APPENDIX B. 327 



At this point it may be well to give a hint as to the 

 organization of the department, as this determines largely 

 the character of the equipment and the number of dupli- 

 cations of each instrument. 



The amount of personal supervision required by the 

 student in practical physiology is so great that it is in- 

 expedient to attempt to conduct large classes. A demon- 

 strator and one assistant demonstrator cannot properly 

 supervise the work of more than thirty students at one 

 time, even though each student be provided with a labora- 

 tory manual. In the organization and equipment here 

 planned let it be understood that the laboratory class work 

 in sections of thirty students each, and that each section be 

 subdivibed into ten divisions of three students each. Now, 

 experience in many laboratories has shown that a student 

 will accomplish practically as much in one laboratory 

 period of three hours as in two laboratory periods of two 

 hours each. The three-hour laboratory period promotes 

 economy both for the student and for the department. 

 Following this arrangement, two instructors would be able 

 to supervise the work of 180 students, meeting one sec- 

 tion of thirty students each day. With this allotment of 

 time each student would have three hours of laboratory 

 work each week during the year, which would enable him 

 to demonstrate for himself all of the fundamental princi- 

 ples of physiology. In the question of the choice between 

 (1) the condensation of 180 hours of laboratory work in 

 physiology into a period of sixty days with three hours per 

 day, and (2) the distribution of the same number of hours 

 over sixty weeks (two years^) with three hours per week, 

 and its coordination with theoretical work in physiology 

 and with the courses in gross anatomy and histology, we 

 would, without a moment's hesitation, decide in favor of 

 the latter plan. 



