July 30, 1900] 



SCIENCE 



133 



tion, or, to use his precise terms, between 

 technical education and professional in- 

 struction. Under the latter term he in- 

 cludes training in the art of a specific pro- 

 fession—that kind of training which the 

 apprentice gets from his master in the 

 specialized methods and handicraft pecul- 

 iar to the vocation — the kind of training 

 which, in the ease of the physician, is ob- 

 tained in the wards and clinics in contact 

 with patients. By technical education, on 

 the other hand, he means that training in 

 the underlying subjects of a profession 

 which makes for the development and 

 strengthening of the mental faculties. The 

 technical education of the physician in this 

 sense lies in the physical and natural sci- 

 ences, including under the latter term the 

 whole range of the biological sciences. 

 "Whether any given course in this category 

 meets Pearson's definition of technical edu- 

 cation is determined by asking whether it 

 ' ' provides mental training for the man who 

 has no intention of professional pursuits." 

 Judged by this standard, we maj^ under- 

 stand that it is the method in which a sci- 

 ence is taught as much as its contents 

 which determines whether or not it has 

 value as an intellectual preparation for 

 life. I have no doubt that various subjects, 

 scientific or otherwise, are taught at times 

 within the walls of the universities in such 

 a way that thej^ miss the larger end and 

 confer only the restricted benefit of a 

 special knowledge which is truly profes- 

 sional for that subject. There can be, how- 

 ever, no hesitation in claiming that the sub- 

 jects of anatomj^, physiology and pathology 

 as they are taught or should be taught in 

 our best medical schools are adapted to 

 give a training to the mind as broadening 

 and as generally beneficial as courses in 

 physics, chemistry, biology or indeed as any 

 of our university courses which deal with 

 special departments of human knowledge. 



So far as graduate instruction is concerned 

 this contention has long been admitted in 

 this country, and the subjects we are con- 

 sidering are listed upon the programs of 

 study in both the philosophical and the 

 medical faculties. In later years many col- 

 leges have gone a step farther and have ac- 

 cepted these courses as part of a general 

 scientific training for those students who 

 are looking forward to a career in medicine. 

 It is perhaps only a matter of a little time 

 before they will be admitted to the same 

 standing in all respects as the other sci- 

 ences, that is to say they will be considered 

 not only as subjects of special medical 

 interest, but as conveying knowledge of 

 the widest human interest and importance. 

 So far as the subjects themselves are 

 concerned they enjoy their widest op- 

 portunity and best environment when 

 the medical school forms an integral part 

 of the university, not only in organi- 

 zation, but in location as well. If it 

 so happens that geographically the med- 

 ical school is separated from the rest of the 

 university it is not a matter of vital im- 

 portance, so far as I can see, in which set of 

 buildings these subjects are taught, pro- 

 vided only the teachers are of the right 

 sort. This opinion, I am glad to say, is 

 merely by way of confirmation of the prac- 

 tise that is actually coming to be estab- 

 lished among us. When these subjects are 

 segregated with the clinical branches some- 

 thing, no doubt, of the university atmos- 

 phere is lacking; when they are separated 

 from the clinical side there is a correspond- 

 ing loss of medical atmosphere. "Which is 

 the more serious loss, or whether there is 

 any material difference in the final result, 

 it is difficult to say. The medical student 

 probably values more highly the medical 

 surroundings. They give significance to 

 the things that he is learning and in various 

 informal ways they furnish him with op- 



