12 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the class-room with them and teach as well as lecture. And the 

 effect upon the men is good too. The human element in them 

 grows, and this without loss of scholarship. But so large an un- 

 dertaking as this can not obviously take second place in the con- 

 sideration of its agents. As time goes on, the staff of lecturers 

 will probably include an increasing number of men who give 

 their entire time to extension work. 



It might be well if a man could alternate between resident and 

 itinerant duty. Perhaps this would save him from that intellect- 

 ual stagnation which is one of the chief dangers of the professo- 

 rial chair. At present it seems to me that our universities are too 

 much the asylum of men who nurse rather than use their scholar- 

 ship, or who give their best energy to original research and throw 

 only an occasional crumb to those who are pleasantly called their 

 students. In all but the largest institutions one man has gen- 

 erally to teach several branches of his subject. If he did both 

 university and extension work, he might devote himself to one 

 particular branch and get better results in both fields. Prof. 

 Johnson used to say that he wished there might be a professor 

 for each chemical element, and he would like to be Professor of 

 Iridium. But this is a matter which may safely be left to expe- 

 rience. 



Besides the men, money is needed. So far, the work of the 

 society has been paid for by the annual membership dues of five 

 dollars, while each local center has met the expense of its own 

 courses. The lecturer's fee is always fifteen dollars a lecture. 

 This is paid to the central office by the local center, the lecturer 

 having no direct business relations with the people to whom he 

 goes. The incidental expenses of the course, varying with the 

 locality, are met by the local management. Extension work may 

 thus be undertaken by any university which will devote a little 

 of the time of its secretary to the purpose, and by any local center 

 which can raise the fee for a course of six lectures, ninety dollars, 

 and provide for incidentals. It will thus be seen that very little 

 money is required to make the experiment of an extension course. 

 In some instances the local centers have had a considerable bal- 

 ance at the end of the season. But this has been due to the fact 

 that only popular subjects have been chosen. It has been the 

 experience in England, and it will undoubtedly be the experience 

 here, that the more systematic and satisfactory work will not pay 

 for itself. Some outside revenue must be looked to. 



In England, several plans have been tried and proposed. In 

 some cases a fixed subscription, as with the American Society, 

 supplies the needed funds. In others, associations are formed and 

 shares offered for sale, while still others depend upon private 

 munificence. But all these resources are transient, and place the 



