SCIENCE IN PRIMARY SCHOLS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 233, 23 November 1880, Page 4

SCIENCE IN PRIMARY SCHOLS.

A writer in the Otago Witness on this subject says :— ■■ - r "; "Again, in all country schools the boys'ehould be taught something the science of agriculture, tut 1 venture to say, not one country Bchoolmaster in fifty has any knowledge of it, not even to the very poor extent of reading 1 the primer on the subject. As far as the girls are concerned, the teaching of science is a decided mistake and waste of timei For what are these girls to look forward' to in after life— either to being domestic eervantß or the wives of working' men; And in what way will their scientific knowledge be of use to them ? Wbat will it avail Mary Jane to know that soap "is compounded of stearine and oleirie which when subjected to a hot lye of soda changes to margaric acid and oleic acid," if she forgets to \ apply sufficient of the compound to the clothes on washing day ?— what is the use of her knowing all 1 about caloric if she forgets to warm the dinner plates ? It is very well that she Bbould know all about the various gases which make up the atmosphere, but what if she poisons herself and her family by keeping 'the i windows of the sleeping apartment hermetically sealed lest a breath of air ; should intrude. The practical knowledge that cold water freely used will prevent colds and keep oft'lmanyefiidemidß ( iß%r better r for herj even if she never heard ofi hydrogen or nitrogeur While the one. science which- is really, essential to every working wofnan is neglected,' there is no;' time or need to study others'.; Working women, and wives "of working men, ought especially to know how to cook economically and yet tastefully. Let them learn this science as thoroughly as they may, for it will make their whole life happier. Yet how many girls of the working classes have any^ idea of cooking properly so called?.They can boil a piece of meat to rags, or roast it to a cinder, but there their, skill ends. As to delicacy or fcestefulp ness in the preparation' of food, anyone who has stopped at a bush public house and has been regaled with steak par-? boiled in dripping, soup thick with vegetables and fat, or boiled beef and rank cabbages, will fully appreciate the ability of country cooks. But m New Zealand and the other colonies where meat and vegetables are at thef command of the very poorest, it is a sinful waste of God's best gift to destroy viands after the fashion of ! most v^omen of the working classes. Cook ?Is it cookery to bum a piece of meat tifl ife is dry and

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innutricious as leather, to make their husbands dyspectic with watery vegetables and their children martyrs to indigestion through feeding on heavy dough, stuffed with currants and called cake? But who shall blame these women ? They do their beet as far aa they know how, and it is simply ignorance which causes them to err. When poverty comes upon them, ' which amongst them, even if their family were starving at their feet, would dream that the fresh bones which may be had for the oarrying away can ibe transformed into excellent and nutritious coup ? If sickness comes they immediately fly to Holloway'a or someone else's pills, or some poisonous Elixir, or Essence of Life, never dreaming that the commoneat herbs |in their garden are much more efficacious remedies. Yet the camomile which borders the garden beds will make! a drink strengthening to the digestive organs) when baby, in a, spirit of investigation, scalds himself by peeping' too closely into the teapot, the terrible agonies may be relieved by' a poultice' made of raw ouion .and potato soraped up and moistened with salad oil; or when that mischievous Dicky comes in yelling from the beehive, the pain may be cured by ft rN leai or two from the 'poppy plant. j Here then is a wide field for the wouldbe teachers of science. .Teach .girls jto be better servants, more capable houpewives, more helpful mothers. ;' Introduce a good simple cookery' bo6k. Manage to institute cooking classes, ; if only once a week; make jour examinations strict" and searching in this subject; reward success and painstaking with your best prizes; make your school girls fair primary cooks; and see wt ether the mother?, fathers, future husbands, and families, will not say you have done a good and worthy work, that the science into which you have initiated your scholars is indeed one worth studying incessantly all their lives long." !