474 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



struction is arranged. In nearly every instance there will be found 

 an enormous disproportion between linguistic studies and science. 

 As a rule, over one-half of a student's time for four years is assigned 

 to language ; the remaining half being divided between mathematics, 

 English literature, history, philosophy, and " natural science." Chem- 

 istry, for example, is generally taught through a single term (one- 

 third or one-half, as the case may be) of the junior year. Thus a 

 study, extremely important both practically and as a means of culture, 

 is pursued by a student for perhaps three hours a week during one- 

 eighth or one-twelfth of his college course. In some institutions, un- 

 doubtedly, more time is given to chemistry ; but such cases are com- 

 paratively rare. A youth will enter college with at least a year's 

 preparation in Greek, and then will follow that study for the greater 

 part of his four years' course; but the science from w,hose applica- 

 tions he derives direct benefit every day of his life is crowded out 

 into an obscure corner of the curriculum, and made to seem of little 

 value. Physics is treated like chemistry; while geology, botany, 

 zoology, and astronomy, are pushed even closer to the wall. 



Now, what effect has this unfair distribution of studies produced 

 upon American science? Plainly, a very bad effect. Our scientific 

 men must be recruited mainly from among the ranks of our college 

 graduates, and hence the latter ought to be imbued with something 

 of the scientific spirit. That spirit is not likely to be very strongly 

 aroused by the present policy of make-believe teaching. In fact, an 

 enthusiasm for science is dampened rather than encouraged in the 

 majority of American universities. The student sees men of fair 

 training employed to teach the classics, while the work in scientific 

 branches is done by wholly-untrained or imperfectly-trained instruct- 

 ors. Fi'equently it happens that Latin and Greek are taught by 

 separate professors, while a single teacher is called upon to cover all 

 science outside of mathematics. It is easy to see what effect such a 

 state of affairs is liable to produce upon the mind of an average pu- 

 pil. He becomes accustomed to regard the sciences as comparatively 

 unimportant. He learns almost nothing of their true relations to life, 

 and the little which he does happen to pick up is gleaned from a few 

 superficial lectures and two or tln-ee trivial text-books. If he fails in 

 these studies at examination, the failure counts practically nothing 

 against him upon graduating. In short, the college deliberately car- 

 ries out a policy of scientific smattering, and the student is influenced 

 about as might be expected. He graduates in complete ignorance 

 both of the methods and of the aims of science, having learned only a 

 few disconnected facts concerning the great world about him. 



Very many American colleges, however, now provide what claim 

 to be " scientific courses," running for four years parallel with those 

 in classics, and leading to bachelor of science degrees. This fact 

 illustrates only a sham deference to the public demand for less Latin 



