i 9 4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



rowness are the natural results of such a course. The title " Bach, 

 elor of Science " ought not to be equivalent with " Bachelor of Sci- 

 olism." 



I have spoken of French and German as essential studies in a eci- 

 entific course. Let me emphasize their importance. At the present 

 day no branch of advanced study can be carried far without the assist- 

 ance of these languages. Every science and every art is aided by 

 them. Three-fourths of all the researches and of the books written 

 upon pure science are in one or the other of these tongues. Surely a 

 Bachelor of Science ought to graduate fitted for advancement in the 

 studies which he prefers. French and German will be absolute necessi- 

 ties in his equipment ; without them he can scarcely develop in any di- 

 rection. This, to a lesser degree, is true of the classical graduate also. 

 What good work in philology can be done by a man unacquainted with 

 German ? What study of literature, art, music, law, medicine, or the- 

 ology, is not aided by the modern languages ? Surely, then, any course 

 of study which omits to provide facilities for learning both French and 

 German is essentially defective, and ought to be revised. 



I am sorry to say that a considerable number of our colleges do not 

 come up to this requirement. There are several in Ohio in which there 

 seems to be absolutely no instruction in modern languages furnished. 

 There are others, and among them some institutions of high repute, in 

 which these studies are exclusively elective ; a student may take them 

 or not, as he chooses. This is wrong, and for the reasons given above. 

 In the scientific courses, at least, no student should receive a degree 

 unless he is able to use French and German reference-books at sight. 

 Some of our colleges insert Latin among the required freshman studies 

 of the scientific course. This should be crossed out, in order to make 

 room for the more important modern languages. A moderate amount 

 of Latin, however, may well be retained upon the list of elective studies 

 for the benefit of those students who are more especially interested in 

 biological science. But this amount, useful in connection with scien- 

 tific nomenclature, is very small, and can be acquired in a comparatively 

 short time. For the mathematician, astronomer, chemist, or physicist, 

 none at all is needed. 



The quantity of mathematics to be prescribed will naturally vary 

 with circumstances. Probably the best way is to require every student 

 to go through plane analytics ; and, after that, to give him oppor- 

 tunities for mathematical elcctives. The scholar whose particular 

 tastes lead him to the special study of physics, will take up the calcu- 

 lus and mechanics. The chemist will find the calculus of value, but 

 not by any means necessary. The biologist needs no more than the 

 prescribed amount of mathematics, and would probably carry the study 

 no further. As for English literature, logic, and drawing, but little 

 need be said. One study puts before the student good models in com- 

 position, another teaches him the laws of exact thinking, the third en- 



