50 Biology in America 



of Pennsylvania (1749), and King's College (now Columbia 

 University) in 1754. These early colleges and their succes- 

 sors, prior to the early part of the last century, were sup- 

 ported mainly by private funds, given largely in the form of 

 endowments; but since 1837, when the University of Michigan 

 Avas founded, most of the states maintain universities at public 

 expense. The private institutions have been, almost exclu- 

 sively supported by religious societies, even some of the great 

 universities, which today are non-sectarian, such as Harvard, 

 Yale and Princeton, having been originally established on a 

 religious basis. 



The early instruction in our colleges and universities was 

 strictl}'^ classical. The appointment of Benjamin Silliman as 

 professor of chemistry and natural science at Yale in 1802, 

 therefore marks an epoch in the history of American educa- 

 tion. It is interesting to note that the young professor, at 

 the time of his appointment but twenty-three years of age, 

 was a lawyer by profession, with no knowledge whatever of 

 the sciences he was to teach. He says of his appointment that 

 it ''was of course the cause of wonder to all, and of cavil to 

 political enemies of the college. Although I persevered in 

 my legal studies ... I soon after the confidential communi- 

 cation of President Dwight (informing him of his probable 

 appointment) obtained a few books on chemistry and kept 

 them secluded in my secretary, occasionally reading in them 

 privately. This reading did not profit me much. Some gen- 

 eral principles were intelligible, but it became at once obvious 

 to me that to see and perform experiments and to become 

 familiar with many substances was indispensable to any 

 progress in chemistry, and of course I must resort to Phila- 

 delphia, which presented more advantage to science than any 

 other place in our country." ^ 



As Yale was the pioneer in breaking away from "the tra- 

 ditions of the elders," and establishing a professorship in 

 science, so too was it the pioneer in establishing soon after- 

 ward (1824) a distinct organization or school, the Sheffield 

 Scientific School, for scientific instruction. In 1847 a similar 

 organization (the Lawrence Scientific School) was established 

 at Harvard, and soon the teaching of science in American 

 colleges and universities was placed on an equal footing with 

 that of art and letters. At the present time indeed science, 

 tried alike in the fires of war and the sunshine of peace, 

 stands preeminent, both in education and in industry. 



Biology in American schools owes its birth primarily to 

 Agassiz and Gray, colleagues on the Harvard faculty at the 



' Merrill, * ' Contributions to the History of American Geology, ' ' after 

 G. P. Fisher, "Life of B. Silliman," p. 215. 



