AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 535 



MATHEMATICAL DEPARTME:N'T. 



President James C. Greenough. 



Sir : — I have the honor to submit the followinof brief 

 report of the department of mathematics and physics. 



The instruction in this department was placed in my 

 charge at the beginning of the present college year. I 

 found a manifest interest in colleo^e duties existinjr amonsf 

 the students, and thus far the work in every respect has 

 progressed quite satisfactorily. But the success and rapid 

 progress of the higher classes are largely due to the careful 

 preparation and efficient labor of my predecessor, Profes- 

 sor Bassett. The method of instruction is similar to that 

 adopted by higher institutions of learning; viz., the text- 

 book, supplemented by lectures. All fundamental princi- 

 ples are demonstrated before the class. This method saves 

 much time, and affords the student a better opportunity for 

 comprehending the matter under discussion, and learning 

 the manipulation of difficult formulae. 



Much inconvenience, however, is felt in not having suit- 

 able apparatus to insure complete success. Mechanics, 

 electricity and civil engineering are well supplied ; bul 

 apparatus for illustrating the principles of sound, heat and 

 light are wholly deficient. It seems proper to call the 

 attention of the honorable Board of Trustees to this matter, 

 and to recommend that, as soon as they deem it advisable, 

 sufficient means be appropriated to make the lecture-room 

 more convenient, and place the physical cabinet in a suita- 

 ble and more respectable condition. As mathematics occu- 

 pies a prominent place in the curriculum, a higher standard 



