416 
officers for the meeting were Charles Wright 
Dodge, University of Rochester, president ; 
Albert P. Brigham, Colgate University, vice- 
president; O. C. Kenyon, Syracuse High 
School, secretary-treasurer. 
After brief remarks by the retiring presi- 
dent, LeRoy C. Cooley, of Vassar College, 
an address of welcome by President Rush 
Rhees, of the University of Rochester, and 
the introduction of the president-elect, the 
opening address on ‘The Method of Science 
and the Public Schools’ was delivered in 
the general session by Professor S. A. 
Forbes, of the University of Illinois. The 
speaker held that while the methods of 
study pursued by the chemist, the physicist 
and the biologist in their various fields of 
investigation are by no means identical, 
there are certain underlying features com- 
mon to all, and these may be abstracted 
and generalized and called the method of 
science. This does not mean mechanical 
manipulations of tools or of apparatus of 
any sort, but is essentially psychological in 
its nature. The study of this method is 
the study of the scientific mind while en- 
gaged in the pursuit of science. The appli- 
cation of the method was illustrated by 
descriptions of the mode of procedure fol- 
lowed in several recent pieces of investiga- 
tion. The paper criticized much of the 
present science teaching in the schools as 
being unsuited to train the mind of the 
pupil in the mental operations of independ- 
ent observation, classification, generaliza- 
tion, deduction and experiment which are 
the essential features of the scientific 
method. 
The section meetings began on Friday 
afternoon. In the section of physics and 
chemistry Professor Henry 8. Carhart, of 
the University of Michigan, gave an address 
on ‘The Place of Physicsin a Liberal Edu- 
cation.’ As one of the oldest and most 
fundamental of the sciences, physics should 
have a prominent place in a general plan of 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 324. 
liberal education; its intrinsic interests 
make it attractive to those who study it; 
its laws are capable of exact quantitative 
statement, and it thus furnishes, with the 
reasoning involved, an excellent instrument 
of education ; its applications to practical 
and every-day life are so numerous and so 
important that every intelligent citizen 
should have a good general knowledge of 
the subject; it ought, then, to be a part of 
every high-school course. 
Following the paper, Professor Edward 
L. Nichols, of Cornell University, described 
a number of devices useful for demonstra- 
tion purposes in physics. These were (1) 
an apparatus for showing, in a semi-quanti- 
tative way, the expansion of air at con- 
stant pressure; (2) floats adjusted to show 
the phenomenon of maximum density of 
water; and (3) the torsion balance electro- 
meter. 
Before the section in biology, Professor 
Frederic 8. Lee, of Columbia University, 
spoke on ‘The Teaching of Physiology in 
Secondary Schools.’ Dr. Lee advocated a 
broader view of the subject than most 
teachers in secondary schools possess. 
Physiology is the science of the life proc- 
esses in all organisms, not merely those 
of the human body. As the basis of all are 
the vital functions of protoplasm, and of 
these the pupil ought to have a clear con- 
ception. Plain distinctions should be made 
between gross and minute anatomy on the 
one hand and physiology on the other, and 
only so much of structure should be taught 
as will serve to elucidate function; the 
idea of physiology proper must be kept 
paramount. Instruction by practical ex- 
periments performed by the pupil or, fail- 
ing this, demonstrations by the teacher was 
urged. The number of good laboratory 
manuals suitable for use in seconday schools 
now makes such a method entirely fea- 
sible. Physiology should follow physics 
and chemistry in the curriculum. Teach- 
