October 15, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



507 



ments. Natural science got under way 

 earliest by establishing the doctrines of 

 evolution and energy. The bearing of 

 these broad principles soon became as nec- 

 essary to our modes of thought as they 

 were immediately recognized to be for our 

 material development. To-day there is no 

 branch of knowledge which has not in 

 somewise been extended and enriched by 

 the philosophical bearing of these wide 

 sweeping laws which, at first, were the in- 

 dividual property of natural science. So 

 intimately have they become the guiding 

 principles of all modern constructive 

 thinking, that steer how he will the man 

 in college can not escape their teachings. 

 Although these principles are still mo.st 

 significantly presented in the laboratories 

 in which they arose, the student will as 

 surely find their progeny in philosophy 

 and history, in theology and law. 



The progress of half a century in the 

 social sciences (history, economics, sociol- 

 ogy, politics), has been of equal impor- 

 tance. Though no such fundamental and 

 far reaching doctrines as those of evolu- 

 tion and energy have there been discovered, 

 yet social studies have become vital to the 

 interpretation and upbuilding of modern 

 life and service. 



What response did our colleges make to 

 this revolution in thought, this sudden 

 widening of intellectual and spiritual hori- 

 zons, this modern renaissance? For a 

 time practically none, for the curriculum 

 was strongly entrenched in an ancient 

 usage. Something called a "liberal edu- 

 cation" was a kind of learned creed. The 

 intellectual atmosphere outside the college 

 grew broader, stronger, freer than in it. 

 Forced by a rising tide, the colleges first 

 made a few grudging and half-hearted 

 concessions, but still held for the most part 

 firmly to their creed. The defenders 

 could always point in unanswerable argu- 



ment to the men of profound and varied 

 talents who have been trained under their 

 dLscipline— a discipline which all must 

 freely admit has never been excelled. But 

 times had changed, professional schools 

 and real universities had come into exist- 

 ence in America, and more kinds of prep- 

 aration were demanded of the college. 

 Modem life in its vastly increased 

 complexity had outgrown the straitened 

 mould of a pedagogical and clerical cur- 

 riculum. 



Finally in an awakened consciousness 

 some colleges made the mistake inevit- 

 able after too long waiting, and not only 

 established the newer sub.jects in numer- 

 ous courses, but took the headlong plunge 

 and landed in an unbridled elective 

 sj'stem. 



Under this unhappy system, or lack of 

 system, for every student who gains a dis- 

 tinct advantage by its license several of 

 his less purposeful companions seek and 

 find a path of least resistance, en.-joy com- 

 fort and ease in following it, and emerge 

 at the other end, four years older, but no 

 more capable of service than when they 

 entered. Many another youth neither 

 lazy nor idle, but lacking both rudder and 

 chart, angles diligently in shallow waters, 

 goes no deeper than the introductory 

 course in any department, comes out with 

 many topics for conversation, but no real 

 mental discipline and but little power to 

 think. 



During the revolutionary period in our 

 colleges, in which the newer studies took 

 equal place along side the older ones, Dart- 

 mouth moved more circumspectly than 

 some of her neighbors. In response to 

 pressure from within and from without 

 required courses were reduced in number 

 and crowded back into freshman year. All 

 other courses were gi'ouped in logical se- 

 quences among which the student had for 



