SCIENTIFIC COURSES OF STUDY. 191 



between them is to be founc^ in an average, and not in a coincidence of 

 details. The classical student will more keenly appreciate the exact 

 meanings of words ; but his scientific rival will gain a deeper insight 

 into things:, the one may perhaps be more facile and elegant in literary 

 expression ; the other, stronger in powers of thought. 



First, let us discuss the requirements for admission to scientific 

 courses what is, and what ought to be done. For entry upon an 

 ordinary classical course a student is examined in the so-called "Eng- 

 lish branches," in Latin, in Greek, and in mathematics ; the amount 

 required of each being different in different institutions. For the scien- 

 tific course we may properly demand the same English branches and 

 mathematics, so that the question really is, " What shall we substitute 

 for the Latin and Greek?" Now, every good high or preparatory school 

 furnishes instruction in a variety of topics available for this purpose. 

 If the classical student is obliged to know some classics before he can 

 enter college, why should not the scientific student be required to know 

 some science ? Or, instead of this, a certain amount of preparation in 

 modern languages might be demanded. French, German, chemistry, 

 and physics, make a good list from which to select subjects, and any 

 two of these might be chosen. 1 These studies, properly learned, will 

 cover the ground,, and, at the same time, bear directly upon the sub- 

 sequent work of the scientific course. If a college cannot get students 

 well fitted in the subjects named above, substitutes might be accepted ; 

 as, for instance, additional mathematics or Latin. The Latin, however, 

 is to be regarded merely as a makeshift ; a sort of token that the stu- 

 dent has had a certain amount of mental discipline. It should never 

 be demanded except when the other more important studies are lacking. 

 But the essential thing is, that the candidate for admission shall have 

 spent as much time and done as much work in preparation for college 

 as the student who intends to follow classical studies. This require- 

 ment is not severe by any means, and it is unquestionably just. A 

 scientific course of study ought not to be established upon any weaker 

 basis. 



But how many of the colleges which grant the Bachelor of Science 

 degree come up to this mark? Unfortunately, very few. As a general 

 rule, not only in Ohio, but throughout the West, the requirements for 

 admission to a scientific course are the same as for the classical course, 

 minus the classics. In some instances a portion of the Latin require- 

 ment is retained, and in a few more other studies are substituted in 

 part for the classical branches. In one college, a little more mathe- 

 matics is demanded of the candidate for admission in science; in 



1 The University of Cincinnati, for admission to the scientific course, requires algebra, 

 to permutations and combinations ; the whole of geometry ; the whole of plane trigo- 

 nometry; elementary inorganic chemistry, including familiarity with laboratory manipu- 

 lations ; elementary physics (Balfour Stewart or Norton) ; and the elements of either 

 French or German. 



