98 
of the methods used, and show that in three 
places there are errors; for it is manifestly 
impossible that in 1894 or 1904 there could 
be more students taking algebra or physics 
than would take it were the subjects required. 
Besides, these columns tend in the clearest 
way to show the effect of the elective system; 
the ratios measure in a rough way the popu- 
larity of a study, when it is elective. 
TABLE IV 
Per Cent. 
Schools Offering 
Study 1904 1904 
IDpKeA, Stabe WEEMS osoceageccceoance 46 80 
ZEUNAIKE ‘4o.gcanoanoodeoddaouodDbOGN 97 100 
Chemistry, mostly in year III. .... 74 66 
AGHOMMIMN? cocopscacodooo6guodoodn 63 31 
Physiology, mostly in years I. or II. 81 57 
IMAI IOMAIA, sooocsponnoos0DDONNS 23 44 
JDMEhighO sKowEP WELW. scasccoocasadc 52 68 
English, less than four years, more 
than three years ............... 12 32 
‘For example: in spite of the great increase 
iin the percentage of students taking Latin, 
the subject had in fact declined in popularity, 
as shown by the ratios, 1894, 0.63, 1904, 0.55; 
further, these ratios show that, after all, rela- 
tively few students took the subject in com- 
parison with the opportunities. 
TABLE V 
The History Branches 
1894 1904 
Per Length Per Length 
Cent. ese Cent. 7 
Offering OP NCES Offering D8 MCE 
American ......... 57 0.7 86 0.64 
French...........--. 0 0.0 a 0.50 
English............. 39 0.5 51 0.66 
“¢Tntensive’’...... 0 0.0 5 a0 
47 0.5 57 5 
50 0.5 57 0.50 
46 1.0 61 1.00 
Examining the table with this in view, we 
see that French has hardly changed, while 
German draws increasingly on the affections 
®The separation into English literature and 
rhetorie or composition is not sharp, and is hard 
to tabulate. 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 890 
of secondary students—may this be a reflex 
of the great influence of German thought in 
the universities, brought into the secondary 
schools by college-bred teachers? But both 
French and German have a low popularity, 
lower than any science. Algebra is the uni- 
versal study, not generally elective, and so it 
is not surprising that its “popularity ” 
should be represented by a number in the 
neighborhood of 1. The excess gives a 
rough idea of the errors inherent in my data, 
and the amount of guessing which has crept 
in. Geometry was in 1904 not so generally re- 
quired as in 1894, and so shows a fall of pop- 
ularity. Physics was in 1894 more generally 
required than in 1904, which accounts in part 
for the drop from about 1.00 to 0.72. The 
balance means real dislike for the subject. 
Geology and physical geography and physiog- 
raphy stay about where they were in popu- 
larity. 
I am inclined to conclude from this table 
that, in spite of a general impression to the 
contrary, American boys and girls like the 
sciences, both exact and natural, better than 
they like the languages, provided they only 
have as good a chance to get at them; and 
the way to save the situation for science is to 
give them the chance early in the course. I 
assert with confidence that, had 80 per cent. 
of Dexter’s schools in 1904 offered four years 
of chemistry and physics, instead of four 
years of Latin, as they did, we should have 
found the figures of percentages just about 
reversed, or even worse for Latin. 
Wittarp J. FIsHEr 
IrHaca, N. Y., 
December, 1911 
THE SMITHSONIAN BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 
OF THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE 
Tue Biological Survey of the Panama 
Canal Zone, begun in December, 1910, and 
continued through the major part of 1911, is 
being pushed to completion before the open- 
ing of the canal in 1913. The second expedi- 
tion sailed on January 9, to take up the work 
for another season, the botanist, Professor 
