680 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 775 



sized in the lecture. To interest the student 

 as well as to insure greater clearness, as many 

 typical experiments as possible should be car- 

 ried out on the lecture table if the course is a 

 complete one. If the course is only a prelim- 

 inary one these experiments may be wholly or 

 partially omitted. The manner of presenting 

 the experiments has a large influence in com- 

 municating inspiration to the students as well 

 as does the personality of the lecturer. To 

 have this inspiring effect in the highest degree 

 the lecturer must above all use good English 

 and so choose his words that the least possible 

 effort on the part of the student is required to 

 comprehend the subject. The experiments 

 must go smoothly. No muddy, half-way ex- 

 periments should have a place on the lecture 

 table. The man who has the reputation of 

 never having an experiment fail always tries 

 his experiments carefully before the lecture. 

 The giving of experiments with a three-minute 

 preparation nearly always results in few ex- 

 periments and many failures. This always 

 gives the students less respect for and less 

 confidence in the lecturer, and the qualities 

 which the lecturer should endeavor to have in 

 his lecture, those of interesting and inspiring 

 the students, are lost. 



The holding of frequent recitations is an 

 important adjunct in order to get the best 

 results from a lecture course. Recitations 

 hold the student to study, emphasize the im- 

 portant parts of the subject, give opportunity 

 for explaining points upon which the individ- 

 ual student may be hazy, and give the student 

 practise in expressing himself. These recita- 

 tions should not be the reciting of a strict 

 page by page text-book assignment, but con- 

 sultations on the subject matter outlined in 

 the lecture, whether given in the lecture or 

 studied in the assigned reference book, or 

 found in other available reference books. The 

 student should always be encouraged to look 

 up points upon which he is not clear and the 

 books where he is likely to find the informa- 

 tion suggested to him. 



Suppose a lecturer treats in his lectures ex- 

 actly the same material as is given in the 

 reference book, or more than is given in it. 

 The question might be asked: what is the use 



of a reference book under these conditions? 

 The reference book still has the greatest value. 

 The student has his book and can refer to it 

 any time he feels so inclined. He can not 

 apply to the instructor at all times as he can 

 to his book. The student also acquires a 

 knowledge of the subject from two stand- 

 points : the lecturer's and the author's. In the 

 event of recitations he may get still another 

 standpoint. This broadening of view is still 

 better attained by changing the assigned refer- 

 ence or text-book from year to year. This can 

 readily be done in many subjects, especially 

 those of a general nature. This changing of 

 reference books has admirable effects. In dif- 

 ferent years it turns out men with slightly 

 different standpoints. In the main what they 

 learn is the same, but they do not get it in 

 exactly the same relation; and the men gradu- 

 ating from a school where this custom is prac- 

 tised are likely to be, as a body, broader than 

 those from a school where it is not. Another 

 most important effect of changing the refer- 

 ence book from year to year is the keeping of 

 the teacher from a rut. A lecturer, to con- 

 tinue successful, must keep up to the times 

 and must do it broadly. It would seem that 

 the using of a different reference book from 

 year to year, as before mentioned, is also com- 

 mendable as being in keeping with a broadness 

 of presentation by the lecturer. A set of lec- 

 ture notes should necessarily be revised each 

 year, the newer facts and discoveries inserted 

 and the old replaced as necessary. It is im- 

 perative, and the mentioning of it here may 

 perhaps seem absurd since it can scarcely be 

 believed that any one in the teaching profes- 

 sion should lose sight of its importance. This 

 keeping apace with the times is certainly 

 worthy of as much thought and attention as 

 the imparting of knowledge, if not more so. 

 Norman A. Dubois 

 Case School of Applied Science, 

 March, 1909 



KAKICEI MIT8UEURI 



Advices from Japan report the death, ort 



September 16, of Dr. Kakichi Mitsukuri, dean 



of the College of Science in the Imperial 



University of Tokyo. Dr. Mitsukuri was one 



