24 JOHN WESLEY POWELL. 



carry in his camp chest the geological reports of a district through 

 which he travelled. There is now in the State Museum, at Normal, 

 Illinois, a fine collection of fossils from Vicksburg and the region 

 round about which he made while encamped in that region the 

 winter after the fall of the city. In the same manner 'he made large 

 collections of fossils in Tennessee, especially around Nashville, in 

 the region made classic by Troost and Safford. Altogether, his 

 notes on geology and natural history made during the war are quite 

 voluminous. 



On entering upon his duties at the Illinois Wesleyan Univer- 

 sity, his entire energies were directed to the development of meth- 

 ods of instruction in his favorite field of learning. It was his theory 

 that the study of science should include much more than the text- 

 book literature of the subject ; that the student must be made fa- 

 miliar with the phenomena of nature ; that the principles of any 

 branch of natural science should be constructed by the pupil him- 

 self from observed facts; and that the function of the teacher 

 should be chiefly that of guide. With this end in view, his time 

 was largely devoted to the creation of a museum and the organisa- 

 tion of laboratories for instruction. In mineralogy his pupils were 

 led to study the minerals themselves, and thus to become familiar 

 with their characteristics; and many of them became skilful in 

 blow-pipe analysis. His students in botany were at once introduced 

 to the world of plants, and became collectors, and assisted him 

 greatly in the gathering of plants for a fine herbarium. In zoology 

 his pupils were taken to the woods and fields, and became collec- 

 tors of mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects, and by the 

 study of natural objects were trained in comparative anatomy. 



He seems at this time to have found great difficulty in teaching 

 geology, because it was almost impossible to introduce the students 

 immediately into the presence of the facts, and he deeply lamented 

 that they were so greatly dependent upon text-books. To correct 

 this evil, even to a limited extent, he organised field excursions, 

 and, as far as possible, adopted object-studies of rocks and fossils. 



In this manner the days and years of professional life were 

 passed, training students by research in field* and laboratory and 

 by courses of lectures; and it may be well understood that his 

 classes rapidly increased in size, and that he gathered about him 

 a large number of young men who, inspired with his own enthusi- 

 asm, became earnest and successful scholars. 



At the same time, the Professor took an earnest affirmative 

 part in the public discussions of the importance of enlarging and 



