November 19, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



711 



sought within a few days by a young man of 

 twenty-seven who is just entering upon his 

 second year of college work. He is willing 

 and anxious to pursue that course which is 

 best for him as a preparation for medical 

 practise. He came to inquire specifically 

 whether he ought to complete his college course 

 and secure his bachelor's degree before enter- 

 ing the medical school, or shouJd he take up 

 the medical subjects in the combined course 

 next year. The first alternative would defer 

 his entrance into actual practise eight years 

 (including one year of hospital training), at 

 which time he will be thirty-five years of age. 

 He is securing in the two years of preparatory 

 college work two majors of college physics 

 (240 hours), four majors of college chemistry 

 (he has had one year each of physics and 

 chemistry in high school), one major of biol- 

 ogy, and eleven majors of work in English, 

 mathematics, psychology, German and French, 

 and other non-scientific subjects. Is it wise 

 to advise this young man to defer his gradua- 

 tion in medicine until he is thirty-five? If he 

 were nineteen, twenty or twenty-one, tlie prob- 

 lem would be quite a different one. At such 

 an age he could well afford to go the whole 

 road. In such a case the work of the last two 

 years in college should in most cases be along 

 lines not related to the medical curriculum 

 but rather in the humanities, to the end that 

 the student may become a broadly cultured, 

 scholarly man and citizen, as well as a thor- 

 oughly trained physician. Some additional 

 work in chemistry — quantitative analysis — and 

 in comparative anatomy, he should have, and 

 especially should he carry on some piece of 

 independent investigation in order to de- 

 velop the power of accurate observation and of 

 clear logical thinking which is the most essen- 

 tial qualification for the practise of medicine. 

 Professor Christian will be glad to learn 

 that the hope in which he indulges " that the 

 day will soon come when the higher degrees 

 will be awarded for medical studies just as 

 for other university subjects," has long since 

 been realized. The day arrived some years ago 

 when courses in anatomy, physiology, phar- 

 macology, bacteriology, pathology and experi- 



mental medicine were made in the most 

 complete sense university courses, in the Uni- 

 versity of Chicago. For over five years it has 

 been possible for the graduate students in this 

 university to secure the doctorate degree for 

 research in any of these departments, and sev- 

 eral Ph.D. degrees have been so conferred. 

 I believe the same conditions obtain at the 

 universities of Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, 

 California and other western institutions, 

 in which institutions such departments have 

 been organized in the university proper, where 

 they rightly belong. 



John M. Dodson 



scholastic competition 



The earnestness and enthusiasm which com- 

 petition has given to athletics invites serious 

 consideration, as to how a similar competitive 

 spirit may be stimulated in collegiate studies. 

 The fixed standard serves to eliminate the lazy 

 and stupid students, and requires a certain 

 activity of the general mass ; but does nothing 

 to make the best men put forth their fuU 

 powers. 



Such prizes as have generally been offered, 

 namely, medals, books or money, do not fire 

 the imagination of a scholar, nor make his 

 fellows cheer him. They are seldom worthy 

 objects of prolonged mental discipline and self- 

 denial. Further, the basis of their award is 

 often so one-sided as to diminish their value 

 in the eyes of students. It is power which 

 should be stimulated and rewarded rather than 

 a cut-and-dried record. 



The value of the moments of great dramatic 

 action in athletics has been recognized and is 

 used as a stimulus for the prolonged and 

 tedious training. From the nature of scholas- 

 tic studies, these dramatic moments are fewer, 

 but should therefore be made much of and 

 multiplied where possible. 



In a very few colleges there is a class of 

 rewards which really stimulate the best schol- 

 ars and enthuse their fellow students. While 

 varying in different institutions and depart- 

 ments, they are always opportunities for 

 widening the experience and increasing the 

 knowledge of the successful competitors. I 



