2356 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



important than its sister, botany, but because its place is not fully recognized. 

 This may be due to the fact that botany is already in the schools and there 

 seems no room for zoology, but it is probably because of the greater ease with 

 which botanical material is manipulated. Certain it is, botany is much the more 

 popular of the two. Out of the first one hundred and five schools that reported, 

 about half give botany and no zoology and the other half give botany and 

 zoology, making ninety-nine per cent, giving botany, while only fifty per cent, 

 give zoology. There are no schools that give zoology alone, and of those that 

 do offer it the great majority have but one-half year's (twenty weeks') work. Only 

 three schools, of all reporting, give no botany or zoology whatever. These are 

 Iron Mountain, Ironwood, and Calumet. In Iron Mountain a strong physiology 

 course, running through the second year, is given, but no actual laboratory work 

 is done by the pupils and with only one compound microscope not much insight 

 can be had of the fine structure of working tissues. 



The ideal condition was spoken of above. Of all the schools heard from 

 perhaps the one that most nearly approaches this ideal condition, in the writer's 

 mind, is the Jackson West Side High School. Botany is given in the entire 

 first year, — followed in the second year by zodlogy-physiology, which is also a 

 forty weeks' course. In reporting on this the instructor said : " Zoology, so 

 called, is pursued for a year, and man is the last of the types studied. After 

 thirty or thirty-five weeks' work on the lower forms of animal life, a 

 great deal can be done in human anatomy, physiology and hygiene in a much 

 shorter time than when the subject of physiology, so called, is taken separately." 

 Bergin's Foundations of Botany is used in the botany course and both Kingsley's 

 Comparative Zoology and Martin's Human Body, Briefer Course, are used in the 

 second year's work. These courses are elective so that the student may have 

 one of three options : (a) one year of botany ; (b) one year of zoology-physiology; 

 (c) one-half year of each. 



Third. As to the years in which the biological sciences occur in the curri- 

 culum. Nearly all the botany classes are about equally divided between the 

 first and second years. Zoology is also placed early in the course, usually in 

 the second year. There is a tendency to let zoology follow botany, a very nat- 

 ural sequence. Physiology is often placed in the first year. Many schools 

 report it only in the eighth grade. If physiology is to be taught by itself and as 

 pure physiology, it deserves to be, and must be if thoroughly mastered, placed 

 after botany, zoology, and chemistry. Probably the courses given thus early 

 should simply be called hygiene. The place assigned to botany and zoology is 

 not adversely criticised but commended, because the character of the material 

 naturally makes it precede the more complex subjects of history, political 

 science, literature and art. To quote from Professor Reighard's paper: "The 

 place I would assign to the elements of biology taught in a secondary school, is 

 as a training for all those studies that have to do with living things ; introduc- 

 tory then to history, physiology, and social science, and of incalculable benefit to 

 every man whatever is to be his future occupation." 



Fourth. Methods. The laboratory method of course prevails in botany. 

 Only sixteen per cent, of the schools reporting give no laboratory work in botany. 



