus, ‘Iron is a well-known hard metal, of a darkish gray colour, and very elastic:’ ‘Copper is an orange-coloured metal, more sonorous than any other, and the most elastic of any except iron.’ This is to pervert the meaning of education, and to make it a business of mere words.