452 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1323 



and to substitute for it work bearing directly 

 on the " personality study " whicli these phys- 

 icians are required to make of their wards. 

 Harry M. Johnson, 



Sanitary Corps. 

 MiTCHEii Field, L. I., N. Y. 



GENERAL BIOLOGY AND THE JUNIOR 

 COLLEGE 



Biologists are much indebted to Professor 

 Nichols for his excellent summary of senti- 

 ment in respect to the so-called " General 

 Biology" course. His survey would appear 

 to indicate that possibly a majority of biol- 

 ogists believe that a year's work, consisting of 

 a half year each of introductory botany and 

 zoology, is general biology or is at least a 

 preferable substitute for it. In a recent 

 article Professor Henderson expresses his dis- 

 sent from this view and raises the question of 

 the relation of this course to general culture 

 and the junior college. He says: 



I take it as axiiomatic that there is a certain 

 minimum of information regarding matters bio- 

 logical whicli every educated man ought to 

 have ... 



and 



It seems — at least some of us hope — that to-day 

 we are about to see a displacement of the academic 

 course in favor of the junior college, which would 

 give such general subjects as the languages, Ameri- 

 can history, elementary chemistry and physics, and 

 the one or two other things which every one should 

 have; . . . 



The Junior College. — That there is already 

 a strong current of sentiment toward the 

 junior college is a fact of which one can 

 scarcely remain unaware. For this there ap- 

 pear to be several reasons. In the first place 

 many of the larger universities are fairly 

 swamped with students of immature age in 

 respect to the nature and content of the 

 courses offered them. A second and possibly 

 more important reason is that such junior 

 colleges can be established and maintained in 

 most larger towns and cities. This results in 

 a desirable saving in expense to the student. 

 Its chief advantage to the university lies in 



the fact that it frees it from overcrowding 

 and acts as a desirable preliminary period 

 during which there is likely to occur a sort- 

 ing out of the students better qualified by 

 ability and interest to pursue the professional 

 courses of the university. 



In the third place our imiversities are show- 

 ing stronger and stronger tendencies away 

 from " general culture " courses. To the 

 small college is left, in large measure, the 

 task of imparting general culture. Modern 

 education consists, then, either in a series of 

 years devoted wholly to general culture, or in 

 an equal period of specialized, more or less 

 technical study, the determining factor being 

 whether the student happened to attend a 

 small college or one of the larger universities. 

 The exigencies of modem life forbid, in the 

 case of many individuals, and render of 

 doubtful value for others, the spending of 

 four years in acquiring general culture. On 

 the other hand, a curriculum devoted wholly 

 to specialized training is thought by many 

 intelligent persons not to aiford a liberal edu- 

 cation, at least in the best sense of that term. 

 The jimior college offers a feasible, if not an 

 ideal, solution of the difficulty by allowing (or 

 perhaps requiring) two years of general cul- 

 ture on which may be superposed two or more 

 of specialized training. 



An important feature of the junior college 

 which commends it to many is the limited 

 election which its organization permits. The 

 immature student may well be compelled to 

 form acquaintance in an elementary way with 

 the subject matter of the chief lines of human 

 endeavor, and, what is more important, with 

 the point of view and habits of thought of 

 workers along these lines. Too free a range 

 of election in the earlier years hinders this 

 attainment of broad outlook by tempting the 

 student to follow along familiar pathways. 

 With distressing frequency is the spectacle 

 presented of students clinging to certain 

 groups of courses because they feel reasonably 

 sure of success therein, whereas their own 

 best educational interests demand that they 

 venture into strange fields and feed on un- 

 tried pabulum. 



