August 1, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



113 



The primary purpose of the experimental 

 laboratory was to carry out original investiga- 

 tions. It is well not to lose sight of the fact 

 that the laboratory of elementary chemistry 

 can appear to the beginning student a place of 

 original investigation. Indeed it is probably 

 safe to say that the amoimt of intellectual 

 stimulus he receives in the laboratory is in 

 direct proportion to the extent to which he 

 takes the attitude of an investigator. 



It is more often the case than not that after 

 a student has performed a routine experiment 

 in a routine manner, he will retain of it so 

 vague a recollection that he will be unable to 

 relate his observations the next day in the 

 class room. When however the experiment 

 has developed some tmexpected feature which 

 perplexes him enough to incite him to try out 

 variations of the experiment upon his own 

 initiative, he will be found full of information 

 and argument in the class room. 



Elementary experiments may be classified 

 into two kinds : (1) isolated short experiments, 

 and (2) sustained experiments. The short 

 experiments may be planned in a beautiful 

 sequence, each building on the results of the 

 preceding ones in a manner to arouse the ad- 

 miration of an instructor. Yet to the stu- 

 dent they seem just isolated experiments and 

 he is only too likely to receive the impre'ssion 

 that the standard of his work is measured by 

 the number performed. Even when the stu- 

 dent is above the average of intelligence and 

 sees pretty clearly the sequence as planned by 

 the instructor, he still does not develop very 

 much enthusiasm for a thing which has been 

 all planned out for him. 



(2) The type of experiment referred to as 

 sustained is illustrated by the " unknowns " 

 of qualitative analysis, and by chemical prep- 

 arations. In each of these cases there is a 

 definite objective set to work toward, the work 

 is prolonged enough to awake a sustained in- 

 terest, and there is a tangible result obtained 

 when the experiment is finished. Moreover, 

 the manipulations require judgment and 

 develop incidental problems not foreseen in 

 the directions. 



The writer believes that efficiency methods 

 which increase the output of material prod- 

 ucts of an industry are not directly applicable 

 to the development of intelligence. True, the 

 Freas method may double the number of ex- 

 periments which the student will perform in 

 a laboratory period. But can we measure the 

 development of the student by the nmnber of 

 experiments performed any more than we can 

 measure the happiness of the mill operative by 

 the number of yards of fabric which he can 

 get through his looms in a day. 



Scientific research is in its nature inefficient 

 if judged in terms of the formulas of pro- 

 duction experts. Yet research is recognized 

 by large industries as a vital part of their 

 organization. 



The value of laboratory work depends mostly 

 on the extent to which the students feel the 

 research spirit — even if in but a very feeble 

 way in elementary laboratories. The acquir- 

 ing of manipulative skill and the learning of 

 properties which are better stated in the text- 

 books than they can be observed by the stu- 

 dent, are for the most part incidental to the 

 more important purposes. To encourage this 

 spirit of research, reagents must be available 

 on the side shelves for free use within reason- 

 able bounds. In fact a well-stocked outfit of 

 reagent shelves serves as a chemical museum 

 and time spent in going to these shelves, in- 

 specting the chemicals there, and sometimes 

 in trying out reactions not specified in the 

 directions, is surely not time wasted. IN'at- 

 urally the student should be expected to work 

 industriously during laboratory time and he 

 should perhaps be expected to perform at least 

 a certain minimum number of " required " 

 experiments. But he should not be contin- 

 ually driven to realize the highest value of the 

 ratio of experiments done to length of lab- 

 oratory period. He should rather be distinctly 

 encouraged to work thoughtfully and be made 

 to feel that quality is given more recognition 

 than mere quantity. 



At all events there must be a compromise in 

 elementary laboratories handling large classes, 

 between efficiency of the supply service on the 

 one hand, and the scientific inspiration to the 



