6 DAVID H. BERGEY 



demanded of those who expect to enter the various professions. 

 There is a special need for broad general education in science 

 for all persons who wish to be equipped for the most efficient 

 service to mankind. The aim of education should be, not merely 

 to give information, but to indicate how that information should 

 be used, and only in so far as education aids in the promotion 

 of the general welfare, does it meet the ideal. The extent of 

 the training of each individual must depend upon his ability 

 to receive and apply the knowledge which is being disseminated 

 in educational institutions. 



A particular science may be studied from two principal as- 

 pects, namely, the practical application of the knowledge gained 

 to the solution of problems in a special field, and the educational 

 value of a knowledge of the science in broadening one's concept 

 of the various forces and agencies in nature. 



The science of bacteriology has extended its ramifications in 

 so many directions that its study has become of interest and 

 direct value to the student in many fields. A knowledge of 

 bacteriology enters in a prominent way into most of the activities 

 of mankind, and for this reason it should receive much wider 

 recognition as a subject for general educational training than it 

 is receiving today. The educational value of the study of bac- 

 teriology has received recognition slowly and for a study of such 

 immense practical importance it has been taken up, for its edu- 

 cational value, by a comparatively small number of students 

 in our colleges and universities. Yet there are few subjects 

 taught that touch upon so many phases of man's activities or 

 so many of the conditions influencing his environment as does 

 a course in bacteriology, and, it is safe to say, few other subjects 

 can have greater educational value. No one can fully appreciate 

 the relation of bacteria to many vital problems without having 

 studied the subject at first hand. It is only by seeing the activ- 

 ities of the bacteria in the test tube, under diverse conditions, 

 that one can gain an insight into their prominent place in many 

 biological processes. 



The relation of the bacteria to the nitrogen cycle in nature is 

 most illuminating to the student. The function of the bacteria 



