70 



The Journal of Heredity 



the figures here given are, at best, only 

 approximate, on account of the impossi- 

 biHty of getting full data in all cases, 

 or indeed, any data in some cases. The 

 reader must determine for himself 

 what value he will grant to these figures, 

 since the writer hasl)een unable, himself, 

 to reckon a mathematical ]jrobable error 

 for them ! 



In all, 80 letters were sent out to 73 

 different institutions, and 61 replies 

 were received. At 51 of these institu- 

 tions instruction of some sort is offered 

 in genetics. These institutions include 

 the larger Eastern universities, the state 

 colleges of agriculture and many of the 

 agricultural experiment stations that 

 are associated with the stale colleges, but 

 do not include the women's colleges or 

 the countless smaller colleges. 



LITTLE GRADUATE WORK 



In only fifteen of these institutions is 

 any graduate work being done by ad- 

 vanced students in genetics, but over 

 140 students were registered for graduate 

 work last year. The number of under- 

 graduate students taught is much larger, 

 of course. There are registered this 

 year at these fifty-one institutions in 

 various undergraduate courses where 

 some sort of attention is paid to genetics, 

 approximately 2,700 to 3,000 students. 

 If full data could be had for the many 

 smaller colleges throughout the count r\' 

 where genetics courses are given, this 

 number would be very greatly increased. 



The subject of genetics itself is so 

 new as a science, that it is not surprising 

 to find a very large "coefficient of 

 variability" in regard to methods of 

 instruction, and tojjics treated and the 

 prerequisite courses required. It is 

 impossible, therefore, to summarize 

 these points where no uniformit\' exists. 

 It would seem that the instruction 

 consists of anything from a more or less 

 superficial consideration of points of 

 breeding, heredity and evolution, dis- 

 cussed incidentally in other courses, all 

 the way to thorcmghgoing courses 

 dignified by the name of "Genetics." 



Many of the courses, aijparcnlly, 

 consist entirely of lectures and discus- 

 sions, for in only thirty-four courses in 

 twenty-one of ihc colleges is lal)oratory 



work provided in connection with the 

 lectures. Some courses consist entirely 

 of lectures, some combine recitations 

 with the lectures, and some comjjrise 

 lectures, recitations and laboratory prac- 

 ticums. Most of the courses require 

 certain other courses as prerequisites — 

 either all the work required of regular 

 students up to the junior or senior 

 year, or one or more courses of the 

 following subjects mentioned specific- 

 ally: Botany mentioned 28 times. Zool- 

 ogy 24, Biology 8, Horticulture 4, 

 Organic Evolution 3, Animal Husbandry 

 3, Chemistrv 3, Cro])s 3, C\lology 2, 

 Plant Histology 1, Physiology 2, Plant 

 Physiology 1, Vegetable Gardening 1, 

 Plant Propagation 1, Pomolog\' 1, 

 Mathematics 2. 



Perhaps some of the less specialized 

 courses are embryonic genetics courses. 

 At any rate, the latter seem to have 

 developed from such beginnings as the 

 former and to have come into being in 

 whichever department circumstances or 

 the personal qualifications of the in- 

 structor have made possible their devel- 

 opment. In only five institutions is 

 genetics taught in a special department 

 — at Cornell University and the Uni- 

 versity of Arizona in the Department 

 of Plant Breeding, at the Uni\'ersity of 

 California in the Di\-ision of Genetics 

 in the College of Agriculture, at the 

 University of Utah in the Genetics 

 Division of the Agricultural De])art- 

 ment, and at the University of Wisconsin 

 in the Department of Experimental 

 Breeding. To these may be added 

 Pennsylvania State College which is 

 soon to have a Division of Genetics 

 in the Department of Botany. Else- 

 where, the instruction is given inci- 

 dentally or more or less thoroughh- in 

 various departments as follows: Animal 

 Husbandry 19, Zoology 18, Horticulture 

 15, Agronomy 14, Botany 14, Biology 6. 

 Entomology 2, Geology 1. In connec- 

 tion with Harvard is the Busse>- 

 Institution, a special institution for 

 research work in genetics where onh- 

 graduates and a few advanced under- 

 graduate students are admitted. 



Perhajjs the best indicati(^n of the 

 nature and thoroughness of the courses 

 is afforded by the list of texts and refer- 



