310 ; 
and advocate either polygamy or free love, his 
honesty of purpose, his right to teach his 
views, would not protect him from dismissal. 
This is an extreme case, a case not likely to 
arise, but it serves to illustrate the principles 
at issue. All the rights of the professor are 
governed by reasonable limitations. 
Unfortunately, at the present time, the lead- 
ing economic and social questions are partly 
political in their nature. Their public discus- 
sion is almost wholly partisan, rarely scientific, 
and violent passions are easily aroused. 
The tariff, the coinage, the question of the so- 
called trusts are all alive in the public mind, 
and the professor of economics therefore stands 
on very precarious ground. What are his 
rights and his duties now? They are still lim- 
ited, and his responsibilities are greater than 
ever. 
Whatever a teacher may be in his private life, 
his personal bias is to be put under strict con- 
trol the moment he enters his lecture room. 
There the partisan is out of place, and the in- 
terests of science rule. The professor now 
should cease to be an advocate, seeking to win 
converts, and become the equivalent of a judge 
who sums up the case before a jury. He must 
be fair, judicial, tactful and dignified; and 
failure in any one of these particulars is a seri- 
ous limit to his usefulness. He may believe in 
free trade, but he should give the evidence and 
arguments upon both sides of the question. If he 
neglects to do this he defrauds .the students of 
their rights and isa failure as ascientific teacher. 
He need not efface himself, he need not suppress 
his preferences, but he must be fair and thor- 
ough. The pupil can not understand an eco 
nomic controversy without hearing both sides, 
and his rights in this respect are entitled to con- 
sideration. The class-room is no place for 
political tirades, nor for partisan denuncia- 
tion, either of institutions or of individuals; it 
should be sacred to honest scientific discussion, 
regardless of parties or persons. A want of tact 
upon the part of the teacher, a lack of dignity 
in his treatment of a doubtful question, may 
easily become a source of trouble and justly lead 
to his dismissal. 
That some teachers may have been unfairly 
treated I will not deny, for in the conflict of 
SCIENCE. 
(N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 321. 
rights it is sometimes difficult to strike an even 
balance. What I have said applies to general 
principles, not to any special, concrete cases. 
Each case stands upon its individual merits, 
which are rarely known except to the parties 
who are immediately affected. The principles, 
however, are Clear, and should be borne in mind 
whenever the management of a university is 
criticized. The latter may be in the right, de- 
spite appearances; and it is quite conceivable 
that a teacher may be in the wrong. 
F. W. CLARKE. 
SHORTER ARTICLES. 
THE RELATION OF SEEDINESS TO QUALITY IN 
MELONS. 
In the Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club, 
Vol. 1, No. 4, issued May 30, 1890, the late 
Dr. EH. Lewis Sturtevant contributed an article 
on ‘Seedless Fruits’ in which he presented a 
large amount of data compiled from various 
sources relative to seedless fruits as correlated 
with quality. Some of his statements I quote 
as follows: ‘‘ There seems to exist in fruits a 
correlation between seedlessness and quality, 
especially when that quality is expressed by 
the term tenderness of tissue.’’ ‘‘ The better 
varieties of the apple usually contain some 
abortive seeds, and are sometimes individually 
to be found seedless. As a rule, where there 
is a tendency to abortive seeds, the larger and 
finer the apple the greater the number of abor- 
tive seeds.’’ ‘‘ Melons of the highest quality 
contain fewer seed than do varieties of medium 
or inferior quality, as I have often observed. 
This even seems to hold true as between indi- 
vidual fruits of the same variety to a marked 
extent.’’ 
In the autumn of 1893, my assistant, Mr. 
Cranefield, made a study of thirty-five musk- 
melons to ascertain to what extent Dr. Sturte- 
vant’s conclusions would be verified. The 
data have been preserved, but the results have 
not before been published. 
These melons were the result of a cross be- 
tween the Algiers cantaloupe and several 
‘American varieties. The fruits were picked 
when the stem readily detached, and. weighed 
on a torsion balance that is sensitive to the 
