DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



655 



true," says Professor Nef, "to a great 

 extent that the power of scientific inves- 

 tigation is inborn and not acquired, it 

 is also certain that a proper atmosphere 

 must exist for its development. It re- 

 quires inspiration and example to kindle 

 into flame the spark which may exist 

 in men beginning their life-work." 



The influences of departmental clubs, 

 with their learned papers and discus- 

 sions, is a factor making for critical 

 scholarship. Another agency that pro- 

 motes the acquisition of the scientific 

 method is the Seminar. As it is only a 

 recent growth in American universities, 

 a fuller description of it is needed. 



The professed aim of the Seminar is 

 'initiation into the methods of research.' 

 To the scientist life presents itself as a 

 series of problems, and these problems 

 are to be grappled with and solved. The 

 right way of attacking these problems 

 the graduate student learns in the 

 Seminar by contact with trained work- 

 ers. He must get a first-hand acquaint- 

 ance with his subject, whether literary, 

 historical or scientific, by going to the 

 sources. He must learn from instructors 

 the recognized tests and principles of 

 investigation and then apply them. He 

 must learn to suspend judgment until 

 full information is obtained. 



Under the Seminar system the mem- 

 bers meet once a week for a two-hours' 

 session, usually Monday afternoons. The 

 student works largely by himself, spend- 

 ing weeks or months gathering material 

 for a report, which is subjected to criti- 

 cism by other members of the Seminar 

 and by the professor in charge. Thus 

 he learns what defective work is. While 

 patience and industry are necessary for 

 the production of a satisfactory report, 

 it is not enough 'to lead laborious days.' 

 The subject must be treated in a schol- 

 arly manner; and, if possible, some 

 new light thrown on it and old errors 

 corrected. 



The Latin Seminar may be taken 

 as an illustration — The Comparative 

 Syntax of the Greek and Latin Verb, 

 under Professor Hale. The aim and 

 plan of procedure are thus outlined for 



the autumn, winter and spring quar- 

 ters of 1899-1900, two hours a week: 



"The principal object of the Seminar 

 will be the study of unsettled problems 

 in the syntax of the Latin verb. In 

 necessary connection with this object, 

 however, a considerable amount of 

 study will be given to the syntax of 

 the Greek verb as it appears in the 

 earliest Greek literature. 



"Owing to the advanced character 

 and difficulty of syntactical problems, 

 the independent work of the members 

 of the Seminar will not begin until after 

 preliminary lectures and discussions 

 have made clear the general attitudes 

 and methods of various schools of work- 

 ers in syntax in the past and present, 

 and the fundamental principles that 

 must now be recognized as properly 

 governing investigation. Several books 

 of Homer and plays of Plautus will next 

 be read, with reference solely to the syn- 

 tax of the verb. An analysis will then 

 be made by each member of the Seminar 

 of the treatment of the syntax of the 

 verb in one of the more important gram- 

 mars or treatises, after which he will 

 devote himself to a special problem, or 

 group of problems. A considerable 

 amount of reading in the literature will 

 be expected for the systematic and ex- 

 haustive collection of evidence in a 

 definite field. Reports of the results 

 of work upon special problems and of 

 reading for the collection of materials 

 will be presented from time to time at 

 meetings of the Seminar." 



So to produce scholarly workers in 

 the various fields of learning is the func- 

 tion of the University — to train spe- 

 cialists, to make critics in the higher 

 sense, to furnish investigators who will 

 enter fresh fields and give the world 

 the fruits of their researches. It is for 

 this kind of work that the University 

 of Chicago stands — not merely to im- 

 part what is already known, but to 

 seek and find new knowledge. This is 

 the province of a university as conceived 

 by President Harper. It is a high ideal 

 that he holds up: "The true university 

 is the center of thought on every prob- 

 lem connected with human life and 

 work, and the first obligation resting 

 upon the individual members which 

 compose it is that of research and in- 

 vestigation." 



Eugene Parsons. 



