March 13, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



Zll 



As for graduate students it seems to me 

 that since they are presumably mature in- 

 dividuals with thorough preliminary train- 

 ing in the main zoological subjects, one of 

 the important things to do is to wean them 

 away from mere course taking, a habit with 

 which they are usually obsessed, and head 

 them into problems and seminaries. If 

 their preparation is inadequate let them 

 take courses open to advanced undergradu- 

 ates but strictly graduate courses can, I be- 

 lieve, be advantageously restricted to a few 

 lectures per week in various special fields. 



Being mature, the graduate student may 

 well be expected to get much of his in- 

 formation by reading for himself. By way 

 of suggestion I would give him a memo- 

 randum to the effect that it goes without 

 saying that in addition to his more tech- 

 nical pursuits, every candidate for the doc- 

 torate will be expected to know modern evo- 

 lution problems; the generally accepted 

 views on phylogenetic relationships and the 

 validity of the criteria on which these are 

 based ; and the elements of animal behavior, 

 genetics and developmental mechanics. A 

 suitable list of special references for study 

 in these fields would be appended. 



Furthermore, for the purpose of broaden- 

 ing his interests and cultivating a sense of 

 proportion, each candidate might advan- 

 tageously be given a list of fifty or more 

 books that he is expected to have read be- 

 fore he completes his work. This list would 

 include mainly the general classics of the 

 subject in various departments, such as 

 voyages, travels and explorations; history; 

 biography ; a few special memoirs ; gen- 

 eral principles; a few works of the better 

 literary naturalists; and some of the more 

 general works in special fields. 



In conclusion I should say, then, that I 

 see no need of abandoning our general zo- 

 ology, comparative anatomy, invertebrate 

 aoology, embryology and histology courses 



in favor of the newer biological sciences, 

 though we can perhaps advantageously 

 shorten them to make room for courses in 

 the new subjects and we can pervade them 

 all more or less with the method and 

 thought of the newer work. If in these 

 fundamental courses we will but put life 

 back into our laboratory specimens, life 

 into our method of offering them as sub- 

 jects for thought, and life into our stu- 

 dents by forcing them into the interpreta- 

 tive attitude of mind, then I think we shall 

 have gone far toward introducing our 

 charges to much that is significant in the 

 newer fields without sacrificing the well- 

 recognized values of the older discipline. 



Michael F. Gitter 

 TJKivEESiTy OP Wisconsin 



FROM THE STANDPOINT OF A BOTANIST 

 Those of us who are possessed of a con- 

 servative temperament may be inclined to 

 look askance at the newer fields of investi- 

 gation, or to doubt their value for educa- 

 tional purposes. If so, we need merely to 

 consider that not many years ago science of 

 any kind was not regarded as a suitable 

 subject for school or college. Moreover, the 

 sciences themselves have undergone a 

 marked evolution. The earliest biological 

 studies were descriptive and enumerative; 

 then came the study of internal structure, 

 followed in its turn by the study of func- 

 tion, environment and inheritance. To an 

 outsider it looks as though the subject of 

 entomology were still largely in the taxo- 

 nomic stage of development, which is not 

 to be wondered at when one recalls that 

 over half the species of animals are insects. 

 Instruction in biology has likewise ex- 

 hibited an evolution; it no longer consists 

 wholly or even largely of systematic work. 

 Botanists still do a certain amount of 

 "manual labor," but fortunately we have 

 passed out of the period when first-year 



