DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL SCIENCE IN INDIANA. 393 



he had been president and educational director of one of the classical col- 

 leges of the state. One of the things which caused him to speak despairingly, 

 as quoted above, was the fact that in the educational air there Avere floating 

 the germs of a new education; an education which he thought would, if al- 

 lowed to propagate, poison if not kill the real education so dear to his heart. 

 He lived to see the new education well established and to value it at its true 

 value. But in the address from which I have quoted he proceeds, among 

 other things, to frame an argument in favor of the continuance of classical 

 education in the colleges and to denounce the newer ideas of a practical or 

 scientific education. This was less than forty years ago and during the 

 period that the Owen brothers and Cox were doing such important work for 

 the state. I speak of this only to point out that in such an atmosphere and 

 against such leadership chemistry, -with the other sciences, waged its battle 

 — often a losing one — for equal rights. 



In the development of the sciences manj^ of the arguments advanced Ijy 

 the classicists proved to be well founded, many of the weaknesses predicted 

 by them came true. The standard of education was lowered; the quality 

 of scholarship was poorer; men of little mental ability and less character 

 passed through the college courses ; mechanical work took the place of mental 

 effort; the experimenter replaced the thinker. In 1830 John M. Coulter, 

 in discussing the place of science in colleges, and in pleading for a higher 

 standard in it, said, "The so-called scientific course * * * seems to have been 

 originated to supply a long felt want, viz., a short cut through college, thus 

 gaining in time and eliminating the heavy studies. If the man had neither lirains 

 enough nor an inclination to graduate from the classical course in four years 

 he entered the scientific course and graduated in three." Yet in the face 

 of this poor beginning the scientific courses rapidly became stronger and, 

 under the influence of such men as Jordan, Coulter, Noyes, and others were 

 made to approach the classical courses in content and in mental requirement. 



The influence of these men in raising the standard of scientific education 

 until it approached that of the classical was partly through the students who, 

 after graduation, went into the high schools of the state as teachers, and there 

 created an interest in science among the pupils. These in turn demanded 

 a scientific education when they entered the college walls. Partly their 

 infiuence was exerted through the college association of the state. This was 

 an organization composed of the presidents of the colleges in the state to- 

 gether with a few professors selected from the colleges. In their annual 

 meetings formal papers were read covering this phase of education, as well 

 as others, and thorough discussion was had of the arguments advanced in 

 the papers. Irom some of these papers and discussions I have quoted. 

 A third influence, which is still powerful, was the Indiana Academy of Science 

 which was founded in 18S5. Here the professors from the different colleges 

 presented a resume of the scientific work which was being done; and in the 

 earlier years at least, students were encouraged to study some problem in 



