REPORT ON THE NATIONAL SCHOOLS OF SCIENCE. 



SHEFFIELD SCIKXTIKIC SCHOOL OF YALE COM 



Ni.\v II \\ i N. ( "NM , IK ri. .\;n mber 1, 1871. 



Sin: It is now about throe months since yon entrusted me with a commission to 

 investigate and report upon tlie condition of the various scientific ami agricultural 

 schools which have been established in the Northern Stati >, ea>t. of tin- Kocky Moun- 

 tains, in accordance with an act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, and commonly, 

 though erroneously, called ''the Agricultural College bill." 



The interval which has passed since your wishes were made known has been insuffi- 

 cient tor a thorough survey of even this restricted field. During a < onsiil.-rablo 

 portion of the time the various institutions were in the midst of their summer vaca- 

 tions, and since the period of instruction began I have been occupied even more closely 

 than I expected by college duties in New Haven. 



I have been able, however, during the last few months to visit the colleges which 

 are aided by the national grant in Massachusetts, Now Hampshire, Connecticut, New 

 York, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and to have prolonged con- 

 ver>ati<ui with one or more of the principal officers in these institutions, and in those 

 of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Missouri, and Mississippi. 

 With those of some of the other States I have been in correspondence. 



But the more I consider the subject the more important does it appear to postpone 

 for a year a detailed report upon these institutions. In 187'J ten years will have gone 

 by since the act of Congress was passed under which the national colleges have been 

 organized, and this expiration of the first decade seems to me a fit time for a review of 

 the work accomplished. It constitutes the period of State legislation and preliminary 

 inquiry. 



Probably, as each successive decennium rolls by, it will be found that a like report 

 will be called for by the Government and the people. Whether this duty is intrusted 

 to me or to some one else for the coming year, I would respectfully recommend that 

 the inquiry be as complete and thorough as possible, and that it be conducted in the 

 spirit of a sincere desire to discover what is good, and likewise what is deficient, in 

 these institutions, so that the good may be strengthened and copied, and the failures, 

 if such there be, may be so distinctly pointed out that they shall not be repeated. 



Such an investigation should, of course, extend to the States of the whole Union, 

 and not to those of the North and East alone. It would also be highly desirable 

 that notice should be simultaneously taken of such scientific schools as are not aided 

 by the national grant: like the Lawrence School at Cambridge, the Rensselaer School 

 at Troy, the Stevens Institute at Hoboken, and others in like manner endowed by 

 private munificence. 



As an indication of the scope of such inquiries, I would present the following schedule, 

 which is designed to be suggestive rather than exhaustive : 



TABLE I. Schedule of inquiries respecting the national schools of science. 

 (To be answered in 1872.) 



I. State action. A full exhibition of the legislation of the State bearing upon the 

 national grant. 



II. Financial results of the grant. What price did the scrip sell for f What aggregate 

 fund has it made? What annual income does it afford? By whom is the fund heldf 

 How is it invested T 



III. Other funds. Whence derived? Of what amount? How restricted? What 

 annual income? 



IV. Tuition. How much is charged ? How much in the aggregate was received last 

 year? How many free scholarships, and how are they bestowed? 



V. Buildings. A particular statement of the number, dimensions, cost, nses, &c. 



VI. Land* held for college purposes. Amount, cost, purpose to which devoted. 



VII. Farm. What experience in respect to its educational utility, economy, service 

 in experimental work, &c. 



VIII. Courses of study. The published schemes. How far are they actually estab- 

 lished and attended by students? Qualifications for admission and for graduation. 

 What views are held. in respect to the proportion of technical or professional studies, 

 ami of general or disciplinary studies; comparative estimate of lectures, recitations, 

 and laboratory exercises? 



IX. Trustees. How constituted? 



X. Teachers. How many give all their time to this work? How many are connected 



