December 5, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



515 



one of these departments should give a course 

 called general biology. 



The disadvantages accruing from sucli an 

 arrangement are patent to everyone and need 

 not be detailed. The botanical department 

 should give an elementary course in botany 

 and the zoological department a similar course 

 in zoology. If the zoologist wishes to use 

 plant material to illustrate certain features 

 (and vice versa), let him do so, but do not on 

 that account let the course be labeled by the 

 misnomer "general biology." 



The general hiology course owes its perpetu- 

 ation, as it did its inception, primarily to the 

 zoologists. The fact can not be overlooked 

 that in institutions having distinct depart- 

 ments of botany and zoology, but where gen- 

 eral biology is still taught, this course is in 

 charge of zoologists, although in two of these 

 institutions it is given in part by botanists. 

 Further, in institutions having but one de- 

 partment, the department of biology, and 

 where such a course is given, the department, 

 as a rule, is predominantly zoological. And 

 finally, it is more than a coincidence that 

 nearly all of the ^many text-books in general 

 biology now on the market, like their progeni- 

 tor, have been written by zoologists (or else 

 by high-school teachers). The Huxley and 

 Martin text^book, to quote a former leader 

 among American botanical teachers " was very 

 useful, but its influence on botany was dis- 

 tinctly vicious. Wherever the book went, it 

 put botany back as a mere ' Anhang ' to zool- 

 ogy." It is books of this description that have 

 led a well-known eastern botanist to define 

 biology as " botany taught by a zoologist." 

 , What, then, should be the nature of elemen- 

 tary courses in the biological sciences? 



1. There should be two distinct courses: 

 elementary botany or plant biology, taught by 

 a botanist, and elementary zoology or animal 

 biology, taught by a zoologist. 

 , 2. Each of these courses (or the two taken 

 together; see below) should aim to achieve a 

 two-fold end: it should serve as an introduc- 

 tion to more advanced courses, and it should 

 also satisfy the requirements of the student 



for whom it will constitute the only biological 

 course. 



! 3. It is felt by many botanists and zoolo- 

 gists that special courses in the biological sci- 

 ences should perhaps be arranged for the 

 benefit of students who wish to take but one 

 course in this field. Thus, nearly half of the 

 botanists and zoologists who voted in favor of 

 the general biology course, advocated that it 

 be given, not as a prerequisite to advanced 

 courses in botany and zoology, but as an entity 

 in itself. Where the resources of an institu- 

 tion permit, "culture courses" in botany or 

 zoology, or in botany and zoology, might well 

 be offered in addition to the introductory 

 courses in these subjects. Such courses would 

 not be open to certain of the objections which 

 have been urged against the general biology 

 course. Indeed, while they might be planned 

 along quite different lines from purely intro- 

 ductory courses, there is no reason why they 

 should lay themselves open to any criticism 

 whatever. There is always the danger, how- 

 ever, of attempting to be too comprehensive. 

 Though perhaps to a lesser degree than when 

 taken as a professional study, the value to the 

 student of botany or zoology as a cultural study 

 lies quite as much in methods acquired and 

 in facts observed as it does in the informa- 

 tion which is received. First and foremost 

 the student should be taught to be careful in 

 his technique, to be precise in his observations, 

 to be thorough in his attention to details, to be 

 keen in finding out things for himself, to be 

 accurate in his conclusions. The content and 

 scope of such courses must be determined by 

 the individual teachers or departments con- 

 cerned and the writer ventures no recommen- 

 dations on this point. 



In 50 of the 66 colleges and universities in- 

 vestigated by the questionnaire the elementary 

 courses in botany and zoology are distinct from 

 one another (this number includes 4 which in 

 addition have a course in general biology). 

 With reference to the arrangement of these 

 courses, however, there are two groups. In one 

 group, comprising 23 institutions, each course, 

 elementary botany and elementary zoology, ex- 

 tends over a half year and the two, though vir- 



