NOVEMBEE 13, 1908] 



SCIENCE' 



673 



AERANGEMENT OP BOOMS 



It is desirable to arrange the laboratory 

 so that the instruction of a particular kind 

 is done on one floor, as far as possible, or 

 in suites of rooms suitably arranged. We 

 have found it convenient to place the 

 laboratories for general chemistry upon 

 two floors, two of them on the floor ad- 

 joining the lecture theater, and four on the 

 floor immediately above. In this manner 

 the presence of a large number of students 

 in the corridors of the remaining portions 

 of the building is avoided. In a college, 

 of necessity, the main instruction is with 

 the first-year students. 



Where much demonstration is to be done 

 in the laboratory, it is desirable to have 

 all of the desks in the laboratory facing in 

 one direction, the instructor having a desk 

 upon an elevated stand. This is expen- 

 sive in room consumption, however. Each 

 desk at least should have a sliding shelf for 

 the student's note-book. 



Between each pair of laboratories at the 

 end of the corridor is placed a quiz, or reci- 

 tation, room. This recitation room will 

 seat the largest number of students which 

 can work in any one laboratory at a time. 

 The principle involved is that essentially 

 outlined in the first paper of this series. 

 The lecture room is for the presentation of 

 general principles, and illustration and 

 elaboration of those principles. This can 

 be done with a large body as well as with 

 a small body of students. When, however, 

 a student must apply some of these prin- 

 ciples himself, we regard it wiser to have 

 only a limited number of students work- 

 ing in a laboratory at a time. They are, 

 therefore, divided up into sections, never 

 having a larger number than twenty-eight, 

 and preferably less. 



On the third floor from the top, the 

 second-year students may work in analy- 

 tical chemistry. In addition to four 

 analytical laboratories on this floor, we 



have an organic laboratory. The organic 

 laboratory has connecting with it a room 

 in which extra precautions have been taken 

 to make it fireproof. This room is used 

 as the bomb room. Opening into the 

 organic laboratory is the combustion room, 

 provided with two tables, fitted with two 

 furnaces each. Suspended above each 

 table is a metallic hood, painted with acid- 

 proof paint, for ventilation purposes. 

 These hoods are connected, however, with 

 the chemical vents, as we get a stronger 

 pull from that fan. On passing through 

 the combustion room, we enter the small 

 balance room, thence back into the organic 

 laboratory. 



BALANCE ROOMS 



The balance rooms, numbering ten in our 

 building, are arranged without regard to 

 illumination by means of sunlight. We 

 depend entirely upon artificial illumina- 

 tion. In this manner we save much light- 

 ing space which is frequently sacrificed for 

 the balance rooms. Furthermore, it has 

 distinctive advantages, because the shadow 

 east by artificial light is a constant and 

 fixed one, whereas it varies with sunlight, 

 depending upon the time of the day. 



Our curriculum requirements lay down 

 as prerequisites for physical, organic, in- 

 dustrial, advanced analytical chemistry, or 

 metallurgy, courses not only in general, 

 but qualitative and quantitative analysis. 

 It will thus be seen that the second-year 

 students all work on one floor. A few 

 third-year students work on the same floor 

 in the organic laboratory. The other 

 third-year students and the senior class 

 work on the ground floor, where we have 

 a suite of rooms for physical chemistry, 

 consisting of a laboratory for physical 

 chemistry, an electrolytic and electric fur- 

 nace room, and a spectroscopic analysis 

 room. The students who may have elected 

 applied chemistry work in the laboratory 

 be '■ring that name, and just across the 



