and Laboratory Methods. 2107 



r NEWS AND NOTES. J 



Professional Spirit and Publication. — The September monthly letter 

 to collaborators sent out by this journal contains a statement that is worthy 

 of more than passing notice or mere financial interest. Here it stated that 

 a magazine formed for the express purpose of being mutually helpful to 

 science teachers and investigators, and continuing true to the purpose for 

 which it was founded will, in all probability, have to double its price of 

 subscription in order to continue publication. Wherein lies the difficulty ? 

 Certainly not in the periodical itself. A perusal of the table of contents 

 since the appearance of the first number makes such a thought impossible. The 

 list of contributors is of itself a guarantee of sterling worth, while the titles of 

 the articles published show a remarkably wide range of subjects covered in a way 

 that could not but be of real help and inspiration to any science teacher or 

 worker who is desirous of keeping abreast of the newest and best in matter 

 and method. 



The fault, then, must surely lie with the verj^ persons whom it was hoped to 

 reach and benefit by this journal. David Harum said : " You 'ain't out of dan- 

 ger of gettin' in a rut," and this bit of wisdom seems to be applicable to teachers 

 in secondary schools with no little force. Progress demands contact with cur- 

 rent men and events. Suggestion from others is essential to advancement. 

 Experience is of greatest value only when it is supplemented and enlarged by 

 the experience of others. A recognition of these truths leads only to one con- 

 clusion, and that is that contact with other workers is absolutely essential if the 

 science teacher is to make any progress. It is not enough to know what has 

 been found out, how things used to be done, one way of doing things ; but what, 

 in addition, is now being discovered, how are results accomplished to-day in 

 better ways than formerly, in how many different ways may a certain result be 

 obtained. Resourcefulness is one of the greatest needs of science teachers as 

 of all other teachers at present. And so it is essential for the teacher and 

 worker to read, not books only, but current literature as found in magazines. 



It would seem as if any one whose chosen life work was in science or the 

 teaching of science would not need to have this said, but would have felt the 

 force of it all sufficiently to act accordingly. But, "there's the rub," and it is 

 not a pleasant thing for our teachers to contemplate. It may not, perhaps, be 

 an exaggeration to say that the majority of science teachers, especially in secondary 

 schools, are not engaged in their life vocation, but in an avocation which for 

 some may serve as a stepping stone to a principalship or to law or medicine, or, 

 it may be, as an easy source of income until marriage shall bring relief from the 

 confinement and care of the class-room and laborator}-. As long as school 

 organization permits these conditions to continue so long will the development 

 of the professional spirit be delayed, and with professional spirit existing only in 

 books on Pedagogy it is quite too much to expect that those engaged in teaching 

 (they can hardly be called teachers) will attend conventions and support profess- 

 ional publications, or contribute in any other way to the advancement and dignity 

 of the calling they so lamely follow. 



It seems a shame that a journal like this should have to increase its price of 

 subscription merely to pay expenses. The field is not overcrowded. Publica- 

 tions are yet too few to supply what ought to be the demand, and this journal 

 ought to receive the support of every progressive teacher and laboratory. The 

 writer is not a pessimist, for he does not believe that the existing conditions are 

 permanent or that they are as bad as they have been, but one gets impatient 

 sometimes for the better things of which one catches a glimpse. 

 New York State»Normal College. C. StUART GageR. 



