DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 41 



position of some minds to close the doors to new fields of knowledge, 

 I have concluded to give a very brief discussion of the place occupied by 

 bacteriology in the broad field of sciences, inasmuch as I believe it most 

 pertinent in connection with my report upon the new laboratory re- 

 cently built. 



THE STUDY OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



This science, as it appears in the work of an agricultural college, 

 may be approached from two points of view; the one, its place in bio- 

 logical studies; the other, its practical application in agricultural and 

 domestic science. 



For many years, much discussion has taken place regarding the most 

 logical development of life studies for classes; whether to begin with 

 higher forms, which are perhaps better known to the eye, and work 

 downward to simple forms, or to begin with simple forms and work 

 upward to the higher and more complex forms, has been the mooted 

 question. If it were impossible or even difficult to demonstrate facts 

 concerning the lower living forms, as this was the reason formerly given 

 for avoiding this field, and if the facts known were in any degree limited 

 concerning such life, it is easily understood that this state of affairs 

 might lead to such indeflniteness as to cause more or less confusion and 

 even mistiness in the minds of students; but it is possible to study one- 

 celled structures with ease and accuracy, which was not the case 25 

 years ago, and to follow these structures throughout their various 

 functions. This gTanted, it follows that a better understanding may 

 be obtained as a starting point or as a foundation for the examination 

 and systematic study of cells in the aggregate, or, in other words, of 

 complex structures. This is in accordance with the laws of pedagogy, 

 beginning with the simple and leading to the more complex; and it is 

 also more logical, for one can go from the uni-cellular structures to 

 the more complex forms by gradations and with a degree of satisfac- 

 tion regarding the knowledge acquired. Further, even in the complex 

 forms, the cell is now always considered the unit of study, and bodies 

 made up of millions of cells are studied as if they were simply com- 

 posites of these individual units. Because of the complexities arising 

 from the combination of so many cells and specialized structures, it 

 may be easily understood that many obstacles will be met in tracing out 

 successfully and without entanglement the various functions which be- 

 long to these higher forms. 



It is true, courses in biological work attempt the elaboration of this 

 idea, but, in these very biological courses, it will be found that the ma- 

 terial studied is usually not of the simplest forms, but parts or cells 

 of the more complex bodies or forms higher up jn the scale than those 

 studied in bacteriology. In this subject, only the simplest forms of 

 life are studied. They are almost invariably unicellular organisms. 

 Again, if this is true, biological work should begin with bacteriology. 

 In order to illustrate our contention, by a concrete example, let us 

 take the matter of nutrition, to see whether nutritive laws applying to 

 bacterial life are in any way similar to those governing higher forms 



The physiologic acts of nutrition found in bacteria and which may 

 be studied so perfectly in this class of life may be, in large part, com- 

 pared with the nutritive processes of the human body. Where in nature 

 C 



