182 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VII. No. 1208 



bility of my words, that "I regard experi- 

 mental research in medicine as a medical, 

 a moral and a Christian duty towards ani- 

 mals, towards my fellow men and towards 

 God." 



There is so much yet to he learned chiefly, 

 by experimental research. So many de- 

 voted lives to be saved to our country and 

 to mankind if we only knew how ! Do you 

 wonder that I am in dead earnest ? 



Finally. What have the antivivisection- 

 ists themselves done to diminish sickness 

 and save life 1 



A. In animals? Absolutely nothing. 



In spite of the enormous ravages of ani- 

 mal diseases causing enormous suffering to 

 animals and costing this country $215,000,- 

 000 every year, not a single disease has had 

 its ravages diminished or abolished as a re- 

 sult of anything they have done. But med- 

 ical research is saving every year thou- 

 sands of animals from anthrax, hog cholera, 

 chicken cholera, Texas fever and other dis- 

 eases. 



B. In human beings? Absolutely noth- 

 ing. I do not know a single disease of hu- 

 man beings which has had its ravages 

 checked, abated or abolished by any work 

 ever done by the antivivisectionists. 



The only thing they have done has been 

 to throw as many obstacles as possible in the 

 path of those who are striving to benefit 

 both animals and men. 



This present suit is characteristic. 



W. W. Keen 

 Emeritus Peofessok of Sukgert, 

 Jefpeeson Medical College and 

 Majoe in the Medical Eeseeve Corps, 

 XJ. S. Aemt 



SOME OPINIONS ON COLLEGE 

 PHYSICS TEACHING 



Originally the whole of science, physics has 

 come by specialization to have for a central in- 

 terest the relations of energy to matter, mo- 

 tion, heat and electricity; it lies, not sharply 



bounded, among astronomy, chemistry, the bio- 

 logical and earth sciences, and their applica- 

 tions in engineering and agriculture. From it 

 all these draw fundamental data, and from it 

 new branches continually develop. The history 

 of this development is very interesting and in- 

 structive; it forms one phase of the intellec- 

 tual development of humanity, and should be 

 known to all students whose interests are at all 

 higher than the bread-and-butter level. 



It has been said that science is common 

 sense. That is incompletely true; for com- 

 mon sense results from common experience, 

 and can hardly deal with uncommon or new 

 situations. Prom this arises one of the diffi- 

 culties which to many people make physics a 

 repulsive subject. It deals with facts of all 

 sorts, from bearing friction and the flow of 

 water in pipes to the flight of wireless waves 

 and the rotation of nebulae, and has to adopt a 

 viewpoint which can not be that of common 

 experience; for observations on most of this 

 vast range are not commonly made, and not 

 by common people. Nevrton's three laws of mo- 

 tion, for example, are not expressions of com- 

 mon sense; otherwise they would not have been 

 reserved for Newton to state. They are 

 known not to be in conflict with common ex- 

 perience ; they include it ; but the average per- 

 son has not had the uncommon astronomical 

 and laboratory experiences necessary for their 

 discovery or appreciation. Hence the mechan- 

 ics based on them seems stale and dry, meta- 

 physical, out of connection with experience. 



The subject of physics being thus vast, not 

 clearly defined and to a certain extent re- 

 moved from common experience, only a part of 

 it can be taught in elementary courses. What 

 this part shall be has to be decided with an eye 

 on two things; it must seem worth while to 

 the student, and it must expand his horizon of 

 experience, so that the great general laws which 

 have been discovered shall seem to him to 

 spring naturally from the behavior of matter. 

 To seem worth while to a student, the subject- 

 matter of a course must build upon what he 

 already knows, and must have evident bearing 

 upon the problems which he knows he vsdU have 

 to solve. He has had experience with crow- 



