544 



SCIENCE. 



fN. S. Vol. IX. No. 224. 



introductory acquaintance ivith its methods of in- 

 vestigation. How has the science been built 

 up? What extent of work has been ac- 

 complished and what remains to be done ? 

 What important problems are now receiving 

 attention, and how is the work being carried 

 on ? AVhat are the possible bearings on 

 utility or culture of such investigations? 

 These and numerous others are legitimate 

 and pertinent questions being constantly 

 asked by those inside as well as outside of 

 scientific lines. Under this head it is de- 

 sirable to make a careful dissection and 

 thorough microscopic examination of at 

 least one animal or plant. It is something 

 to know how an eclipse is calculated or how 

 a plant is ' analyzed,' even if we never at- 

 tempt either feat after having ' passed up.' 

 Together with a reasonably thorough in- 

 vestigation of the structure of some one 

 form, the student should collect and learn 

 to know the local flora or fauna in some 

 natural group, even though a very small 

 one. Instead of manuals of extensive 

 regions, school purposes would be far better 

 served by carefully written local monographs 

 which could be made really adequate for 

 purposes of determination in the hands of 

 the inexperienced. By being less formid- 

 able such works need not be less scientific. 

 Greater simplicity would also make easier 

 the comprehension of the principles of classi- 

 fication and the meanings of its various 

 categories. Repetitions and demonstrations 

 of interesting or famous experiments are 

 also valuable, but to confine a class in the 

 laboratory and hurry it through a long 

 series of such may result merely in intel- 

 lectual nausea on the part of the victims. 



These limited specializations are desi- 

 rable as part of every general course, but the 

 field or the problem should in each case be 

 so narrowed that the student may reason- 

 ably be expected to gain some insight in the 

 time available. To say that all work must 

 be experimental or all histological or all 



systematic is merely to commit the same 

 mistake in three different waj's. Biology 

 has an advantage over many parts of school 

 curricula in that its subject-matter contains 

 much of daily interest and permanent 

 value. Although other departments com- 

 monly justify their existence by appeal to 

 the fallacy that mental training can be suc- 

 cessfully divorced from instruction, biology 

 has less need of such an admission. The 

 gymnasium may be theoretically the best 

 place to secure symmetrical muscular de- 

 velopment, but the stronger attraction is ex- 

 erted by foot- ball or boat- racing, and col- 

 lege faculties have themselves largely to 

 thank for the fact that these subjects 

 monopolize so extensively the attention of 

 undergraduates. The growing mind de- 

 mands some object of tangible, contempo- 

 rary, individual interest, and if this is not 

 found in the curriculum it will be sought 

 outside. A knowledge of foot-ball relieves 

 many a college graduate from the charge of 

 being a complete ignoramus. Interest in 

 nature for its own sake is, however, also a 

 normal and very common characteristic of 

 younger individuals of the human species, 

 and while the rountine of school life tends 

 to an early eradication of this quality, its 

 extinction is seldom complete, and the com- 

 petent teacher knows how to utilize it as a 

 most pleasant and important adjunct to the 

 work of instruction. The popularity of 

 the weekly excursion of classes in botany 

 aud zoology has even caused resignations 

 from the foot-ball team. 



While the training of specialists is not 

 the object of any schools except the univer- 

 sities, the importance of investigators in 

 modern civilization is too great to justify 

 the neglect of the interests of such during 

 the educational period. Investigators, how- 

 ever, of all others, need to acquire this 

 more popular and more general knowledge 

 of their own specialty. To be drilled from 

 their earliest days only in methods of in- 



