SCIENCE 



Friday, Novembee 12, 1909 



CONTEXTS 

 The Teaching of English in, a Scientific 

 School: Pbofessob A. T. Robinson 657 



The Conditions affecting Chemistry in New 

 York : Pbofessob Morbis Loeb 664 



Rare Birds i» the New fork Zoological Park: 

 C. William Beebe 668 



International Conference on the Map of the 



World 669 



Mr. Kennedy's Bequests 669 



Scientific Notes and Neios 670 



University and Educational Neics 672 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Autonomy for the University: Db. Alfbed 

 6. Matee. National Educational Respon- 

 sibilities: Db. Theo. B. Comstock. Inter- 

 national Language: Pbofessob Otto Jes- 

 PEBSON. Oxygen as xcell as Water proved 

 to exist in the Atmosphere of Mars: Db. 

 Fbank W. Veby 673 



Quotations: — 



The Harvard Medical School and Harvard 

 College 679 



Scientific Books: — 



Life and Letters of Peter and Susan Lesley: 

 Pbofessob J. J. Ste\'ENS0n. The Cam- 

 bridge Natural History: Pbofessob Thos. 

 H. MoNTGOilEBY, Jb 680 



Scientific Journals and Articles: — 



Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydro- 

 biologic und Hydrographie: Pbofessob 

 Chakles a. Kofoid 684 



Tlie Treatment of Certain Tick-transmitted 

 Diseases : W. D. Hunteb 687 



Special Articles: — 



Demonstrations with the Musical Arc: W. 

 B. Huff. The " Rock Wall " of Rockwall, 

 Texas: Sidney Paige. Apogamy in CEno- 

 thera: Db. R. R. Gates. Membrane Forma- 

 tion and Pigment Migration in Sea Urchin 

 Eggs as bearing on the Problem of Artificial 

 Parthenogenesis: E. Newton Haevey .... 688 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Philosophical Society of Washington: 

 R. L. Faeis. The Chemical Society of 

 Washington: J. A. LeClebc 696 



WSS. intended for publieation and books, etc., Intended for 

 review should be sent to the Editor of Sciesce, Garrison-on- 

 Hudson, N, Y. 



THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN A 

 SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL 



The teacher of English in a scientific 

 school faee^ in many ways a special prob- 

 lem. In a place where exact sciences are 

 fundamental, he teaches an art which must 

 often appeal to standards of taste. He 

 finds always among his pupils a number 

 who are at the start unsympathetic. Yet 

 his subject is undoubtedly important. 

 Aside from its practical value in training 

 men in bearing and address, English com- 

 position may be made the basis of logical 

 cultivation of the thinking powers, and the 

 means of awakening in the mind the love 

 of broader scholarship. On these accounts, 

 if those interested in scientific education 

 ask themselves how the time devoted to 

 teaching English in scientific courses may 

 best be employed, they are attacking a ques- 

 tion by no means unimportant. In an at- 

 tempt to throw some light on this question 

 the present paper undertakes to deal with 

 the broader aspects of the work in English 

 composition as the writer has observed it 

 during the last eight or nine years at the 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



Undergraduate instruction at the Insti- 

 tute of Technology is divided, as may be 

 known, among thirteen prescribed courses 

 of scientific and engineering studies, each 

 of four years ' duration. Without attempt- 

 ing to be precise, it may be stated roughly 

 that the first two years are given up to 

 studies which are regarded partly, or even 

 mainly, as a means of general education. 

 These subjects range from mechanical 

 drawing, through elementary physics and 

 chemistry, to history and economics. Some 

 of them, like history, are purely educa- 



