March 8, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



241 



due to the land grant act, to furnish this 

 higher education, for the equipment of which 

 they are liberally supported by the state and 

 national means. The claims upon the prepa- 

 ration for entering these colleges are also 

 about the same as that required by schools of 

 the higher order, or the university class, that is 

 high-school graduation, or its equivalent. But 

 in spite of these advantages and the numerous 

 special courses offered by nearly all these col- 

 leges, a great many of our graduates are suffer- 

 ing from the deficiencies complained of by 

 Professor Vesque, thirty years ago in France. 



In glancing over the catalogues of the 

 courses of the agricultural instruction given 

 in these colleges, one is struck by the multi- 

 tude of optional courses, which are frequently 

 restricted to very narrow specialties. The 

 time allotted to one of these petty subjects is 

 frequently as much as that given to the whole 

 of the science of botany, which constitutes one 

 of the main foundations of the entire struc- 

 ture of higher agricultural education. 



In further examining these special courses, 

 we shall find that many of them presuppose a 

 careful preparation in botany which, how- 

 ever, has not been granted by the general cur- 

 riculum. It is not infrequent that a student 

 in some of these colleges is receiving lectures 

 in plant breeding without previously having 

 received any instruction, worth his while, 

 either in morphology or taxonomy. An ex- 

 amination of the curriculum of many of our 

 agricultural colleges seems to reveal the fact 

 that there is too much specializing upon the 

 superstructure before a safe foundation is 

 laid. If the student be equipped with a fair 

 general knowledge of botany, chemistry and 

 physics, including physical chemistry, he may 

 be trusted to develop the specialties of agri- 

 culture resting upon these as opportunity and 

 occasions arise, but if the fundamentals be 

 Jacking, he will always remain uncertain and 

 giddy. H. Ness 



Texas Experimental Station 



professional courtesy 

 To THE Editor of Scie.nxe: We appreciate 

 your courtesy in submitting to us the criti- 



cism concerning ethics involved in the pub- 

 lication of the article referred to by Professor 

 Hart. We do not feel that a reply to the 

 charges contained in his statement is nec- 

 essary, further than to say that the work re- 

 ferred to was planned entirely by one of us 

 (McCollum) and was carried out by Mr. 

 Steenbock, according to the usual practise in 

 experimental work. The detailed records of 

 the time of extractions, filtrations, evapora- 

 tions, etc., were published verbatim from notes 

 copied by Mr. Steenbock for me as requested, 

 and should, of course, correspond closely with 

 his notebooks. 



In a case of this kind where the veracity of 

 one of the statements must be questioned by 

 those who read this charge and our reply, 

 nothing better can be done than to leave the 

 public to judge for itself on the basis of the 

 research records of all concerned as to the 

 probable responsibility for the planning of 

 this work. E. V. McCollum, 



N. SniMONDs 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Societies of the Plains Indians. Anthropo- 

 logical Papers of the American Museum of 

 Natural History. Volume XI. New York, 

 1916. Edited by Clark Wissler. Issued 

 in 13 parts ; C. Wissler, R. H. Lowie, P. E. 

 GoDDARD, A. Skinner, J. R. Murie, con- 

 tributors. 



This volume probably does not represent 

 the greatest undertaking in modern American 

 ethnology: it does represent one of the most 

 efficiently executed, and is therefore of inter- 

 est as an example of the method to which the 

 science has attained. In case the designation 

 " science " seem as yet unearned, let us com- 

 promise on " study of uncivilized culture 

 history." 



There are still many students at the height 

 of their activity who were trained in, and 

 some who practise, the older ethnology: a 

 discipline begot by an intrinsic interest in the 

 phenomena of culture, but fathered and nour- 

 ished by the doctrine of evolution after it had 

 begun to transcend its proper biological 



