June 20, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



929 



This in Africa is a sure indication of tbe pres- 

 ence of coal beneath. 



In the sands of some of the rivers pieces 

 of coal were quite common. He originated 

 the theory of the rift valley of Lake Nyasa. 



It looks as though a sudden rent had been made 

 so as to form the lake and tilt all these rocks 

 nearly over [namely, in the direction of Euvuma]. 



His observations would seem to show 

 that the level of Lake Nyasa was once 

 about 55 feet above its present high-water 

 mark. It is possible that at this high level 

 its overflow of waters first of all passed 

 into the basin of Lake Chilwa, and then 

 flowed northwards into the Ruvuma sys- 

 tem. 



Stanley, by relieving him when he did, 

 gave him at least two more years of life, a 

 cei'tain measure of happiness, and the 

 sweet consolation that he was not forgot- 

 ten, and that the magnitude of his discov- 

 eries was appreciated. In this brief sun- 

 set glow of his life he turned his face once 

 more towards Lake Bangweulu in order to 

 trace the course of the Luapula to Mweru, 

 and its junction with the Lualaba, half 

 hoping that he might then travel down the 

 broad stream till he entered the Bahr-al- 

 Ghazal or the Albert Nyanza ; but, although 

 he now possessed comforts he had long 

 lacked, and faithful, comparatively dis- 

 ciplined men, his strength gave out under 

 constant exposure to rain, and to soakings 

 in crossing rivers and marshes. Severe 

 hemorrhage set in from the bowels, and he 

 died of exhaustion at Chitambo's village in 

 the swamps near the south shore of Bang- 

 weulu on May 1, 1873. 



This brief record of his achievements 

 and his sufferings may fitly close with an 

 extract from his last journals, showing that 

 he died a martyr to that form of religion 

 which we call science : 



In this journey I have endeavored to follow 

 with unswerving fidelity the line of duty. . . . AU 

 tbe hardship, hunger and toil were met with the 

 full conviction that I was right in persevering to 

 make a complete work of the exploration of the 

 sources of the Nile. 



Harry H. Johnston 



LECTVBE AND RECITATION METHODS IN 

 VNIVEESITY INSTRUCTION 



A REFERENCE to the systcms of instruction 

 in Germany, Canada and the United States 

 will most readily bring out the relative value 

 of the lecture and recitation methods in uni- 

 versity instruction. In the German and many 

 of the Canadian universities the popular 

 method of giving instruction consists in de- 

 livering a series of lectures and following 

 these by a rigid final examination, while in 

 the United States the daily recitation of text- 

 book assignments is much more common than 

 in the former countries. In Canada the term 

 lecturer is frequently applied to a regular 

 member of the faculty, but in the United 

 States it is seldom heard except when applied 

 to a temporary member of the university 

 staff, who has been engaged to give a course 

 of lectures on some special subject, and a col- 

 lege professor is more frequently regarded as 

 a teacher than as a lecturer. 



A student, therefore, who has been familiar 

 with the German system or who has spent 

 some time in certain departments of the Ca- 

 nadian universities, and then enters almost 

 any of the American institutions of higher 

 learning, will be impressed by the difference 

 in the methods of instruction in these various 

 countries. He has been familiar with the free- 

 dom of the lecture system where he is in a 

 large measure placed on his own responsibility 

 and, as a rule, may attend lectures or not as 

 he chooses. Under this system he is inclined 

 to feel that the professor has no concern re- 

 garding his success or failure beyond the duty 

 of providing him with the intellectual sub- 

 stance of the lecture course in the best form 

 and exacting a pound of flesh on the final ex- 

 amination. This notion is, as a rule, due to 

 the lack of intimate contact between the in- 



