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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 964 



is no doubt better for the average student dur- 

 ing his first year in college, since his actions 

 may be more carefully observed by the mem- 

 bers of the faculty. 



To offset the tendency of many young stu- 

 dents who are away from home for the first 

 time, to be led astray by the freedom and 

 glamor of college life, some American col- 

 leges and universities have adopted the Fresh- 

 man Adviser system. With this scheme the 

 freshmen are divided into groups and each 

 group assigned to some member of the faculty, 

 preferably an instructor of experience, who 

 acts as a counsellor and adviser to the stu- 

 dents in his charge. If the paternal interest 

 be wisely exercised many students may be 

 started right in college life and succeed where 

 otherwise they would fail, and the system be- 

 comes a great help to students and faculty. 

 There is often a tendency, however, in the 

 smaller institutions, for the advisers to pam- 

 per the students and make them as dependent 

 as they would be in a preparatory school. 

 The writer would, therefore, recommend this 

 system, in a properly restricted form, as an 

 excellent addition to the administration of a 

 college or university in which the freedom of 

 a lecture system permits the ignorant and im- 

 mature student, away from guardianship for 

 the first time, to develop bad habits which 

 lead to undesirable excesses and a careless atti- 

 tude towards his academic duties. 



E. S. Moore 



TSE KAEN FOUNDATION 

 " The Kahn Foundation for the Foreign 

 Travel of American Teachers " has issued 

 Vol. I., Nos. 1 and 2, of its " Eeports." The 

 benefaction is unique enough to be interesting, 

 and broad enough to invite debate, if not criti- 

 cism. The deed of gift, dated January 6, 

 1911, was executed by Mr. Albert Kahn, of 

 Paris, who had already founded bourses de 

 voyage in France, Germany, Japan and Eng- 

 land, and who contemplated similar action in 

 Russia, China " and elsewhere." The trustees 

 are Mr. Edward D. Adams, of New York 

 City, or a successor to be nominated by the 

 founder or by his personal representatives; 



the President of Columbia University; the 

 President of the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History; the President of Harvard Uni- 

 versity; the Secretary of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution; or their respective successors. The 

 purpose, which seems to be somewhat indefi- 

 nite, is stated as follows : 



For each year . . . the trustees shall in their 

 discretion select two or more American teachers, 

 scholars or investigators . . . preferably from the 

 professors of such American colleges or universi- 

 ties as the trustees may from time to time desig- 

 nate . . . who will enter into and appreciate the 

 spirit of the foundation and look upon their 

 travels as preparation for the performance of high 

 duties in the instruction and education of the 

 youth of their country, and not as affording a 

 mere vacation or pleasure trip. . . . The founder 

 suggests that the itinerary of such travelers shall 

 be regulated by the trustees in their discretion 

 and shall, if deemed practicable, involve an ab- 

 sence from America of at least one year and 

 include the various countries of Europe and Egypt, 

 India, China, Japan, Ceylon and Java. The 

 founder further suggests that each recipient of a 

 ' ' bourse de voyage ' ' shall agree to furnish to the 

 trustees a report containing the impressions and 

 results of his travels, which report shall not exceed 

 fifty printed pages. The reports of these travelers 

 may be published by the trustees ... or by the 

 founder, in Paris, at his own expense. 



The benefaction amounts at present to 

 $3,000, and four fellows have been appointed. 



In 1911-12, the beneficiaries were Dr. 

 Francis Daniels, professor of Romance lan- 

 guages in Wabash College, and Dr. J. H. T. 

 McPherson, professor of history and political 

 science in the University of Georgia; for 

 1912-13 they are Dr. William E. Kellicott, 

 professor of biology in Goucber College, and 

 Dr. Ivan M. Linforth, assistant professor of 

 Greek in the University of California. The 

 " Eeports " before us are those of Drs. Daniels 

 and McPherson. Dr. Daniels carried out the 

 letter of the deed, going via Great Britain, 

 Europe and Egypt to the Orient, visiting 

 Ceylon, India, the Malay Peninsula, Hong 

 Kong, China and Japan, returning thence to 

 San Francisco. Dr. McPherson confined him- 

 self to Europe, with the purpose of acquaint- 



