May 18, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



411 



FRIDAY, MAT 18, 1883. 



THE SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS OF 

 THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



In answer to a call dated March 31, a num- 

 ber of working naturalists met at Springfield, 

 Mass., April 10, to consider the advisability 

 of organizing a society for the discussion of 

 methods of natural history work. In the dis- 

 cussion which followed the election of Professor 

 Hyatt to the chair, it was shown that everj' 

 one present had often felt the need of opportu- 

 nities to meet other workers in his own special 

 field with whom to discuss such topics as 

 methods of laboratory work ; laboratorj' tech- 

 nique ; new and valuable processes of staining, 

 mounting, cutting, and preserving sections ; 

 different sj-stems of instruction in various de- 

 partments of natural science ; methods with 

 small elective classes, or with large college 

 classes ; the position which the sciences of ob- 

 servation should hold in the college curriculum ; 

 the amount of natural science which should 

 appear in college entrance examinations ; the 

 amount and character of such instruction 

 essential in preparatory schools ; museum in- 

 terests ; mutual aid or co-operation between 

 different museums ; methods of museum work ; 

 methods of exhibition ; and similar topics. 



While there are manj' opportunities for the 

 publication of the results of scientific work and 

 investigation throughout the countrj', aud for 

 keeping up with current results, there has 

 existed heretofore no association where such 

 subjects as those above named could be made 

 the chief topics of discussion. The need of 

 an association devoted to such technical pur- 

 poses is certainlj- as great at the present time,- 

 when science is beginning to take its proper 

 place in the curriculum of all educational in- 

 stitutions, and laboratories and museums are 

 springing up all over the countrj', as was the need 

 in earlier days for founding the American as- 

 sociation for the advancement of science. Pub- 

 lished essaj's can be read at home ; but for the 

 right understanding of diflficult manipulation in 

 the laboratory', of methods of instruction either 

 in the laboratory or class-room, or for any 



No. 15. — 18S3. 



eflflcient co-operation, it is essential to meet 

 and talk with the originator of the method, or 

 with one who is well versed in its application. 

 The worker in natural science knows that in 

 every laboratory new points are being con- 

 stantlj^ developed, which, though of value for 

 saving time or labor, are frequently never 

 published. 



At the meetings of this society there will be 

 special opportunities for getting such informa- 

 tion from a number of laboratories where work 

 is constantlj^ going forward. Again : the meet- 

 ings will furnish chances for those at home to 

 meet and question the many American natural- 

 ists, who, on their return from visiting or work- 

 ing in the best laboratories in England and 

 Europe, bring with them the latest methods 

 in vogue on the other side of the Atlantic, — 

 a number which maj- increase, now that an 

 American table at Dohrn's zoological station, 

 Naples, is held by AVilliams college. 



The work of organization occupied nearly 

 all the time at the Springfield meeting ; but, in 

 the brief informal discussions which followed, 

 the opinion was very generallj' expressed, that 

 one of the most, important questions with 

 which we have to deal, and one which needs 

 immediate attention, is the preparation neees- 

 sarj' for the studj' of natural science in col- 

 leges. The great difficulty in making a success 

 of college instruction in the sciences of obser- 

 vation lies in the fact that not one young man 

 in twenty knows either how to observe, or how 

 to think about facts of observation. His edu- 

 cation in that line is verj- deficient, or else en- 

 tirely wanting ; he is utterlj' helpless without 

 his books, and seems quite unable to see or to 

 correlate facts for himself. No other branch 

 of the curriculum is so inefficiently' treated by 

 the preparatorj' schools and academies. It is 

 the reverse of right, that the college professor, 

 with a class of from fortj' to eightj' men, 

 should have to make the vain attempt to teach 

 the lowest step in the observational sciences. 

 Methods which can alone guarantee success in 

 imparting to the ej'e and the mind the rudi- 

 ments of science cannot be employed under 

 such conditions. Moreover, it is a matter for 



