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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 85

Bionomic Course. — Applied Division. — Comprising Domestic Economy and Hygiene

page 55

Bionomic Course.

Applied Division.

Comprising Domestic Economy and Hygiene.

In the arrangement of a Course like this, it is necessary to consider the convenience of the Teachers no less than the requirements of the Boys. The notions of Domestic and Sanitary Economy, or in other words, the account of the applications of Science to Daily Life indicated in the synoptical table for the second year of the first Period, must necessarily be as simple as the scientific elements thus far imparted. An enumeration of the chief subjects to be included has been given at page 40.*

In the second Period, the scientific knowledge and the applications thereof, will both be of a much more advanced description, and to some extent it may be expedient to distribute the latter to the teachers of the former, that is to say, to let the teacher of Mechanical Physics introduce Water Supply and the like among the illustrations of his Course; whilst the Chemical teacher may similarly amalgamate with his lessons, the applications of Chemistry to Household and Health Economy, and to the manufacturing processes connected therewith; and the Teacher of Natural History may supply information concerning the resources we borrow from the Three Kingdoms. It is on this principle that have page 56 been devised the indications for the Bionomic Course of the second Period in the synoptical table.

The third Period will afford an opportunity of recapitulating in a methodical form, the previous bionomic data, reviewing seriatim the whole range of Domestic and Sanitary Economy, and so bringing into instructive relief the scientific principles on which they are founded, as to supersede the necessity for a separate recapitulation of the several sciences. I may mention as likely to afford convenient guidance in this review:—firsts, the Summary of the Contents of the Twickenham Economic Museum, contained in its single sheet Programme, and more in extenso in "The Christian Teacher's visit to the Twickenham Economic Museum" (Goodman 1864); and secondly, the comprehensive Synopsis of Hygiene, printed in connection with the Parkes Museum, and obtainable at that Institution (74A. Margaret St., Regent St., W.).—The two classifications are very much the same. In the Synopsis the location of the materials and appliances for Heating and Lighting is perhaps better, and more latitude is given to climatological Hygiene; but on the other hand I may mention, quoting the introduction to my "Familiar Lessons on Food and Nutrition," that an Economic Museum is "a Hygienic Museum plus an assortment of those things, which, without having a direct bearing on Health, have become almost indispensable requisites of civilized life. Such are for instance the pens, ink and paper that minister to our intellectual wants, the appliances by which we measure time and space, bulk and weight; to say nothing of various matters connected with the construction, decoration, and furnishing of Dwellings, in respect of which, after Hygiene has had her say, it is well to listen to the suggestions of Comfort and Convenience, Artistic Taste and Comparative Price."

Attended to as well as taught, must be the hygienic precautions calculated to secure a sound development page 57 of youthful constitutions. It behoves the Masters of Schools to enforce, if necessary, that moderation in athletic sports which may preserve their invigorative influence from all drawbacks, but it is essential that the Boys themselves should be trained to be in this, and many other things, their own guides and guardians.

One of the most satisfactory ways in which the bodily abilities of the boys can be intelligently exercised, is their practising under guidance, the arts of Carpentry and Metal-working in the preparation of Apparatus and Models for the furtherance of their scientific studies.

A desideratum too important to be overlooked, but which must necessarily be dealt with according to circumstances, is the extension of scientific studies in any special direction demanded by the intended career of the Students. One moiety of the time allotted to Science in the third Period might be secured for this purpose by omitting the recapitulation of the Cosmographic Course, which is much less necessary than that of the Bionomic Course, and even the latter might be confined to one year.

As before stated the whole of the proposed scheme is elastic, and intended to rouse a spirit of thoughtful organization, rather than to supersede it.

* A valuable and comprehensive series of original contributions to Hygienic literature has been published in connection with the International Health Exhibition of 1884, and may be consulted at the Parkes Museum of Hygiene, Margaret St., Regent St.