850 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 962 



This is a very different thing from teaching 

 them as medical subjects. It would set 

 definite limits on the course and not try to 

 cover the entire science in a single year. 

 In chemistry the general basic principles 

 underlying the science rather than isolated 

 facts should be taught, and these principles 

 can be learned just as well by studying 

 substances and processes in the laboratory 

 which have a distinct bearing on medicine, 

 rather than on metallurgy or mineralogy. 

 Probably the college course in chemistry is 

 the best standardized of all. 



In physics, the student needs a fairly 

 wide knowledge so far as it can be gained 

 without higher mathematical processes. 

 Laboratory instruction should form a large 

 part of it. The important topics are spe- 

 cific gravity or relative density (there 

 should be real understanding of what these 

 terms mean), osmotic pressure and diffu- 

 sion, hydrostatics, acoustics and its com- 

 mon application to sound, pitch, resonance, 

 optics, laws of refraction and reflection, as 

 applied to mirrors and lenses. Heat; the 

 thermometer, laws of specific heat, cryos- 

 copy, calorimetry and the relation of heat 

 to work. Electricity ; the elements of static 

 electricity and of galvanic and foi'adic cur- 

 rents. In mechanics, the statical aspects 

 only. Much of the djTiamics usually 

 taught should be omitted, also the study of 

 absolute temperatures, absolute units. The 

 object of the course in physics is that 

 the student may gain a comprehensive and i^on- 

 neeted view of tlie most important facts and laws 

 of elementary physics. There is need of limiting 

 the course in physics, because the courses in uni- 

 versities and colleges are more adapted to train 

 professional physicists than future practitioners of 

 medicine. The two need a different training. A 

 study of the curricula at many colleges shows that 

 in one single year an elementary course requiring 

 very little mathematics is followed by a highly 

 specialized mathematical course, having practically 

 no reference to the experiences of life. 



In the biological course, it is important 

 that the student should become conscious 

 of the characteristics of living things. 

 Without some general biological training, 

 it would be impossible for him to give to 

 his medical physics and chemistry a biolog- 

 ical application. By dissection of a few of 

 the lower types, by witnessing a few simple 

 physiological experiments on plants or ani- 

 mals, by examination of simple tissues 

 under the microscope, he should obtain an 

 idea of the correlation between structure 

 and function, the general build of the ele- 

 mentary tissues ; and the process of diges- 

 tion, respiration, assimilation and repro- 

 duction, which together make up our con- 

 ception of a living organism. A compre- 

 hensive view of the subject, but well within 

 the power of the student to itnderstand, is 

 rarely given. On the other hand, a great 

 deal of useless information is given and 

 much precious time and energy is wasted 

 on botany, zoology and highly specialized 

 courses. 



By such courses, beyond the accumula- 

 tion of facts in the different sciences which 

 the student may obtain, he should have 

 become an accurate observer, been inter- 

 ested in the art of inquiry, have acquired 

 a fair degree of manual dexterity and use 

 of laboratory instruments, have cultivated 

 proper habits of study and work — in fact, 

 trained for efficient professional study. 

 His mental horizon should be extended, a 

 new attitude of mind toward his work fos- 

 tered; his reasoning faculties should be 

 developed so that the insistent "xvhy?" 

 compels him to seek the answer. To give 

 this training demands that the subjects are 

 taught in an intensive manner, that inter- 

 est is aroused, that the student feels that 

 the subjects are important, not only as sci- 

 ences, but for their future professional ap- 

 plication. Unfortunately, the generalities 



