DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 95 



1903, and, I believe, in a satisfactory manner. In connection witli the 

 engineering work at the College during the past year mention should be 

 made of the satisfactory services rendered by Mr. W. R. Brown, who 

 graduated in 1903 from this College, as inspector of water mains and 

 tunnels. 



Respectfully submitted, 



CHAS. L. WEIL, 

 Professor Mechanical Engineering. 

 Agricultural College, Mich. 

 June 30, 1904. 



REPORT OF THE DEPARTME^'T OF ZOOLOGY AND PHYS- 

 IOLOGY. 



To the President: 



I have the honor to submit the following report of the Department of 

 Zoology and Physiology for the year ending June 30, 1904. 



There has been no change in the teaching force of the Department 

 during the year, and but little change in the number of classes and the 

 total number of students handled. By special permission of the Faculty 

 a class in Ornithology was organized in the spring term, 1903, to accom- 

 modate students who had expected to take Meteorology; but this year 

 it was not deemed expedient to repeat this course in view of the fact 

 that the new course of study provides a term of advanced Zoology for 

 senior studen-ts in the fall. This is not necessarily ornithology, but in 

 view of the remarkable growth of interest in birds throughout the State 

 and country at large it would seem to be very fitting that the College 

 should offer a good course in that subject if it can be done without en- 

 croaching on other studies. 



The lack of laboratory room for the numerous divisions required in 

 physiology, entomology and general zoology is one of the most serious 

 problems confronting the Department. By removing part of the seats 

 in the lecture room and re-flooring the space so obtained the difficulty 

 was partly overcome, but this is but a make-shift involving much carry- 

 ing back and forth of furniture, apparatus and specimens, and of course 

 the room can be used for but one purpose at a time. In this connection 

 I desire to call attention to the fact that the course in geology is much 

 less effective than it would be if students could be given regular work 

 on minerals and rocks in the laboratory instead of depending, as at pres- 

 ent, on the circulation of hand specimens during the lecture hour, or 

 the occasional substitution of an hour of laboratory work for one of 

 recitation. Knowledge of the minerals and rocks that make up the sur- 

 face of the earth lies at the very foundation of an understanding of soil 

 formation, and without it there is little likelihood that the later courses 

 in soil-physics, plant-feeding, etc., will be of much benefit. Our schedule 

 is now so crowded that it seems impossible to add laboratory work in 



