210 NA 7 URE-STUDY RE VIE W [6:7-Oct., 1910 



ing. The following synopsis of C. S. Mathewson's paper on 

 Zoology will indicate the character of the discussions through- 

 out the meeting: 



"The history of the teaching of zoology in American secondary 

 schools shows four well-defined epochs. The earliest was the old 

 natural history taught from books. The second was the one inaugu- 

 rated by Huxley and Martin — the paramount consideration with them 

 being 'training' and 'discipline', it is their method which has most 

 strongly impressed the teachers of the present day. In the early part 

 of the present century there was a reaction toward the old natural 

 history with emphasis on habits, life histories and classification as 

 against details of structure, especially internal structure. This last 

 can scarcely be said to have resulted in a widespread reform. The 

 outlines of courses of the best high schools of the present day show the 

 persistency of the idea of training advocated by Huxley and Martin. 



"We have now entered upon the fourth epoch, one in which we 

 recognize a strong and widespread popular demand for a more inti- 

 mate relation between all school work and the life of the pupils. In 

 our zoology courses this has had two important results: (1) The sim- 

 plification and unification of first-year high school biology; (2) the 

 making of the work more practical from the standpoint of everyday 

 life. 



"In constructing secondary courses in response to this demand, 

 great difficulties have been met, for there is no substantial agreement 

 as to just what we mean by practical as applied to a particular group 

 of pupils in a particular high school science. 



"A critical examination of courses of study shows that the phases 

 of zoology receiving the most attention in accordance with this most 

 recent demand are the following: 



I. Micro-organisms and their relation to health and disease. 

 II. The conservation of natural resources. 



1. Mammals — Game laws; mammals most important to 

 man; mammalian products; study of some typical in- 

 dustries based on mammalian products, e. g., tanning, 

 sheep ranching, production of milk, etc. 



2. Birds — Protection; game laws — origin and object; 

 birds most useful to man; bird products; birds in rela- 

 tion to agriculture. 



3. Fish — Useful fish and their protection; spawning and 

 its significance; fish hatcheries; the United States Fish 

 Commission. 



4. Shell Fish — Life history and habits; protection; 

 processes involved in gathering and shipping them. 



5. Crustacea — Same as outlined for shell fish. 



III. Insects — Useful kinds; harmful kinds. 



IV. Animal breeding. 



V. Economic form of Amphibia and reptiles. 

 VI. Sex Education — Care of animals for their young; relation of 

 1 to the process of reproduction; correlation of the study 

 of the propagation of fish with the same process in o*her 

 animals; correlation of the process of reproduction in man 

 with facts learned in 1, 2 and 3." 



The third meeting was a round-table conference on "Some 

 Relations of High School Science Departments to Other Parts 



