SCIENCE 



Friday, Decembee 5, 1919. 



CONTENTS 



The General Biology Course and the Teaching 

 of Elementary Botany and Zoology in 

 America,n Colleges and Universities: Pro- 

 fessor George E. Nichols 509 



State Academies of Science: Dr. David D. 

 Whitney 517 



Besults of the Total Solar Eclipse of May 29 

 and the Belativity Theory: Dr. A. C. D. 

 Crommelin 518 



Scientific Events: — 

 Investigations on Influenza; Problems of 

 Food and Nutrition; The Elizabeth Thomp- 

 son Science Fund; Endowment of the Med- 

 ical School of Vanderbilt University ; The 

 St. Louis Meeting of The American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science 520 



Scientific Notes and News 522 



University and Educational News 523 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



An Appeal: Professor Raymond Pearl. 



' Somatic Variation: Professor Leon J. Cole 

 AND Jessie Megeath. Steindachneridion: 

 Professor Carl H. Eigenmann and Eosa 

 Smith Eigenmann. Acoustic Effects of 

 Wires: Dr. Harry Clark 524 



Quotations : — 



The Harveian Festival of the Royal College 



of Physicians of London 526 



Scientific Books: — 

 Miyake's Entomology: Dr. L. O. Howard. 627 



Special Articles: — 



Germinating Freshly Harvested Winter 

 Wheat : George T. Harrington 528 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garriaon-on- 

 Hudson, N. Y. 



THE GENERAL BIOLOGY COURSE AND 

 THE TEACHING OF ELEMENTARY 

 BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY IN 

 AMERICAN COLLEGES AND 

 UNIVERSITIES! 

 The general biology, or elementary biology, 

 course originated with Huxley about fifty 

 years ago and was introduced into this coun- 

 try by the physiologist, H. Newall Martin, one 

 of Huxley's earlier students. In the intro- 

 duction to Huxley and Martin's little text- 

 book on Elementary Biology, Huxley states 

 as his conviction " that the study of living 

 bodies is really one discipline, which is 

 divided into zoology and botany simply as a 

 matter of convenience " ; that " sound and 

 thorough knowledge is only to be obtained by 

 practical work in the laboratory " ; and, fur- 

 ther, that through the study of a series of 

 selected animals and plants " a comprehen- 

 sive, and yet not vague, conception of the 

 phenomena of Life may be obtained, and a 

 firm foundation upon which to build up spe- 

 cial knowledge will be laid." A more recent 

 text-book (Sedgwick and Wilson's "General 

 Biology ") states that general biology " deals 

 with the broad, characteristic phenomena and 

 laws of life as illustrated by the thorough 

 comparative study of a series of plants and 

 animals taken as representative types." 



In the average general biology course the 

 laboratory material is selected more or less 

 indiscriminately from both the plant and the 

 animal kingdoms, but with animal material 

 greatly preponderant. The study of animals 

 thus alternates with the study of plants : now 

 a few animals and then a few plants. The 

 aim of such a course is not so much to bring 

 out the fundamental characteristics of plants 

 as plants and of animals as animals, but 

 rather to demonstrate that the two are merely 

 different expressions of matter in the living 



1 Contribution from the Osborn Botanical Labor- 

 atory. 



