498 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



had taken no account. To these laws I now turned for guidance, 

 and tried to forget that a school curriculum had ever been con- • 

 structed, so that custom should in no wise interfere with the free 

 play of philosophic principles. 



The subjects were arranged in their order of dependence as 

 determined by comparative science. The course of study thus 

 worked out differed quite materially from the ordinary, in spirit 

 and in principles. It emerged as an organic whole, rather than 

 as a loose array of disconnected subjects. 



The physical sciences had first place, their treatment begin- 

 ning with an observation of material objects and passing to a 

 consideration of forces and of the laws of physical relations. 



Another line of study treated of man and his environment. 

 It began with a consideration of man as an inhabitant of the 

 globe, dealing with geography, and it led up through history, 

 literature, civil government, to mental and moral philosophy, and 

 later on to rhetoric, logic, and political economy. 



Besides these two main lines of thought, there were two sub- 

 ordinate ones, dealing respectively with language as a science 

 and with mathematics. In our treatment of language the widest 

 departure from the customary was made. Latin and Greek were 

 excluded, as the State University already offered a much more 

 complete course in the classics than our school could hope to 

 give. But a still weightier reason constrained me in this decision. 

 The time at our disposal for linguistic study was needed chiefly 

 for constructive work in the vernacular. I determined to make 

 the study of English thorough ; I realized the power gained by an 

 accurate and easy mastery of our own tongue, and I fully appre- 

 ciated the aesthetic value of English literature in the cultivation 

 of a refined and discriminating taste. 



The constructive work was so managed that familiarity with 

 composition preceded analysis, and the principles and rules of 

 language were developed out of the pupil's own work. Grammar 

 came out of language, not language out of grammar. The criti- 

 cal work of grammar and rhetoric was placed in the advanced 

 course along with logic. 



In this spirit, and by the general method here indicated, the 

 whole course of study was arranged. The place occupied by each 

 subject was not a matter of accident, but of philosophic depend- 

 ence. The success of my scheme demanded intelligent and har- 

 monious co-operation on the part of the faculty. I needed a 

 :select corps of teachers, and the freedom of choice secured to me 

 by Mr. Monteith now proved of great importance. 



For my first assistant I chose Prof. L. H. Cheney, who some 

 years later was accidentally killed while making an excavation 

 in connection with the work of a geological expedition under 



