CORRESP ONDENCE. 



409 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



SCIENCE IN CLASSICAL SCHOOLS. 

 Messrs. Editors : 



PROFESSOR COOKE, in his remarks on 

 " The Greek Quesiion," does injustice to 

 the best classical schools in express terms, 

 and his statements ought not to pass unchal- 

 lenged. Classical culture as preparatory for 

 any of the " learned " professions, literary or 

 scientitic, needs no defense. But Professor 

 Cooke, if he knew the facts, should not 

 have held up foreign universities as wholly 

 successful in the change he proposes. He 

 should not have said that "among others 

 the University of Berlin, which stands in 

 the very front rank, has already conceded, 

 to what we may call the new culture, all 

 that can reasonably be asked." Is it not 

 true that these concessions were made 

 against the unanimous protest of all the 

 faculties ; that, after earnest comparison of 

 the progress of scholars from the Real- 

 schulen and the Gymnasia, the scientific 

 professors are unanimous in their demand 

 that classical training shall be restored even 

 for those intending to enter scientific pro- 

 fessions ? 



Professor Cooke, mentioning by name 

 certain well-known classical schools, tells 

 us that " the attempt to introduce some sci- 

 ence requisitions into the admission exami- 

 nations has been an utter failure " ; that 

 " the science requisitions have been simply 

 crammed, and the result has been worse 

 than useless " ; that " it has, in most cases, 

 given a distaste for the whole subject"; 

 that " true science-teaching is utterly for- 

 eign to all their methods " ; that " the small 

 amount of study of natural science which 

 we have forced upon them has proved to 

 be a wretched failure, and the sooner this 

 hindrance is got out of their way the bet- 

 ter " ; that it is hopeless to look for any 

 change in the classical schools. These are 

 heavy charges, if true ; but do they repre- 

 sent the facts ? 



Harvard College was among the first to 

 shake off old methods, and to introduce a 

 system of examinations which should dis- 

 tinguish between those applicants who had 

 been crammed and those who had been 

 taught. Her professors have showed them- 

 selves able to set papers in all branches, 

 which proved those admitted worthy to join 

 her classes. Professor Cooke would prob- 

 ably not admit that his colleagues in the 

 scientific departments have been behind 

 their classical associates in this respect. 

 What, then, has been the record of the 

 Roxbury Latin School in the six years that 



boys have been presented in Physics? 

 Though every boy has been allowed to try 

 the examinations in Physics, even if we 

 judged him deficient, only two have been 

 rejected out of above eighty presented. In 

 one year, out of fifteen boys presented, six- 

 teen honors were taken in subjects purely 

 scientific, viz., seven in Prescribed Mathe- 

 matics, two in Prescribed Physics, one in 

 Prescribed and Elective Physics, and six in 

 French. 



It is certain that many of those eighty 

 boys have not been crammed, and that few 

 of them have gained "a distaste for the 

 whole subject." For, though the time for 

 the subject has been limited, and the appa- 

 ratus meager, I have seen them eagerly 

 making apparatus to illustrate their lessons, 

 and discussing, at every opportunity, dis- 

 puted points. In one instance three boys 

 worked for weeks on a machine to prove 

 their teacher in the wrong, while nearly the 

 whole class enthusiastically supported their 

 mates with sincere but mistaken conviction. 



Perhaps one ought to speak modestly 

 about true science-teaching being foreign 

 to all his methods, but I will say that the 

 trustees, taking advantage of a slight change 

 made necessary by the rejection of Arnott 

 as a standard of preparation, and of a fine 

 addition to our building, have fitted up a 

 working laboratory for our physics, and 

 have furnished suitable apparatus. Then 

 every boy of my present class, aided only 

 by a paper giving directions for manipula- 

 tion, is performing every experiment for 

 himself, is putting his questions to Nature, 

 recording and interpreting the phenomena 

 observed. 



We do not regard the study of science 

 as forced upon us. For years before any 

 science was required a good portion of two 

 years was given, and still is given, to the 

 study of botany, though our boys are not 

 presented in that subject. And the authori- 

 ties of this school are so thoroughly in sym- 

 pathy with the advancement of science 

 that, whether physics shall be required by 

 Harvard or not, more and not less time is 

 likely to be given to its study in the future. 



With centuries of testimony for the 

 " old classical culture," testimony unshaken 

 by repeated assaults, of course the social 

 prestige of our classical schools and univer- 

 sities holds its own. Of course, parents 

 wish their sons fitted for and trained by 

 classical colleges. Of course, " nine, at 

 least, out of every ten, offer maximums in 

 classics," and continue as they have begun. 



